Incorporating Fall Foliage into Your Floral Designs

Adding autumnal magic to your fall floral designs!

There’s a certain kind of magic in the air this time of year. As we approach Halloween and celebrate the harvest, the colors of our Montana landscape change to brilliant reds, oranges, and golds. Seeing these colors is one thing, but using them in fall floral designs is even more special. It’s hard to see the beauty in our backyard and not be inspired. During the fall season, we try to bring some of this foliage into our studio when working on harvest wreaths, wedding arrangements, and other floral goodies.

Whether you are working with your florist on designs for your next event or trying your hand at floral design, we recommend spending sometime outdoors to find inspiration in the landscape. Gather some beauties using ethical foraging practices and come back to the studio ready to create your fall floral designs.

Japanese Maple

We love Japanese maple leaves for their beautiful color. Adding Japanese maple to an arrangement can immediately add a touch of autumn that is hard to resist. Leaning into the red hues can provide a brilliant accent to some of the more muted yellows and oranges of the harvest season, providing depth to your design. Japanese maple branches can also give your arrangement a truly special look, giving your creation a more wild and untamed feel.

We also love Japanese maple for it’s herbal properties. Just as this foliage can provide balance to your floral design, it can also provide you with harmony between your internal and external selves. This is especially important during this season of change.

Oak Foliage

Some of our favorite wreaths in years past have incorporated oak foliage. The color of the turning leaves adds the golden yellow-orange we all crave this time of year. The texture and color of these leaves provide a brilliant base for you to work with on your design. Contrasting oak with jewel-toned dried flowers, feathers, berries, and deep reds, can create a timeless arrangement that no one will forget.

You may also consider featuring acorns in your design. Acorns are often synonymous with the autumn season and can provide a fun nod to the harvest.

Adding oak to your arrangements can bring you inner strength and wisdom, too. We love this flower essence, especially during transitional times where we find ourselves meeting new challenges and adversities.

Alder

Leaning into and celebrating native species is incredibly important to us throughout the seasons. Alder cones are autumnal perfection that can add woodland flavor to your arrangement. We especially like how they look against the more intense fall hues.

Alder’s essence can move us into clarity and lead us toward wisdom in all situations. Having clarity during these moments can be especially important as we make our way toward winter.

Tansy

Tansy is one of our studio favorites! This flower can be found along the riverbanks in Missoula and we love incorporating it into our designs. It’s shape, along with the gold-yellow of the flowers gives any arrangement a pop. In the past, we’ve featured tansy in harvest wreaths and wedding arrangement, both freshly cut and as a dried option. We’re always looking for new ways to give tansy the attention it deserves in our arrangements.

One of our other favorite things about tansy is its power of protection. We find this especially important when weaving together bountiful harvest wreaths to adorn our front doors and home spaces.

There are many other flowers to forage this time of year, too, whether on a hike or in your neighborhood.

Look to dried flower options, too!

In the fall, we often find ourselves bringing our dried flower stores into the studio. We love to mix fresh blooms with dried goodies this time of year to show how the seasons change in our arrangements. Drying flowers in the summer can give you wonderful options come this time of year when fresh flowers and foliage may be hard to find.

Fall Floral Designs for Your Upcoming Wedding

Are you planning a wedding for the 2021 season? We still have bookings available to create your floral wonderland.

Schedule your free consultation so we can discuss colors, inspiration, and more for your big day.