Foam Free Floral Arch at Raven Glacier Lodge

Creating wedding florals in the most earth-friendly way is important to me. This summer I had the amazing opportunity to create two arches at the lovely Raven Glacier Lodge. In both arches, I used completely renewable materials (chicken wire and floral water tubes) to create the form in which to hold the flowers and foliage. 

Here are the steps to creating a beautiful foam-free arch:

• Create a cage. Cut chicken wire the length you need to hold your installation. Gather branches with leaves attached and lie the branches inside the chicken wire. Be sure to size your cage so it’s big enough to hold all your stems and water tubes but not too big so it’s hanging way far off your structure.

• I recommend creating the cages at your studio and then adjusting them as needed once you get to your event space.

• Wrap the chicken wire around the leafy branches and secure it with bits of wire. This is the foundation of your installation. The leaves will eventually dry, and if you are able to take the installation down after the event (or get your clients to return it), you can use this again and again. 

• Attach your cage to your arch. I use zip ties for this. Cut your zip ties close once it is secured. 

• Begin designing with foliage. Use foliage to begin creating your shape.

• Add in focal flowers. If these need a water source, be sure to cut stems and put them in water tubes. 

• Add supporting flowers and small bunches. Bunches of flowers can be made, stems cut, and wrapped in wet paper towels. These can then be wrapped in a bit of plastic and stuck in the chicken wire. If the bunches are bigger than the chicken wire holes, you can snip it to make a larger opening.

• gently pull back on flowers once they are secured or gently shake the structure to make sure everything is solid!

• Add additional foliage.

• Add final flowers to round out your design.

• Hide all mechanics with any final foliage and floral bits. Don’t neglect the back-side of your installation! Pop in some foliage or leftover supporting flowers to add a special touch.

Let the party begin!

I source all my flowers first from my urban flower farm, then from other Alaskan flower farmers and and finally from Mayesh Wholesale, who guarantees that everything I order from them is American Grown.

Local and seasonal flowers are more fresh, more beautiful and more earth-friendly!

3 Reasons to Buy American Grown Flowers

I’m passionate about Alaskan grown flowers. When spring arrives our tiny farm bursts with blooms from May through September. If I need extra flowers for an event, my go-to are other Alaskan flower farmers. I have a few favorites in the Matanuska Valley!

But lets face it: during our cold winter months, it’s just impossible to get locally grown flowers. So we can go without OR we can buy flowers from the next best source: other American farmers.

Here’s 3 reasons why buying American grown is an awesome way to spend your hard earned cash:

1) Lower carbon footprint. Flowers are a perishable item. Once they’re cut, they start dying unless the process is slowed through refrigeration. Buying flowers from closer to home guarantees that less energy was spent getting the flowers to you fresh.

In addition to less time in the fridge, the flowers are less traveled. Less traveled means less fossil fuels to ship them about. As an Alaskan, for half the year we must ship in our flowers! But we can choose whether they come from CA or from South America. The latter being over twice as far.

2) Support American farms. I am not a MAGA American. I do, however, want to support local and keep money in the hands of small family farms and businesses.

Suburban sprawl is a huge threat to our farmland. Buying from other American farmers helps put money into rural hands to keep communities thriving without having to sell out to development.

Help keep farmers on farms. Help keep rural America alive.

At this time only 20% of all flowers sold in the US are American grown. WOW! We have lots of room to grow this market. There’s room for other small farmers to get in on this action. Farm on!

3) Less harmful chemicals. We grow all our flowers without the use of chemicals. We don’t spray. We fertilize only with compost and naturally occurring amendments like bone meal.

I want to be able to toss all the expired flowers I grow straight into the compost without worry of chemical leaching.

Imported flowers have less stringent environmental regulations. This means, questionable chemicals may be gracing your table alongside that gorgeous supermarket bouquet.

While “American grown” does not guarantee a chemical-free bloom, it does guarantee that farmers must follow our environmental guidelines for which chemicals to use. And although I don’t condone chemical use on farms, the chemicals used in other countries can be much worse.

And don’t take it from me: follow these links to learn more about American Grown and the Slow Flower movement.