WEDDING FLORALS 101 WITH ADEOLA GLOVER
Happy Wedding Wednesday! When it comes to wedding design, florals take center stage! From bouquets to centerpieces to installations, floral design is a great way to set the tone for your wedding day. We thought it would be great to invite The Newell House in-house floral designer, Adeola of Bea Morad, to share some floral design advice and fun tidbits!
(1) Can you share a little bit about yourself?
I love all things vintage: clothing, furniture, movies, and reality TV. Good food makes me happy and travel plans excite me. For as long as I can remember, I have always enjoyed creating. I grew up drawing, painting, sewing, and sculpting.
What drew you to floral design? My entry into floral design was very organic. I started off arranging flowers for small events for my family and friends. When putting together events, I realized that I really enjoyed the floral portion of the planning and design. I decided to focus on the floral end of things and really hone in on my skills. As I stated prior, I have always loved to create. When it comes to creating, the final result is always my driving force as I find it to be the ultimate satisfaction. What drew me to floral design was being able to bring a design to life, which I found to be incredibly rewarding.
(2) Can you explain the design process when you work with a bride?
After getting an understanding of the bride’s style, the three things that I consider during the design process are space, color and vibe.
Space
I always keep the space in mind when considering the possibilities. For example, I consider the ceiling height of the venue when deciding on the height of the centerpieces. I also consider any unique features that would be nice to highlight such as a vintage barn door or antique fireplace.
Color
This part of the process is when I grab my color wheel and pantone cards and I go to work putting together a color plan as it relates to the blooms most likely to be incorporated. I also take into consideration the space being designed and how the colors will work within that space.
Vibe/Feels
I call the staging of the space the vibe portion of the design process. This is because the way in which the space is staged determines the vibe of your event. For a sexy and mellow feel, I would incorporate an abundance of candles. For a party vibe, I would focus on installations above and/or surrounding the dance floor. The vibe is a very important element to consider because it has a lot to do with the couple’s personality, what they want their day to feel like and the experience they want for their guests.
(4) What is your favorite floral style?
I would say that when it comes to my favorite floral style, I lean towards a non-traditional free form, abstract style. I love for flowers to appear as the do in nature, not super structured and stiff. I love movement. To be able to see movement in a still arrangement or bouquet is absolutely beautiful.
(5) How much of your budget do you think a couple should expect to spend on florals?
Budget is a relative. The amount of your budget you should expect to spend on floral really depends on the vision you have for your floral look. If you are a bride who’s main focus are your personal flowers and short medium arrangements for her guest tables expect to allocate an average of 8% of your overall budget to floral. In the alternative, if you would like to incorporate a few large-scale floral elements such as an arch along with a combination of tall and short arrangements, 20% of your overall budget is a more realistic percentage. Again, this is all relative. The scale of the floral elements along with the type of flowers incorporated will affect your budget. Some brides will spend as little as $500 on floral while others might spend as much as $50k. One area that I recommend not to skimp on is the bridal bouquet. This is because some of your most memorable pictures will be of the bride with her bouquet. Pick a style and look you love and run with it. If you have to cut your floral costs somewhere, don’t cut it here.
Thank you, Adeola for taking your time to share so many helpful tips and insight! We are so excited to have Adeola provide her experience and creative for The Newell House’s events.
About Adeola & Bea Morad:
I’m Adeola, a floral designer who loves creating beautiful things which make people happy. By things, I mean ALL OF THE THINGS! Centerpieces, arches, chandeliers, backdrops, and the list goes on. I am all about ideas and solutions. I am constantly dreaming up new and fresh art, which is what motivates me to continue to create. When presented with a challenge, my response is, “Don’t tempt me with a good time!” I believe in creating unique experiences through design and that there is no set way to do anything.
