With her new book, Faith Flowers, Laura Iarocci shares years of experience arranging flowers for places of worship. She covers everything from the fundamentals of flower selection, care, and arrangement to designs for regular church services, holidays, and special events. In this excerpt, Iarocci shows how to make a classic triangle arrangement.
The classic triangle is the basic form of church floral design. It can be made in a low box or classic urn. Because the shape is clearly defined, it shows well in a church. It is pleasingly symmetrical. You will see as you build it out that it is a series of triangles within triangles. The triangle is often used to represent the Holy Trinity.
The design can be softened by the addition of garden materials.
All church flower arrangers should master this design.
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Materials for Classic Triangle Arrangement (For larger designs, double the quantities)
Mechanics
- Makes one arrangement.
- One or two brass boxes (or urns)
- Liner if needed
- Oasis
- Waterproof tape
Greenery
- 5–10 stems line greenery
- 1 bunch basic filler greenery
- 1 bunch special greenery (optional)
Flowers
- 1–2 bunches line flower (1–2 varieties)
- 6–12 stems focal flower
- 5–12 stems secondary flower (optional)
- 1–2 bunches filler
- 1 bunch special (optional)
Recipe for the Design Shown Here
- Base Greenery: ½ bunch leather leaf, ¼ bunch salal
- Line Greenery: 4 stems sasanqua (from the garden)
- Line Flowers: 8 stems white snapdragons, 9 stems purple larkspur
- Focal Flowers: 8 stems rose ‘Early Grey’
- Filler Flowers: 7 stems lilac stock
Steps
- Cut Oasis to fit container. Tape one time around.
- Cover the base with salal and leather leaf.
- Set the line with the sasanqua and larkspur. One tall in the center and one at the lowest point on each side. Double up the center larkspur to make it fuller.
- Add a few pieces of greenery at heights in between to transition between the levels.
Hint: Color within the lines. Don’t let flowers go outside the lines set by the line flowers. - Space remaining line flowers between them.
- Place roses in a triangle pattern.
- Insert stock between roses.
Instructions and photos excerpted from Faith Flowers: Celebrate with a Glorious Array of Flowers, by Laura Iarocci (Stichting Kunstboak, 2018)