Two different bouquets can be built using the same stems, yet they will feel completely different. Pale pink focal flower with cream-colored fillers will have a quieter vibe, whereas pink focal flowers with bright orange or dark purple will be louder and more energetic. Color pairing is more than simply picking pretty flowers: you have to decide which bloom you want to be heard first, and which of those stems are supporting that decision.
To practice one color pairing at a time, select a handful of fresh flowers instead of pulling out a big armful. You might choose one focal flower and then two or three supporting ones, a bit of greenery and one or two smaller-headed filler flowers. Before you arrange them, take your time to separate your flowers out into different colors of the stems. See the main color, light colors, darker colors and greens together. Doing this can make it easier to see the palette before you arrange it so your attention can get distracted by the bouquet shape.
With no trimming of your flower stems, try out two different arrangements without actually assembling a whole bouquet. For your first try, put the flower stems side by side with similar colors, such as pinks with blushes, creams and pale peaches. For the next attempt, put the same flowers with more of a contrast to the focal flower, such as pinks with yellows, burgundies and blue-toned purples. Hold them in your hands, or place them next to a clear vase. At this point, you don’t have to create a finished bouquet. You are training yourself to notice how the color pairing affects the finished bouquet before adding in any ribbon, wrapping, final trimming or anything else.
A flower bouquet starts feeling crowded when you don’t have enough contrast between each flower. This can be the case with even the most beautiful blooms in the world. If your focal flower is loud and the support flowers are also loud, then you don’t have quiet places for your eye to rest, so they might get tired of the design. Flowers like fillers and greenery can be used to help the colors breathe in between, but they don’t want to be a wall of flowers. A few stems can create the effect that you don’t want a wall of color, but rather can be used to soften a contrast, and leave room for your focal flower to be heard.
Texture can impact color as well. A smooth tulip, a ruffled carnation and a delicate filler might all be the same color, but they will look different from one another in the arrangement. When working on a bouquet, notice which flower textures give your colors more impact than other colors. A large dark flower head might draw the eye down, while the small pale filler can brighten it while still not drawing attention away from the focal flower. This is why color pairing should be checked alongside proportions, rather than as a separate decision.
Once you’ve worked on your color pairing, try putting the combination in a vase and slowly rotating it. Check out the front, side and in-between places. See if one color ends up only on the front or the side, then the bouquet could be feeling a bit off to you. If the bright color support keeps drawing you toward it and not the focal flower, try to move it lower to the bottom, or further out. Does the bouquet look too flat? Place some more greenery in between the flower colors so the heads don’t blur with each other.
One indicator of your improvement isn’t that every color combination has to look good. It is that you’re able to identify exactly what each color is doing: leading you with a stem, softening a color, offering you a contrast, or providing you with a rest for your eyes. Once you’ve identified those roles before you’ve finished building the bouquet, color pairing isn’t just a guess anymore, but rather you can start building with purpose.