7 Common Flower Arranging Errors and How to Avoid Them

Flowers are flowing all over America! Americans bought more than $6.4 billion worth of flowers in 2021 alone. 

Yet many people didn't like the flowers they received. If you're making a bouquet or arrangement for someone else, you need to get familiar with flower arranging errors so you make a meaningful bouquet. There are quite a few mistakes you need to learn about.

How can you create an arrangement that your recipient will love? What colors and textures can you create in your bouquet? How can you make your flowers easier to maintain?

Answer these questions and you can master the flower arranging process in no time. Here are seven common flower arranging mistakes. 

1. Forgetting About the Recipient

Your flower arrangement should reflect the recipient's desire and interest in flowers. Even if you don't like the flowers or the arrangement you are making, you should follow their requests. Ask them what type of flowers they like and what their favorite color is.

Ask the recipient what allergies they have, as they may be allergic to certain types of flowers. Never use those flowers or ones that are related to them. You should also ensure that your flowers will not spread an excessive amount of pollen or debris in the air.

2. Using an Excessive Number of Flowers

Many people assume that the more flowers there are in an arrangement, the more luxurious and unique an arrangement is. In reality, a bouquet with too many flowers can be jarring to look at. 

Never put in more flowers than you need to put in your arrangement. Focus on a few types of flowers and try to find ones that are similar to each other.

Popular flowers like roses and peonies tend to draw people's attention. If you're using these flowers, you should avoid putting too many other ones in so people don't lose sight of them. If you don't know what to put in your arrangement, read a few tips on picking the perfect flowers. 

3. Incorporating Too Many Colors

Good arrangements use different flower colors, but they don't have many colors for the sake of having many colors. To make your arrangement easy on the eyes, you should have shades of colors that complement each other. 

Pick a color you want to dominate your arrangement. Then look at flowers that have shades of that color and think about how you can create subtle transitions between them. You can place light flowers on the outside and have the flowers get darker as the eye moves closer to the center. 

Keep in mind that the colors of your flowers may change as they get older. You should also think about how the colors of your stems will impact the arrangements. If a dark stem will create a clash with a light flower, you should cut the flower stem length down. 

4. Forgetting About the Water for Flower Arrangements

The recipient will need to change the water out. Though different types of flowers need different amounts of water, most flowers need new water every three days.

Create room between the container your flowers are in and the flowers themselves. Thick branches or stems and flowers with thorns will be hard to water and maintain. 

Give advice to your recipient on when and how they can water the flowers. They may also need to remove leaves on the stems or trim the stems.

5. Cutting Stems Straight

Cutting the stems straight may seem intuitive. In reality, your stems need space in order to drink up the water. 

Cut the stems at a 45-degree angle so they have the most area to suck the water up. Use a pair of garden snips or floral snips so you make a clean cut. Make sure the stems are in the water and do not touch the sides of the container. 

6. Neglecting Texture

Many people loosely arrange the blooms in their bouquets. This can create a lot of empty space that makes your arrangement seem boring or rushed.

Try to create clusters by grouping three or more flowers together. If your flowers are not staying next to each other, you can tie their stems together with a piece of twine.

The texture of each flower is also important. Putting flowers with thin petals against ones with thick petals can be jarring. Try to create subtle transitions between the textures of your flowers, and fill in any empty spaces with greenery. 

Many amateurs will make an arrangement that is perfectly symmetrical. This can make your arrangement seem unnatural, so feel free to place your flowers and foliage at different angles for a wild aesthetic.

7. Picking the Wrong Base

You can put most flowers in a glass container with a few inches of water inside. However, glass can make your flowers hot and trap air bubbles and bacteria that can harm your plants. 

Consider putting your flowers in pots with soil that can sustain the flowers. This can also add a rustic or old-fashioned aesthetic to your arrangement. 

You can wrap your flowers in craft or wrapping paper, especially if you are delivering them in person. You can also use plastic, but be careful not to crush the flowers. 

Avoiding Flower Arranging Errors

Flower arranging errors are more complicated than you think they are. Keep in mind what your recipient likes and prioritize their desires over yours. Try to keep things simple, focusing on one color and on important flowers like peonies. 

Make your flowers easy to maintain by avoiding ones with thick or thorny stems. Cut your stems at an angle so the flowers have plenty of access to water. Consider placing them in soil so they can receive nutrients. 

Deliver your flowers as quickly as possible so they don't die. abcFlora offers international flower delivery. Contact us today. We can deliver flowers anywhere in the world including Mexico, here there is al list of some of the cities were we can deliver flowers in Mexico.