A Spooktacular Bouquet
Reflections on creating a Halloween themed bouquet
By, Tabitha Miki Floral Designer
When you think of flowers, spooky and eerily beautiful do not usually come to mind; but for the Halloween themed surprise engagement proposal photoshoot, in Hawaii, that was the criteria for the bouquet.
How do you you create something that seems like an oxymoron? That was my dilemma! I was stumped for quite some time and looked at countless gothic styled bouquets for inspiration, but I wasn’t seeing quite what I was looking for. My inspiration came actually as I was cleaning the corners at home and saw a little spider in the corner! That’s it! I would make a spider web and drape it over a bouquet and put a toy spider on the bouquet! I decided to keep the bouquet itself simple and use deep red roses which also was a “nod” to a famous eerie show. I’ll bet you can guess which one it is!
Once that was all settled, I had to decide what I was going to create the spider web from. Cotton is usually used in most cases, but I felt the cotton might hide too much of the flowers. It was after seeing some floral designers play with hot glue, in a totally different application, it gave me the idea that I could make the spider web out of hot glue! It was just the solution I was looking for! Hot glue would give the web a transparency that was needed to still showcase the blood red roses. It also gave that spider web feel because of the thin strands of hot glue dancing and weaving its way around the roses! How did I create the web? It was simple with a small glue gun I simply made a web shape over a smooth surface and let the thin strands of glue weave in and out of the main circles of the web.
After I was satisfied with the spider web, I let it dry and was able to peel it off the smooth surface. If you decide to recreate this web, make sure your smooth surface will not be damaged by the hot glue and will allow for easy removal of the web afterwards! (Wax Paper is one surface that works well).
Once the spider web was complete, I could prepare the roses and create the red rose bouquet! I made a simple red rose bouquet and then proceeded to secure the spider web to the bouquet with a clear rhinestone corsage pin. It gave a hint of sparkle without it compromising the look we needed for the bouquet. It was more like a dew drop that found its way to the spider web. To top things off, I found a fake black spider which looked perfect! In fact, in several of the shots, the spider almost looked real!
Finally, I needed to finish the bottom bouquet with a collar and finish the handle. I decided to use a floral decorative wire collar that had a few pearls woven into them. It complemented the spider web on the top and gave the bouquet some interest. To complement the collar I did a black ribbon handle with a few pearl pins going down the handle to tie back into the collar of the bouquet! Upon finishing my artwork, I was quite pleased with the result! It was eerily beautiful! I was proud that I was able to push through the creative designer’s block, and produce the spooky couture bouquet for our themed surprise engagement photoshoot!
Working on different types of floral designs keeps things fresh and interesting! It is definitely a helpful exercise as I create new and interesting pieces for the romantic packages, in Hawaii, here at Jolene Kaneshige Photography! Are you or is there someone you know ready to get on one knee, ask the love of your life to be by your side forever, “pop the question”? I’d love to help design a couture floral bouquet for your surprise engagement proposal! Let’s start designing, we would love to help you tell your story!
