As a wedding florist I will add flowers to just about anything to create a whimsical floral piece for an event. Florals for chairs, like I am showing here are common additions for the chairs of the couple at the reception or on a few special seats at the ceremony. This post is going to show you how to add flowers to a chair.

1. Create the Base for your Flowers

Chicken wire is always what I use to create a base for small pieces like this. In this case, because the floral piece is going on a chair that somebody is going to be sitting in and potentially close to their skin and clothing, I am careful that it isn’t going to scratch whoever is sitting in the chair. With an open chair like this I like to glue a thick piece of fabric onto the back of the chicken wire to create a soft backing in case anyone brushes up against it. Zip tie this to the chair and you’re ready for step 2.

2. Cover your Base with Moss

This isn’t totally necessary but I like using wet moss to cover the chicken wire, it makes it so that I have to use less greenery to cover the mechanics and allows me to make small pieces with a more delicate feel (as using enough greenery to fully cover the chicken wire can lead to something feeling quite heavy). I simply poke the moss into the holes of the chicken wire and it holds in place easily.

3. Add Your Greenery

I always like to start any design by adding the greenery. When doing a small floral piece like this without a water source, it is important to select flowers and greenery that will last well out of water. Here I have used euonymus from my garden which is very hard out of water.

4. Add your Flowers

Finish off the design with the flowers that will suit your overall design scheme. Again, select varieties that will be hardy without a water source or add a water pick to the more sensitive stems. In this design I used spray roses and wired ranunculus, both of which are great without a water source for a few hours and I added in a few hellebore which I water picked.

Creating unique floral pieces is quite simple with a few key materials. However, even seemingly small items like this can be time consuming to create, especially if you are making them on site so be sure to accommodate enough time and staffing to complete all the details you have agreed upon with your Client. I will typically prep the mechanics in advance and add the flowers on site as this is a piece without a water source so making it in advance would put extra stress on the flowers.