Floral Trend "American Gypsy"

Oxana Sanukova and Talmage McLaurin

City College of San Francisco presented in Talmage McLaurin's 2012-2013 American Floral Trends Forecast program.  We were requested to design a wedding bouquet for the  "American Gypsy"  Trend.  This hit home with us and we ran with it. The process was truly exciting!  I even nicknamed the team  "American Gypsy's".  The City College students are wonderfully diverse in so many ways. They have unique expression, individual talent and so much culture to share .  This just fits right into the Trend.  Each student has their own style with characteristics of cottage shabby, retro, country or global chic.  I truly saw each of them in this Trend.  I encourage you to visit Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters, if you haven't already.  These retail stores display a good feel for this Trend.  I asked Oxana Sanukova the youngest member of the team to led the design because this Trend has a youthful look.  It's important to see how the youthful mind is thinking.  Oxana had the freedom to explore and create after the framework, mechanics, colors, elements and flower choices were decided by the team.  I was thrilled to see how she handled this project with such sophistication.  Below are pictures of the process of this design.  I hope you get a chance to explore the possibilities with this exciting Trend.


The program was presented at the American Institute of Floral Designers National Symposium in Miami, Florida on July 15, 2012. The program was presented and led by Talmage McLaurin who is the publisher of Florists' Review Enterprises.  The Floral Forecast Trends of Rural Route, Garden Club, Sea to Shining Sea, American Gypsy and New Victorian are also explained and shown in the January, 2012 issue of Florists' Review magazine.  http://www.floristsreview.com/home

The original model design done on a smaller scale.  We experimented with this first and then welded a larger bouquet frame to expand the size for the actual design. The frame was wrapped with fabric and then larger buttons and fabric decor were added.  The technique of inserting through the button holes and wrapping onto the frame was used with silver decorative wire.

Kana picked the white hypericum berries off the stems and Yumi beaded them onto dental floss with a needle.  These were added to the bouquet by Oxana for additional accents and movement.  They took the appearance of pearls.

Yumi beading the hypericum berries on dental floss with a needle.

Oxana wired the hypericum berries to the bouquet frame.

  The completed "American Gypsy" Wedding Bouquet for the program.  The bouquet can be carried by hand or like a purse.  Gerbera, craspedia and hypericum berries were the floral materials used.

  

 Instructors and Student AIFD members on stage after the program.