Crown of beauty
Romantic roses, delicate peonies, gorgeous greenery – from nature’s prettiest offerings, Vic Brotherson creates headwear to inspire
Floral stylist vic brotherson helps you create alluring flower arrangements for your day
Flowers are unrivalled for their ability to brighten any room. A long-standing symbol of celebration, nature and purity, no embellishment imbues romance more than an abundance of fresh blooms. Whether it’s delicate hair garlands, bountiful bouquets or floral clusters gracing the backs of reception chairs, there are many ways to spread blossomed love. As UK floral stylist Vic Brotherson (who created Kate Moss’ wedding arrangements) explains in her new book
Vintage Wedding Flowers, your choice of big-day blooms is a direct reflection of your personality and style. Here, Vic demonstrates how to create petalled crowns.
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Hair garlands, headdresses and circlets ( all the same thing) are really popular, and not just for little flower girls, but also for the bride to wear afterwards or for the ceremony itself. if making for the bride, i’d recommend you do a test run first, as they are time consuming and quite fiddly. ideally they should be made on the morning of the wedding, though at a pinch they can be made the evening before. you also need to check that it’s comfortable, and achieves the look you want ( isn’t too little Bo Peep! ) the overall technique is the same for different ingredients, though the individual flowers may have slightly different wiring methods. mixed fine wires of varying gauges 0.38 to 0.9mm (for the flowers) About 30 flower heads, if small, or 15 to 20, if mixed and looser, as shown on the opposite page, top right (here the flowers are cornflower, wild spray rose, lavender, allium, flowering grass) strong wire as the base ( 0.9mm upwards) made into a circular shape to fit the head gutter tape (you can use plastic or paper options, green or white, depending on personal choice) string or ribbon to tie at the back
1 Cut the selected flowers short, and let them drink in a jar of water for a couple of hours so they are as strong as possible before they are wired. Make a base from a strong but not-too-heavy wire. Use the gutter tape to cover the wire and then make two loops at each end so you can easily attach ribbon or string when you are ready to wire the flowers.
‘ideally they should be made on the morning of the wedding, though at a pinch they can be done the evening before.’
2 Cut the flowers, leaving only a very short stem, and wire in one of two possible ways: through the head with a U shape, pushing the two legs through the flower head and either side of the short stem, then use one to wrap around the stem and other leg of the wire; or take the U-shaped wire through the stem leaving even amounts either side and fold down to sit either side of the stem and again wrap one leg of the wire around the stem and the other leg of the wire. Cut all the wired stems to lengths of approximately 3 to 5cm.
Use the tape to cover the wires on each flower (make sure it is tightly bound – warm, dry hands make this easier!).
4 Starting at one end, place a flower onto the base and tape it on. Continue placing and taping the flowers onto the wire. Avoid cutting the tape – you will end up with a smarter, cleaner finish.
5 Once you have finished, make sure the two ends look pretty when next to each other and not too unbalanced (if it does not look right, you can always add an extra flower), then finish by making sure the tape is firmly stuck before cutting. Attach ribbon or string through the loops and bend the garland gently into a circular shape. Adjust the flower positions if necessary, but do so very carefully – this is easiest when the garland is on a person.