Sarah is a Connecticut native who traded the hustle and bustle of her media career in New York City for the pastoral Litchfield Hills. In 2009, she launched Sarah Worden Natural Design, which delivers one of a kind floral design and styling for weddings and special events throughout Connecticut. SWND is dedicated to promoting quality and sustainability through the use of local and seasonably available flowers by supporting local farms and vendors whenever possible. Sarah relishes small-town life in the country with her husband Nat and young sons, Gus and Sam.
1) How do you promote both quality and sustainability in your role as a floral designer for weddings?
The goal is to use what is in bloom in your area to get closer to the source and minimize shipping from around the world. Sometimes flowers that you see in the supermarket or florist have been half way around the world and alive for well over a week before they get there! Like with food, if you know where your flowers are coming from, you know more about their overall quality. Not to say that gorgeous flowers cannot be purchased from Africa or South America (they certainly can!) but it’s a nice thing to at least be aware of a flower’s source both for environmental reasons, to support your local economy, and because local often means the best quality — which means it holds up and looks the best! Not everyone feels this way but there’s something odd to me about a backyard wedding at a colonial home in Connecticut strewn with orchids and exotic plants; it doesn’t fit.
Also worth noting is that there is a wave of young and savvy farmers across the country who are working hard to improve their land and communities by investing in growing [often organic] food for restaurants and flowers for the trade. I like to try to support these people because they are my friends and neighbors here in rural Connecticut. I even get to send a list of what flowers I would like to see, and if I’m lucky, they appear in one of my weddings the next year!
2) Explain how seasonal flower arrangements are different. Which flowers complement each season?
Again, seasonal flower arrangements really means paying attention to selecting flowers based on your location and event date. The most well known flowers for spring are bulbs like tulips, hyacinth and allium. And peonies of course, everyone’s favorite! Ranunculus has become very popular (a greenhouse grown plant that is imported, at least here in New England). Astilbe has also emerged as a popular accent flower in the last couple years. My favorite option for spring is to try to integrate local foliage into your overall design by incorporating spring blossoms (cherry/apple/quince/dogwood) and shrubs like viburnum and lilac.
Summer tends to have a lot of options as far as cut garden flowers, wildflowers, and herbs. The list is endless but the most popular tend to be hydrangea, garden roses, and some of the rustic textured accent flowers like queen anne’s lace, crespedia, and eryngium thistle. I love to incorporate all types of herbs, and even fruiting berries and their foliage like raspberry and blackberry in late Summer.
Late Summer and Fall is known for dahlias, sunflowers and fabulous grasses, berries and foliage. There are many bright, jewel-type colors available in the autumn months like celosia and amaranthus. The cabbage flower, a smaller, stalked version of the ornamental cabbage you see at nurseries, has become quite popular in the flower trade and really mimics a large rose or peony.
Winter is all about branches, rustic greens, and berries. In New England especially, we have to get creative in the winter, as there is little to choose from — gold and silver accents and candlelight! I like to import lush flowers in deep colors and mix them with local pine and hemlock.
{Photo: John Kane}
3) What are the current trends (if any) with flowers? Any particular colors? Or add-ons, like feather, cottons, wheat for example?
The trend over the last couple years is natural, loose wild-looking arrangements incorporating large, petally flowers with more rustic accents and lush foliage. The bouquets are all of a sudden getting much bigger this year when they have been smaller in the recent past. Colors go in and out of fashion but gray is a major accent again this year. Pale, blush colors tend to be very popular for weddings but we are seeing a lot of bold pops of color this year like orange/coral and deep plum/burgundy. The black-centered anemone if very hot, as is clematis and other vining flowers like jasmine, but can also be very pricey!
{Photo: Bringham & Co}
4) Do arrangements every mimic or mirror any pop culture trends like say, “Downton Abbey”, for example?
Yes, I think cultural trends in film and art world certainly inform wedding design and specifically flower trends. The Great Gatsby and “Downton Abbey” were both referenced a lot last year. I think the economy plays a part as well. For example, a couple years ago it was all about mason jars and simple, rustic elegance. Now the economy is picking up and you are seeing bigger, more elaborate arrangements and more flash, like gold accents and metallics of all kinds. Bronze, brass and copper vases are becoming fashionable again both for formal and informal weddings. The overall table design and container options are obviously closely influenced by fashion and interior design trends.
{Photo: Jag Studios}
5) Where do you go to get inspiration, professional development or community within your field?
The wedding industry is a huge but also niche business of professionals of all kinds — bakers, stylists, florists, make-up artists, caterers, photographers, lighting experts, and so on. Blogs are HUGE for the wedding business and the professionals within the field follow them as closely as our clients do. Pinterest is a very popular tool for floral designers to communicate with their clients and also stay up on wedding trends and the business at large. For example, I follow a select group of other floral designers on Pinterest and Instagram and I’m always inspired by their work! Most of them are obsessed with flowers like I am so we get really nerdy posting photos and talking about detailed flower stuff that most people wouldn’t really be interested in.
{Photo: Jag Studios}
6) In which ways are flowers be using differently in weddings these days? Do you see unique ideas based off of, say, Pinterest pin boards or other web-based communities?
I suspect much of what is popular for flowers in weddings circles back over time like fashion does. So I’m not sure if these ideas are entirely new but people are using flowers in all sorts of exciting ways these days — and yes, the wedding blogs and Pinterest have played a large role in helping to circulate a lot of these ideas. Floral crowns are very popular right now. Clients are getting all sorts of interesting ideas for their escort cards and often want to display them on an elaborate table presentation that involves flowers and props. Table numbers, dessert tables, lounge areas and ceremonies of course are all areas where floral and styling elements factor in in a big way. Floral designers often play an instrumental role in and often even design and execute the entire look of the ceremony, the escort card presentation, and so on. For example, in my own business, I rent antique prop pieces and a couple alters and chuppahs I have built from natural materials. I even rented a client my father’s vintage ford truck last year and decorated the back with flowers!
———————————————————
Liz Mathews is a Connecticut based mother, teacher, and freelance writer who blogs on children’s books and related topics at La La La (http://lalalaliz.com/). Her work has appeared in Quality Women’s Fiction, Town and Country magazine, and Literary Mama.