Creating Nosegays - How to Style A Tablescape Like A Professional - 5th in this series
Designing these lovely nosegays for my table was a creative endeavor that brought me such pleasure. Not only did I have a chance to work with the beautiful flowers that were in my centerpiece, but I also incorporated other items such as ornamental kale and sage.
First, what is a nosegay!
Very simply, a nosegay is a small grouping of fragrant flowers or herbs tied in a bundle or bouquet and often given as a gift.
Today, we use nosegays in weddings, or special events. Often you will see nosegays created using roses and other beautiful blooms. Other filler flowers such as lavender, rosemary, mint, ivy or sage are also used. On the outside, leaves such as hosta or lamb’s ears are often used to frame the bouquet.
Let’s see how I created my nosegays using different types of herbs and interesting blooms for “My French Garden” tablescape.
First, I chose which flowers and herbs I wanted to use for these little bouquets.
I chose a few of the flowers that were in my centerpiece as well as some ornamental kale and some fresh sage. Since herbs are a central ingredient to any French dinner, I chose a gorgeous sage to represent the Provence heritage. The kale was chosen because of its beautiful texture and deep hues. Both added gorgeous color to my tablescape.
Here are the flowers that I chose for my nosegays and why:
Dusty Miller: I chose dusty miller for its green/gray color. The leaves match nicely with the different grays in the table as well it added both texture and warmth to the arrangement. The fuzzy softly curved leaves filled space and gave my little arrangements some romance.
Delphinium: I added just a few delphinium for the pop of deep blue I was looking for. I wanted a vibrant blue flower to match both my vintage Spode plates and votives. Delphinium’s have very small blooms that are deeply colorful. These were perfect.
David Austin Roses - Heritage: I then added beautiful David Austin Heritage roses to the bouquet. The blush color added nicely to the brown hues in the confit pot as well gave my centerpiece a warm richness I was looking for. These beautiful roses were a bit old fashion and very fragrant. Perfect for the look I was going for, cozy and warm.
Eucalyptus: I chose seeded and silver dollar eucalyptus for its arid feel. The blue/gray color mixed well with the rest of the flowers and gave the bouquet a sweet old world feel to it.
Ornamental Kale: Ornamental kale range in color from deep purple to bright green to soft white, allowing it to be combined with a huge range of coloured blooms to fit the theme in mind. For me, it represented the infusion of cultures and the arid Italian landscape that surrounds France.
Sage: Although sage is not found in many French dishes, they do love the fragrance and different textures and colors. You will often find sage in gardens just for the love of the scent and the color variations they bring in the summer. I chose sage because it really is a beautiful herb, dark green in color and just a lovely cascading herb.
Second, I created little bundles using green floral tape.
After I cut all the flowers stems to the length I wanted, I used floral tape to secure them. Floral tape is both durable and stretches.
Using one hand, I held the little bouquets together and with the other, I wrapped the green tape around the stems creating a bouquet. Once I had the little nosegays bundled as I like them, I secured another layer of tape around the bouquet. I stretched the tape as I went around the bouquet to secure it tightly. This was to be sure it wouldn’t come apart later.
I found these pretty little french country bowls at Sur La Table. I used each as a vase. Since my flowers needed water, these bowls were perfect for holding individual bouquets.
I filled each one with water and added my nosegays. Once I had them places where I wanted, I filled the gaps around the bowl with Spanish Moss.
Spanish Moss is perfect for hiding areas around a centerpiece that have gaps. It also can stand in water and still keep its consistancy and color.
Here is an aerial view of one of my placesettings. The bowl is decorated with one of the nosegays I designed. I filled the bowl with water, added the nosegay to be sure all the stems were saturated and then filled the gaps around the bouquet with moss. Doing this created a beautifully robust centerpiece within itself.
“As Rosemary is to the Spirit, so Lavender is to the Soul.”– Anonymous
Of course, creating a design like this isn’t very practical when preparing your own table for dinner. You certainly can have beautiful little bouquets at each dinner plate if you choose, but I would recommend using them in other design elements.
I love create these little nosegays to put around my home if I am entertaining. I also use them if I want to create multiple little centerpieces that will go up and down the center of my table when hosting a dinner. Often, one centerpiece can be too large when you are decorating a table. These little nosegay vignettes are just so lovely when placed here and there around the center of your tablescape. I do it all the time.
Did you know that nosegays were first introduced in the Middle Ages, and worn in the lapels of both men and women. Since people didn’t bathe regularly, a strong odor usually pervaded everyday life. Individuals would wear the nosegay as a small bouquet, breathe in the sweet smelling flowers, thus keeping the "nose gay" or happy.
““The details are not the details. They make the design.””
“The thing is…adding a few fragrant herbs to a bouquet can add to the ambience of your design depending on what you are trying to accomplish. The sage and ornamental kale created a more casual and relaxed feel to my table which is exactly what I was hoping for. ”
Here is a quick video of my finished tablescape.
“Mon Jardin à la Française” or “My French Garden”
As with everything I post on my blogs, please feel free to comment or if you have any questions, please email me through my contact page. I welcome it anytime!
Design with your heart™️
Happy entertaining my friends!
Mary
“May your home be a place where friends meet, family gathers, and love grows. ”
Next up…in the sixth series, how about that amazing chocolate semi-naked cake that
EVERYONE was gushing over. I’ll tell you a little story about that lusious little cake.
