5 Fall Centerpieces Using Greenery and Flowers That Will Brighten Your Tables

These sunset-inspired centerpieces are vacation-worthy.

When it comes to festive floral arrangements, you don’t necessarily need to spend an arm and a leg on fresh flowers. Brooke McAfee, owner of Lilt Floral in Birmingham, Alabama, shows how to use a mix of materials to create a variety of floral arrangements. If you’re forgoing a professional for your Thanksgiving centerpiece, the florist encourages you to work with what you have. Here, she designed five golden hour-inspired arrangements using foraged materials, fresh flowers, and unique vases.

Related: How to Make Cut Flower Arrangements Last Longer

Meet our expert

Brooke McAfee is the owner of Lilt Floral in Birmingham, Alabama

Great Heights

The star of this display is the ‘Princettia Dark Pink’ poinsettia, which is surrounded by more subtle shades of pink as well as golden yellows and browns. “I love them because they are super unique and more branched, with smaller petals than traditional red poinsettias,” says McAfee. After building the base with stems of sweet gum and dried beech, plus sprigs of peppercorns and scented geraniums, she strategically placed dahlias, ranunculus, and poinsettias in flower frogs to keep them exactly where she wanted them. “Frogs are easy to use because you can stick the stems in them and they won’t go anywhere,” says McAfee, who used vintage glass frogs. “They are also a good way to keep flowers happy and fresh in the water.”

Ingredients:

How to do:

1. Start by building a base with larger stems and branches: sweet gum, dried beech, pepperberry, and scented geraniums. (Although any collected item you like will do.)

2. Gently glue the flowers (dahlias, ranunculus and poinsettias) into flower frogs and arrange them in the vase.

3. Fill with water and refill as needed.

Small statements

Instead of a large arrangement, individual flowers placed on a mantelpiece or grouped together on a side table add an easy, memorable touch. “This is a less intimidating approach, but it’s still impressive and really impactful. Just trim the stems and place them in pots,” says McAfee. It’s also more affordable, as compact containers require fewer flowers. Here, she chose a combination of tulips, ranunculus, and dahlias to fill a hodgepodge of flower vases, from double-walled glass vases to tarnished silver and recycled bottles. “I like to use just one type of vessel or mix them for a more organic look,” she notes.

Ingredients:

How to do:

1. Simply select a variety of bud vases or small containers and fill each one with water.

2. Add one to two flowers to each one.

3. Place the vases together to give the illusion of a single, larger arrangement, or spread them around the table or room.

Foraged finds

Inspired by McAfee’s standard method, this accessible concept relies heavily on outdoor treasures. “The idea is that you can just run out to the backyard, cut some pretty leaves, then throw in some flowers and that’s it,” says the florist, who suggests mixing candles and some fruit, like the pomegranates seen here, for a simple, elegant look. . With chicken wire in the bowl, she built the frame for the centerpiece using found branches (you can choose any type) and then added zinnias for cheerful color. “Wire mesh is my favorite way to design because it allows for more movement,” she says. “And everything is in water, so it lasts longer.”

Ingredients:

How to do:

1. Create a loose ball with the wire mesh and place it in the bottom of the bowl.

2. Glue branches of varying heights to the wire to create the structure and height of the arrangement.

3. Place fresh flowers in gaps where they are visible.

Balancing act

McAfee loves designing solid, sturdy containers like this concrete bathtub. “When you have a vessel that is truly structurally stable, you have the freedom to go wild and add as much filler as you want without worrying about it tipping over, especially if one side is denser,” she says. Anchoring it with a bunch of chicken wire, she created the structure of the centerpiece with foraged twigs and pepper sprigs, dried beech leaves and scented geraniums, followed by dried ‘Limelight’ hydrangeas. Next, the stylist added zinnias, caramel antique roses, dahlias, and ranunculus, building the arrangement more substantially on the right side and leaving empty space in the middle to keep the eye moving.

Ingredients:

How to do:

1. In a thick-bottomed bowl, place the wire mesh and build the base of the centerpiece with twigs, sprigs and geraniums.

2. Add dried hydrangeas to fill large gaps.

3. Lastly, add fresh flowers as desired, leaving some negative space.

Breathing Room

Soft pink and rich orange tones are the focus of this central composition. “I always like to start with twigs, like the kangaroo paw and dried beech leaves used here, to build a base of how I want the shape to look,” says McAfee, who held them in place with a block of floristic foam inside. of the footed vessel. She tucked some flowers (a combination of zinnias, dahlias, and antique caramel roses) deep to add dimension while positioning others to peek through. “I like working with negative space,” she says. “It’s more interesting and also allows you to display beautiful flowers like these ranunculus.” Persimmons appear at the bottom of the arrangement, providing extra texture and a nod to the season.

Ingredients:

How to do:

1. Saturate a block of floral foam and place it in the bottom of the container.

2. Start by pushing the branches into the foam, then place the flowers deeply to go around the edge of the vase.

3. Add ranunculus, allowing them to fill open space and add height.

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