How to Choose the Right Vase

Vases come in a large variety of shapes and sizes. Choosing the right vase for your arrangement can be as difficult as choosing the flowers, and it’s just as important!

The two most important things to consider are width of the mouth and the height of the vase

• Width of the mouth: a wider mouth will mean you need more flowers to fill the vase properly. Choose a vase with a small mouth if you don’t have many flowers: it’s not the width of the vase that matters but the width of the mouth.
• Height of the vase: Choose a taller vase if you have flowers with long stems. These can include anthurium, lilies, delphinium and stocks. A shorter vase can be used for roses, dahlias and disbuds.

Consider the balance of your arrangement with the vase. If your flowers have large heads, such as hydrangea or disbuds, you may use a vase with a wider base even if it has a narrow mouth, such as a fish-bowl shape for example.

Vases whose mouth splays outwards can look lovely, but they can be hard to fill in the centre and can look unbalanced. You need many more flowers to make an arrangement in these type of vases.

If you have an idea of how your bunch of flowers will look when arranged, it can help you choose the right vase. Arrange them in your hand first (that’s what florists do!) and you can even tie them off and them put them straight into the vase.

Look to nature to see how flowers form and flow in nature. This may help you get the balance and flow of your arrangement right.

We are always happy to make an arrangement for you in your own vase: bring it into our store and our florists will make a beautiful arrangement for you.