unity floral wreath
Our unity floral wreath begins with an Oasis mache foam and an inexpensive unity candle stand.
Each wreath comes directions on how to soak the wreath correctly. The key is to soak the foam thoroughly with water. If you try to force the foam underwater to saturate more quickly, it can create dry air pockets in the foam can could spell early wilting to any flower stems inserted into that particular spot.
The foam wreath will be heavy once complete filled with water and ready to design. The backing is made of a heavy pressed paper product called mache. It is thick and sturdy and allows us to score the covering and "break" the foam, to create the dropped table edge this design calls for.
Place the foam over the edge of a table or countertop and score a line where you want the break to be on each side. The cut through the foam and into the actual mache itself to create a weaker "break line" Take care not to cut too deeply or the wreath will break completely apart.
Once the wreath is broken on both sides, you'll want to reinforce the backing with waterproof florist tape. This is similar to duct tape, except cut into very thin strips to use with wet floral foam and other products.
I simply taped my wreath across the break to assure that the wet mache won't lose too much strength and tear away. I'm now going to give more support to the whole wreath in the next step.
Not only did I wrap the joint securely, I proceed to wrap around the entire wreath, giving extra support since the final wreath, loaded with both water and flowers, can become very heavy. If you do this a day or two ahead, as well as rewatering the wreath when more water is needed, this support is needed as well.
Now I'm going to continue to the next step, which is greening the unity floral wreath. I'm going to begin with leather leaf fern, a common cheap greenery used in flower shops across the country.
Greenery is generally considered cheap enough to stretch out a tight flower budget. A true grower's bunch contains between 20 -25 stems. You can make 3 or 4 wreaths with one bunch if desired. Some wholesale sites force their customers to buy 5 or more bunches - only to discover they've been shorted a true grower's bunch, containing only an estimated 10 - 15 stems instead of the regular 20 - 25 stems. Now that's not fair!
I sell complete grower's bunches (packed as they come from the farm) and will sell single bunches to my customers, allowing them to mix and match flowers and greens while buying only what they need.
