How To Make A Hydrangea Arrangement Centerpiece In 7 Easy To Follow Steps

Hello, my name is Bisli Vazquez and today, I will be walking you through the steps on how to make a hydrangea flower arrangement. Whether for your next DIY project or big event, hydrangea arrangements are widely known for the appeal they bring due to the size of their head. I will walk you through the process of…

• How to envision your design
• The tools you will need
• Choosing the vessel
• Setting up the mechanics
• Arranging the flowers

About Hydrangea Flowers

Before I start writing about how to make a hydrangea arrangement in-depth, I would like to tell you about this beautiful but complicated flower if you don’t know how to handle and care for it. Hydrangeas are very thirsty flowers. It loves to be hydrated, especially when it is already in your design, so they look their best. When you receive the hydrangea, it usually comes from a long journey, especially if you buy them from the wholesaler. 

If you order them directly from the farm, open the boxes to see the water source they arrived with once you receive the flowers because they are either shipped with water tubes or a small clear bag with water. If any of them don’t have enough water, remove it from the water source it was shipped with and recut the stem at least five inches from the bottom of the stem. Then place it in a clean bucket with water. Leave it hydrating overnight, so they drink enough water. 

I never use a flower cooler. Instead I use my design room which has an individual air conditioning unit which will do the job. Check the hydrangeas the following day to see if they are doing well. 

Before starting the design process, recut all the hydrangeas and place them in a clean bucket with water and flower food. Make sure the bucket is clean and disinfected so the flowers don’t get infected with bacterias.

The day you start designing, if any hydrangeas look thirsty, get a clean container and place cold water in it. 

Afterwards, submerge the head of the hydrangea in the water and leave it for at least 60 minutes to make sure they are hydrated 100%. You may ask why to place the head of the hydrangea in the cold water? Because the hydrangeas hydrate faster this way. Start designing with hydrangeas one day before the event, so they still look great once in the design. Add water twice a day and before transporting them to the venue. 

This flower is great to design with because you will not need that many hydrangeas to have a nice centerpiece if your budget for the flower is small. When ordering the flowers, always order at least 10% more of what you will need to have replacement flowers as required.

This flower is not inexpensive like some think, but it is relatively less expensive compared with other flowers with smaller heads and the price per stem. Let’s say you want to use roses instead of hydrangeas. You will need at least seventy-five roses and greenery to make the same side of the centerpiece, when you will only need twenty-five if you use hydrangeas.

How do you save money? The insertion of the stems are less, so there is minimum labor. Another feature of this flower is that it comes in a variety of beautiful colors including blue. This color is hard to find in other flowers. It also comes in different sizes, the larger one is the one that I enjoy working with the most. It is called jumbo. There are standard and mini sizes and I like to incorporate mini flowers in the bridal bouquet because they are not oversized. 

The largest one is perfect for centerpieces and large floral sculptures, while the standard ones can be used for centerpieces or bridal bouquets. Sometimes when the budget is very small, the bride decides to have one jumbo hydrangea for her bouquet and a standard size for the bridesmaids. The beauty of this flower is that florets form the head. These are individual flowers that have their own mini stem, so you can cut them individually.

There are antique hydrangeas that, when they dry, still look so beautiful in the floral design. A few years ago the hydrangea was a very popular flower for their size and beauty. The arrangements were made in a more romantic style, but nowadays is a more natural look. There are still many clients that love to incorporate hydrangeas within their event flowers. 

Envisioning The Design You Are Aiming To Create

In order to learn how to make a hydrangea arrangement you must learn how to envision it first. To properly envision your design try closing your eyes and visualizing what it is you want to experience and feel when you look at your dream creation. Are the focal flowers a particular color? Do you feel that a glass vase is ideal for your arrangement? Do you see that adding details are suitable for this floral design? How large do you want the focal flowers to be? How small do you want the filler flowers to be? What is the shape of the mechanic? Be sure to ask many questions when trying to envision your design. 

The Tools You Will Need

Now that you are almost ready to form the design of the hydrangea flower arrangement you have envisioned, we can discuss what tools you will need to begin in the next step of our how to make a hydrangea arrangement guide. 

• You will need a floral knife to cut the flower stems at an angle. 
• You will also be requiring some wire cutters if you are using chicken wire. 
• If you intend to use floral foam, then you can cut the foam with any regular knife. It’s less messy to cut it when it’s wet. 
• You will need floral tape to secure the container and foam/wire together so that you can move on to placing the flowers. 
• You will also need flower preservatives to keep your flowers lasting longer and staying fresh. 
• It is good to buy gloves so you do not cut yourself or hurt your hands when handling the flowers or the mechanics, especially if you are working with chicken wire.

Once you have all of your tools together, we can discuss where and how to buy Hydrangeas.

Where And How To Buy Hydrangeas

The next step in our guide on how to make a hydrangea arrangement is knowing where and how to buy Hydrangeas. You need to know where and how to buy hydrangeas. I suggest buying them directly from the farm or from a local wholesaler that can get them fresh. This is because if the flowers have been in the cooler for a couple of weeks, then they will not look good for your design. You must know how long they are going to last, and that is why you should buy them new and not old as they might already have bacteria. 

To make this flower last longer, it is good to cut the leaves. The leaves could contaminate the water and the hydrangeas could get infected with bacteria. Remember to cut the flower stems at a 45 degree angle as this will impact how the hydrangea absorbs water in a positive way helping them to last longer and stay fresh for more time.

Let’s discuss how to identify if the hydrangeas are not new. They may have brown spots, when you touch it it feels soft, the florets have a wilted appearance, or the leaves look yellowish or brown. 

I want to share with you something I discovered. I left some hydrangeas in a tied clear plastic bag for a weekend in my warehouse without the air conditioning on so on Monday we would dispose them. When I went to my warehouse we were cleaning the hydrangeas and they looked as fresh as when they came from the farm, why? This is because the humidity kept them hydrated.

If you plan on using greenery, then be sure to buy them the same time you buy your hydrangeas so you don’t have to go back to the wholesaler for it. You can use greenery in your hydrangea arrangement if you want to create a more natural style of flower arrangement. 

Choosing The Vessel

Now that your supplies are ready and your flowers are prepared for your hydrangea arrangement, it is time for the next step in our guide on how to make a hydrangea arrangement. It is now time to choose a vessel. By vessel I mean the container the arrangement will be placed in or on top of if your design is tall.

You can use any container you like that fits your vision. This can be a glass container, a wooden container, a vase, or any other container you want for your hydrangea arrangement. Once you have selected your vessel, ensure that you have enough chicken wire or floral foam to start arranging.

Setting Up The Mechanics

When we discuss the mechanics, we discuss the infrastructure in which you will be arranging the flowers and how it is used to hold the piece together. If you are using chicken wire, then be sure to use wire cutters to cut the chicken wire to any dimensions you need. After you have cut the chicken wire, you can then tape it onto your container using waterproof adhesive waterproof floral tape to help keep the mechanic together so your hydrangea design stays in one piece.

Arranging The Flowers

Now that you have the mechanics ready for the hydrangea arrangement, it is time to place the flowers in the floral foam or chicken wire. Be sure that your hydrangea stems are cut at a 45-degree angle before you put them in the floral foam if this is part of your mechanic.

Place the focal first, the flowers that gather the most attention in your arrangement. After you have placed your focal flowers, you can place the secondary or medium flowers. Now it is time to add filler flowers to your arrangement so the mechanic, the floral foam/chicken wire or tape, is not seen anymore. The perfect size for filler flowers vary, but once you get to this step in arranging your flowers you will know what size flowers to use. Fill in all the extra space with your fillers as needed.

Be sure to keep your flowers close together for a lush romantic look that will attract the attention of the guests. Now that you have put in your fillers, your hydrangea flower arrangement is now completed. Be sure to keep your flowers hydrated for as long as possible to keep your arrangement fresh for a longer period of time.

Tip: If you are using a glass container, then you can add some props inside your arrangement to give it a more appealing look. This can be fruit slices, crystals, leaves, or marbles for example.