Embracing New Floral Mechanics with 46 & Spruce

It’s part of our mission to lighten your load and help you love the world through flowers, and we love highlighting resources that can help you do just that! This post is brought to you by 46 & Spruce, an online hard goods supply company that offers a beautifully curated selection of products for event and floral industry pros—and they’re one of our Team Flower Partners!

When was the last time you allowed yourself to boldly create, without the pressure to perform for a client or project? It can be hard to set aside time to stretch our creative muscles when we’re constantly running from one deadline to another. But creativity is critical if we are going to grow our skills and stay relevant in the marketplace—and stay inspired while doing so!

Luckily, there are ways that we can stretch our creative muscles even when we don’t have time to devote to purely creative exploration—through floral mechanics!

“Mechanics” is a buzzword in our industry right now, and for a good reason. Strong floral mechanics are the foundation of our work as florists, and they allow us to build beautiful, sturdy arrangements that our clients love. They’re something that we employ day in and day out!

So how can we be creative with mechanics? One way is by exploring the new products available in our industry, ensuring we stay open to testing new methods. You may find that you can more efficiently produce elevated designs in both your everyday work and special creative play by stepping outside of your comfort zone!

One new method that has come on the floral scene and has quickly gained traction is Holly Heider Chapple’s “Pillow” and “Egg” mechanics. An upgrade from the chicken wire method, these pillows and eggs allow designers to insert stems from all angles while keeping them in place during the design process.

The pieces are lightweight, reusable, and recyclable. They can be used in a variety of ways, from compote arrangements and bouquets for weddings and events to exploratory designs like floral purses and installations!

Allow us to share some inspiration from other designers who have exercised creativity by embracing this new mechanic. May you find some inspiration to embrace new creative mechanics in both your client and creative work!

Holly Chapple

The overflowing garden-style compote arrangement is made easier with the pillow mechanic. Unlike traditional chicken wire structures, it was designed to rest on top of corresponding vase rims. This allows stems to be inserted all around the edge, giving the designs the graceful “spilling over” appearance.

Françoise Weeks

Françoise Weeks is known for her intricate botanical couture creations. In these floral purses, Francoise used the 8” pillow as her base. The best part? This purse is both beautiful and functional!

Tobey Nelson

Tobey Nelson of Tobey Nelson events is a florist passionate about sustainable floristry. In these two designs, she used pillows affixed to wooden structures to create a secure base for her large focal flowers, greens, and textural stems. As a sturdy alternative—and one that’s more straightforward to assemble than a traditional chicken wire base—this was just the solution needed to create the focal moments on this ceremony design!

Pro tip: Experiment with placing different sized water tubes within the pillow to keep delicate flowers lasting longer!

Ashley Fox

The “living meadow, or “flowers growing from the ground or table,” is a popular look! However, it can be technically challenging to execute without using floral foam. Ashley Fox of Ashley Fox Designs got creative for this colorful design and created a custom mechanical structure by attaching pillows to low glass cubes as her water sources.

The pillows provided enough support to keep even heavier stems like hydrangea in place at varying heights!

Kelly Shore

While at The Floral Field Trip, Team Flower Member Kelly Shore and other talented designers worked together to create a magnificent floral arch of fall foliage and flowers.

Beginning with a custom arch structure, and then adding in the pillow mechanics and cooler buckets, the team ensured all flowers were secure and appropriately hydrated to create this lush (and foam-free!) design.

Sue McLeary

This ethereal floating wall installation was created by using a creative combination of command strips and pillow mechanics!

This type of setup could easily and quickly be replicated at venues for wedding setups or styled shoots.

These pillow and egg mechanics are available through 46 & Spruce, who are proud to provide quality products from Syndicate Sales directly to you, the florist! We’re excited to introduce them to Team Flower, and know they will be a valuable resource for you.

From 46 & Spruce:

46 & Spruce is here to help you embrace creativity! We are excited to invite the Team Flower community to take advantage of 46 & Spruce Professional, an exclusive, members-only account featuring a curated collection of products chosen specifically for wedding, event, and floral industry professionals.

With a 46 & Spruce Professional account, you get exclusive access to bulk quantities of our floral products, such as quality floral supplies from Syndicate Sales, at attractive prices. To learn more or to set up your account, head here.

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