How to make a big flower arrangement in a vase

Ever since I started noticing gigantic flower arrangements placed casually in the house of Emily on Gilmore Girls I began to get a little jealous that someone could have fresh arrangements that big in their house like it was no big deal (yes, I know the show is fictional...). Or of the florist that got hired to place them in her house every week-every show really.

notice the flower arrangement by the door- they are all over her house and they are always different- trust me, I notice!

So I finally got my wish of making an arrangement that big  for stake conference this weekend. And it was everything I ever imagined. Super fun and super satisfying. And I was going to have a more creative title for this post- but upon searching for advice on how to make said arrangement I found it rather difficult- so I'm adding mine to the internet knowledge base....the process of making two arrangements for a church foyer.

1. Make a plan of the idea in your head so when you go to get your flowers you sound like you know what you're doing

really rough draft- what can I say- I'm an artist.

2. Shop around for flowers and make sure to get plenty of greens. I got mine at the corporate Flower Patch where they let me buy them in bunches for a discount- even though I do not have a business license.

3. Clear tape (from Hobby Lobby) a grid onto the top of the vase (Thai Pan) for structure support.

 3. Greens first to make the base of the arrangement- aka the backdrop.
PS- be sure to have a little water in there and be cutting all the stems diagonally before you place them...

- Salal to make the vase line not seem like a border of 'flowers can only go above this point'.

-Myrtle to mark how tall you want the arrangement to be in each direction

-And leather-leaf fern to fill in spaces

 4. Then you add the line flowers (the tallest) which for me was gladiolus and snap dragons...

4. Form flowers (aka the main attraction- whatever is biggest, has the best shape, is the focal point) near the bottom and center

 5. Mass flowers- daisies and carnations- to fill in the spaces that still need color...

-A lot of my mass flowers ended up in the back, because although the arrangement is mostly viewed from one side, it still needs to look good for the few people sitting behind it.

 6. Add a filler flower- solidago aster- to tie it all together. The filler should be placed everywhere- top, bottom, middle...

-And rearrange anything out of place.

Oh how I loved that finished feeling and being surrounded by all the cut off greens all over the floor. Sometimes it's fun to make a huge mess in the process- makes the whole thing feel more artsy. 

They look a lot smaller when placed in the foyer than they did in my house...