How to Arrange Grocery Store Flowers

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How to arrange grocery store flowers so they look like stunning professional arrangements! It’s easier than you think with this step-by-step tutorial!

My mother always had fresh flowers in the house when I was growing up and as long as I can remember I have tried to have the same in my home.  It wasn’t always easy in lean times to indulge in something like flower arrangements so I learned to get creative on a budget. 

Rather than splurging on expensive arrangements from the florist I’ve learned to make the best out of budget flowers and thought I’d share a few tips and tricks for how to arrange grocery store flowers with you today!

Tips for Buying Inexpensive Flowers

The biggest tip I can give is to visit multiple grocery stores to see which in your area has the best flowers and the best prices.  The cheapest bouquet isn’t always going to be your best bet-a puny bouquet that dies within days doesn’t save you money in the long run over a slightly more expensive bouquet that lasts longer because it’s more fresh and has been cared for.

In my experience stores like boutique groceries like Fresh Market and Whole Foods carry beautiful flowers that last a long time.  My personal favorite place to buy my flowers though is Trader Joe’s-they carry bouquets and bunches of stems at very reasonable prices. I hopped in there over the weekend and picked up 2 mixed bouquets for just under $20 total.

This is what one bouquet looked like when I simply unwrapped it and put it in the vase….not quite the look we’re going for right? Don’t worry-I’m going to show you how to make it look much better using just one of the bouquets, then how it looks even better when you add the second bouquet.

How to Arrange Grocery Store Flowers

We’re going to need our flowers of course, scissors or clippers, tape, and a vase with an opening wider at the top.

1. Create a Grid on the Top of the Vase

Fill your vase halfway with water (see this post about how to keep flowers fresh for tips on water preparation) and then use the tape to create a tic-tac-toe type grid across the mouth of your vase-this helps our flowers stay where we want them!

Separate your bouquet out in front of your work area-most bouquets come with greenery, a focal or larger flower, and a filler flower-usually something with small clusters of buds.

2. Add Greenery

Begin with your greenery-clip it to 1.5 times the height of the vase and trim any leaves that will be below the water line.

Add four stems of greenery to the outer four corners of the grid angling them outward from the vase.

3. Add Focal Flowers

Now we’re going to add in the focal or largest of the flowers.  Again we’re going to trim the stems to 1.5 times the height of the vase and remove any leaves that would be under the water. 

Add one focal flower to the center square of the grid-pointing straight up to the ceiling.  Then fill in the remaing grid spaces (the center of each side) with focal flowers leaning outward from the vase.

4. Use Filler Flowers to Finish Arrangement

Finally, trim and the filler flowers and use them to fill in any empty areas of the bouquet-much better right? But if we double the flowers it’s even more gorgeous-I always prefer to have very full arrangements when possible.

Isn’t it lovely?

How to Keep Your Flowers Fresh Longer

To keep your flowers fresh as long as possible change the water every other day remove wilting flowers immediately, and keep out of direct sunlight. (If you have room, refrigerating the arrangement at night will help it to last even longer!)

For flower-specific tips for keeping them fresh check out these posts:

• How to Keep Tulips from Drooping
• How to Keep Hydrangeas from Wilting
• How to Keep Cut Roses Fresh

Do you keep fresh flowers in your home? What is your favorite source for cut flowers?