Foam Free Design: Part II | 4 min read

From wreath mechanics to large scale event features, let’s go deeper into the world of foam free floral design. This month’s journal release is a sequel to our initial discussion of foam-free design, which explored our design philosophy as well as the basic tool kit of foam free mechanics we regularly use in our vase arrangements. As we work towards our wedding and events release, this month’s follow up will provide an insight into the makings of our most popular designs, our bespoke wreaths, and the mechanics for our future statement floral installations.

When it comes to floral foam, our design philosophy is based on more than just an argument in favour of sustainability. If you are interested in a recap of our floral foam discussion as well as an overview of our design philosophy, you can find Part I here.

Foam Free Design: Bespoke Wreaths

Over the years, I have experimented with a variety of mechanics when crafting my handmade wreaths. For my designs, I aspire to create a wreath that both reflects my floral design style and has a polished, professional construction. As a result, I have avoided glue and cable ties as mechanics because, to me, they never appeared neat and clean from a construction standpoint. Now I am most likely revealing my predilection for orderliness or OCD, but I’ve always felt that neat and clean mechanics was one factor that could set my work apart. Of course, glue and cable ties are also not environmentally sustainable, which in my experience was simply another reason to avoid them.

So, now that I am at a stage where I design a range of wreath styles, the mechanics I use will be determined by the needs of the design. For my classic wreath style crafted on a grapevine base, I mostly use raffia, which is biodegradable. I like raffia for grapevine wreaths due its extra width, which provides a gentle bind for delicate dried materials while effectively securing them in place. For wreaths made using a rattan hoop, I prefer a natural jute twine, which again is biodegradable. Both raffia and twine provide a neat and clean finish to wreath designs from the back. Although the appearance of the back of the wreath is not vitally important, neat and tidy mechanics ultimately elevates the overall design.

Currently, I also design a wild and whimsical spray style wreath, which requires that the floral materials flow in all directions. To achieve this effect without floral foam, I initially bind the base with raffia for stability. I then wrap the raffia section with bird wire, which has smaller apertures than chicken wire. I secure the bird wire in place using bindings of paper covered wire. While I acknowledge that wire is not biodegradable, it is an improvement on using single use plastics, such as floral foam and cable ties. Once the nest of bird wire is secured, the spray design is easily achieved by inserting materials in any direction. Although the action of binding materials with raffia or twine provides more security, the wire nest becomes secure as materials knit together when they are gradually placed in the design.