Two years ago, my husband and I had a wonderfully small and intimate wedding in the backyard of my parent’s house. Due to the fact that the day we chose was the busiest wedding date of the year, and that we planned the whole thing in only a few months, there were no florists available. My mum, who has always had a keen design eye and a crafty nature, decided she could take on the task herself. She went to her favourite florist, Sweet Violets, ordered all the flowers and asked a few questions. From there she got to work, designing and executing all of the floral arrangements for the big day.

I asked her to disclose her method for anyone who might be interested in creating their own floral arrangements – whatever the occasion!

For the small arrangements that would be used at the dinner, she cut out a circle of sheer, green organza and pulled it around a small glass vase, using a piece of cream-coloured organza ribbon around the neck to secure it. She trimmed ten 'super green roses' and arranged them in the vase tightly, like a bouquet:

For the larger arrangements used in the ceremony, she ordered green spider mums, green al chamilla, white dahlia, white hydrangea, decorative cabbages and a collection of filler greens. She took 1 ft tall vases and made a grid on the opening using floral tape. First, she filled the grid with the greens, packing them tightly. She arranged the large hydrangea and cabbage and then filled in the rest of the vase using the spider mums, freesia, dahlia and al chamilla:

What do you guys think? Anyone have any great tips for creating your own floral arrangements?