12.06.23

San Diego Floral Event Recap

What a great turn out at the IIDA Southern California Chapter Floral Design event this week, hosted at Ferguson Pape Baldwin Architects. This was IIDA’s second annual event where Membership co-chair and interior designer, Laura Vavrunek, demonstrated for members and guests how to create a festive floral centerpiece.

See all the photos of the event here!

Most had never made arrangements before, but were up for the challenge. She shared her tips on floral types used in the demonstration – fillers and showstoppers – using a mix of lemon and bay leaf greens, mums, lilies, roses, carnations and alstroemeria. And the color selections were perfect for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. She noted the arrangements could last at least two weeks with proper care and watering.

New this year was the use of floral foam. The foam was soaked in water for a few minutes to hold the water and help stabilize the placement of flowers. It’s easy to cut – like a knife through butter – and can be formed to any container shape. An added benefit – it is 100 percent biodegradable.

Once the greens and filler flowers were shaped to the container, Laura selected the feature flowers to add to the arrangement – bronze and terra-cotta colored roses, dusty cream carnations and deep golden spider mums. These were thoughtfully placed to fill-in the gaps and draw attention to the whole arrangement. For the “icing on the cake”, she placed a bountiful stem of red illicium berries to give it that festive touch.

Now it was time for the participants to try their hand and practice what they learned. They started by selecting their favorite shaped container, choosing from square or round shapes, then went “shopping at the floral market” for their pre-wrapped selection of flowers. This ensured equal quantities of fillers and showstoppers to create their masterpieces.

Lots of questions around the room as they got started and tried to remember how tall to cut the foam, which flowers came first and if their greens were properly covering the base. Laura was at hand to steer them in the right direction, while allowing their own creativity to blossom.

As the night came to a close, you could look around the room and see the beautiful transformation of completed arrangements ready for the holiday tables. We gathered everyone together for our group photo – 24 in all – to show off our works of art. You are all floral designer graduates! Thank you Laura to your floral design guidance.

This event would not have been possible without the support of our volunteers and IIDA industry partners who sponsored the event – MDC, 3Form, SDLA, Wilsonart, ICE/Teknion, SitOnIt and – Grant+Associates. Their participation also included exhibit tables and time to network before the event while indulging on catered sliders and charcuterie by Gourmet Artisan.

A big thank you to the IIDA Membership co-chair Kate Novikova of FPBA who helped plan this event, along with the prep help by Scarlett Xu of FPBA, Sheryl Gayeski of LevelLines and Erica Roman of Howard’s rug. And to Laura Vavrunek of FS Design Group and her floral business Vavuum Florals for her expertise. Let’s do this again!