Shop Flowers by Design Type
Flower Moxie is the only online DIY company to break flowers down into design categories, provide ratios, and offer handy flower recipes. Pair all this with our YouTube tutorials and stunningly witty emails, and you are pretty much guaranteed to rock your stalks while saving a buttload of cash.
Sorry for saying buttload.
The biggest thing preventing brides from DIY-ing their florals is probably ambiguity. Like websites saying things like “Meh, average 25-50 stems per bouquet and you should be good.” That don’t fly if you’re Type A. Flower Moxie offers calculations and approximations that consider the varying shapes, sizes, and visual weights of flowers.
Understanding Floral Design Breakdowns
Floral Design breaks into 4 basic components: greenery, fillers, accents, and texture.
We like to think of them as: underwear, clothing, jewelry, and accessories.
Greenery
(aka Spanx) 30-35%
Your arrangements should be greenery-based to provide structure and foundational support. This is also more cost-effective than 100% flowers.
Fillers
(aka clothing) 30-35%
Filler flowers cover surface area, set your color palette, and shouldn't be the most expensive thing on you.
Accent
(aka accessories) 15-20%
Accents flowers are typically more expensive and more extra – you don't need a lot of them to make a statement. Dedicate 15-20% of your arrangement to accent flowers.
Texture
(aka that one purse you own that everyone pets) 10-15%
This is how you break up your arrangement with a contrasting visual pattern. When you have a high concentration of petals, it helps to add textural items like berries, wispy greens, small wax flower buds, or thistle. A little bit of texture goes a long way, sweet pea!
Need quantity help for each item you're designing?
Below are our recommendations per design item!
Bouquets & Bouts:
Bridal Bouquet
- 10-15 Filler/Volume Flowers
- 7-10 Accent Flowers
- 1/3 - 1/2 bunch of Texture Flowers
- 1/2 bunch of greenery total
Bridesmaid Bouquets
- 5-7 Filler/Volume Flowers
- 3-5 Accent Flowers
- 1/4 bunch of Texture Flowers
- 1/4- 1/6 bunch of greenery total per bridesmaid bouquet **depends on the greens, as salal bunch sizes are larger than seeded euc!
Bouts & Corsages
Bouts, corsages, and flower crowns take minimal amounts of flowers and greenery, in general. Typically, you can expect to have leftover sprigs and blooms to make most of your bouts and corsages.
- Bouts: Average 1-2 buds with a sprig of greenery per bout. (favorite bout and corsage flowers include: thistle, spray roses, berries, wax flower, mini carnations, ranunculus, statice, scabiosa, lisianthus, and billy balls
- Corsages: Average 3 buds with light amounts of greenery per corsage.
- Flower Crowns: Just like bouts and corsages, flower crowns take minimal flowers with many little sprigs that will typically be leftover after creating your bouquets. Save all the things and set a few of your favorite blooms aside for your crown!
Centerpieces & Installations:
Centerpiece (5-6 inch vase diameter)
- 5-7 Filler/Volume Flowers
- 3-5 Accent Flowers (optional and as budget allows)
- 1/4-1/6 bunch of Texture Flowers
- 1/3-1/5 bunch of greenery total per centerpiece **depends on the greens, as salal bunch sizes are larger than seeded euc!
Centerpiece (3-inch diameter)
- 2-3 Filler/Volume Flowers
- 1-2 Accent Flowers
- 1/6 bunch of Texture Flowers
- 1/6 bunch of greenery total per mason-jar sized vase
Bud Vases
For bud vases, it is best to average 1-3 blooms per vase with 1-2 sprigs of green. Expect for each bud vase to be slightly different and know it's kosher to have some with all greens, or all blooms, and just to have fun with it!
- 1-2 Filler Flowers
- 1-2 Accent Flowers
- 1/10 - 1/15 bunch of Texture Flowers **Confused? Buy 1 bunch of texture or greenery for every 10 or 15 bud vases
- 1/10 - 1/15 bunch of greenery
Loose Greens on Table
6-8 ft rectangle table
- 7-12 Filler Flowers **Roses, Carnations, Snaps, Daisies and Mums work best!
- Accent Flowers are typically too delicate to last out of water for long periods of time.
- 1/2 bunch of Texture **Thistle and berries work best!
- 1 bunch of Greenery per table **Eucalyptus, Nagi, Southern Smilax, and Italian Ruscus work best!
Round table, loose greens around candles or lanterns
- 3-5 Filler Flowers **Roses, Carnations, Snaps, Daisies and Mums work best!
- Accent Flowers are typically too delicate to last out of water for long periods of time.
- 1/4 bunch of Texture **Thistle and berries work best!
- 1/3 bunch of Greenery per table **Eucalyptus, Nagi, and Southern Smilax work best!
Large Urn or Arch Cage
Large ceremony urn
- 10-20 Filler Flowers
- Accent Flowers are typically too short-stemmed and small to work in a large-scale arrangement.
- 1/2 - 1 bunch of Texture Flowers
- 2 bunches of Greenery per urn
1 Large foam cage for arch or pergola
- 10-15 Filler Flowers
- As a designer, I often do not use many Accent Flowers in large-scale arrangements and arches because they are typically too small to be seen.
- 1/2 bunch of Texture Flowers
- 1 1/2 bunch of Greenery per urn
