Installation hesitation? I get it. 

Between Pinterest, Instagram, and editorials, clients are exposed to bigger, grander, and more complex floral designs than ever. 

These wow-worthy designs make for eye-popping photos and guest experiences, but they also require significant time, product, and clever construction on our part. 

Furthermore, each venue, design, and recipe can require unique solutions to meet the client’s vision.
Although each installation is its own game, there are a few key ways to make these designs not only a knockout, but also a profitable and approachable offering for your business.

KNOW THY PRINCIPLES + ELEMENTS

If you rely on your artistic instincts and overlook principles and elements in smaller designs like bouquets and centerpieces, you can get by. But with large-scale installations, every design decision is exponentially obvious and exaggerated.  

So often, we intuitively know color, proportion, scale, focus and more, but struggle to apply it to a bigger canvas, or struggle to communicate our exact vision to our team. Installations demand high impact moments and compelling color stories. Principles and elements help us write our recipes, conceptualize the placement, and nail the installation. 

When creating focal moments, I leverage line, dominance, scale, contrast, form, and color to draw the eye. To ensure the installation is cohesive with the rest of the event, and that it looks like a complete design (and not just an arbor with a flower pouf on it), I look for harmony, rhythm, and unity. 

Selective, grouped placements of “Toffee” roses and blue tweedia allow for higher impact moments in a recipe that doesn’t allot for loads of stems.

Even in the most rose and hydrangea-packed installation, we can create moments of movement and interest with design principles and elements. 

MECHANICS MATTER

Solid mechanics are at the heart of all good installations. They ensure that our designs don’t come toppling down, but they also allow us to extend our design limitations, allowing us to execute creative visions beyond what our clients even thought possible! 

I’ve spent a lot of time on experimentation, practice, and trial and error of installations. Installations require juggling the physics of balance, proportion, and construction without compromising the beauty, inspiration, and SAFETY of a design. (Want to know what I’ve learned? You can join me this summer with the installation MASTERS, Sweet Root Village, for our A-Z, Floral Installation Workshop intensive this summer!)

We have to put on our engineer hat and carpentry hat. Creative, out of the box thinking goes a long way in installation work, but staple guns, zip ties, command hooks, fishing line, and paddle wire are some of my best friends.

Bring out the ladders! When working on installations, thinking out of the box is necessary. Chicken wire is a go-to, but don’t forget items like these funeral/memorial cones as a water source.

We also have to know when to outsource and contract specialized help. Not everything can be DIY’d, especially when it comes to certain safety considerations. When contracting the job to welders, craftsmen, and construction gurus, collaborate on designs that can be transformed into variable shapes and use-cases to get better cost-per-use out of the mechanic! Think custom structures, arches, low boxes for aisles, etc. 

Ultimately, my top tip: TEST, TEST, TEST! Experimentation is KEY when it comes to trying out a new mechanic, a new structure, or how long some floral material may hold out of water. The nature of installations is much higher risk than anything else we make, from the potential of damage to the needs of our floral product (so many installations don’t allow for typical hydration situations). 

We want to minimize any scenario where our materials or mechanics fail, so it’s key that we work out the kinks as best as possible before any big install project!

EMBRACE ALTERNATE MATERIALS

Installations are about creating a “moment:” a grand centerpiece, talking point, photo opp, etc. When you must go large, using fresh flowers can get REALLY expensive and even unrealistic (again, hydration!), and most florists are working on tighter budgets, now more than ever. 

Dried, silk, and artificial botanicals can support a large installation in more ways than one. Artificial products can be lighter than fresh product, minimizing the demand on your structure. This can be a huge benefit to adding color and mass to hanging installations, wall installs, and more. Not only will they look beautiful all day long and can blend beautifully with a layer of fresh florals or greenery mixed in but you won’t need to add the additional weight and mechanics that come with needing a water source!

Many installs that incorporate alternative materials can also be created in advance which reduces game-day stress and staffing needs (a profitability WIN). Plus, they can be painted and repurposed again and again if needed.

Silk branches create lines and serve as a base for these fresh, garden roses.

From the most luxe install to the modest wedding arbor, we can also incorporate these alternative materials as a base in the design. Fill out your first layer and cover your mechanics with dry, silk, and artificial products and then fresh flowers can be incorporated on top and throughout to help bring that authentic look and feel to the design. 

In this permanent installation below, this bridal dress company hired me to create a moment around their main mirror. I needed an airy element, so I repurposed several high-quality cherry blossom branches from another project by spray painting them to match the theme. It was a perfect fit for the project and a win-win all around!

THE BOTTOM LINE

The hard parts of installation work can benefit from intentional preparation and creative problem-solving. If you’re looking for an opportunity to practice these concepts and flex your installation design muscles, join me for an in-depth Floral Installation Workshop with Sweet Root Village. The whole Sweet Root team are masters of installation work and have taught hundreds of florists how to level up their install skills. This unique workshop won’t have you fighting over a few lousy buckets and competing for design time. Instead, we have curated a unique opportunity to learn hands-on, in a small-group setting. Consider this an installation deep dive where we will be covering all the mechanics, principles, and recipe-writing you need to conceptualize and execute successful installations. If you want to grow your confidence and skills around installs, this workshop is made for you!