DIY Floral Table Runner Tutorial

This post is part of a DIY Wedding Flower & Decor series in partnership with Bloom Culture Flowers. In this series, you’ll find expert decorating and floral advice from Alison Fleck, design genius and founder of Bloom Culture. We hope you enjoy this edition where you’ll learn how to create your own DIY floral table runner for your wedding reception tables!

These DIY floral table runners (or rectangular centerpieces) are one of the most multifunctional pieces we use in our floral business. They are great to use at your ceremony and turn around and use them at the reception. With longer rectangles or farm table styles becoming more popular to use at receptions, these arrangements help cover some serious surface area! The length and shape of the tables require a different approach to how we decorate them. These pieces are awesome to add gorgeous DIY floral touches to these style of tables. 

DIY Floral Table Runners / Rectangular Centerpieces

Supplies Needed

• An 18” Floam Raquettes
  (they come in different sizes so select the one that best fits your needs)
• Floral Snips

Flowers & Greenery:

Here is exactly what we used in this tutorial. 

• Greenery: 
  • 6-8 Stems Leather Leaf
  • 8-10 Stems Salal
  • 6-8 Stems Gunni Eucalyptus
  • 6-8 Stems of Baby Blue Eucalyptus
• Flowers:
  • 3 Protea
  • 6 Fuchsia Roses
  • 8 Deep Purple Roses
  • 5 Burgundy Snapdragons
  • 8 Hypnosis Carnations
  • 4 Alstroemeria
  • 3 Astrantia 
  • Sprays of Wax Flower as needed

DIY Floral Table Runner Instructions

Now that you’ve gathered all your supplies, let’s get into how to put together this stunning tablescape.

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Part 1: GREENERY: 

We always start with greenery! 

• For this arrangement you will want to start with longer pieces of greenery on the ends, here we’ve used Leather leaf. For this specific design we want it to be long but not too wide. I like to keep the width to 4 or 5 inches. So feel free to go long on the ends and shorter on the sides.  
• I also break downt the stems to fill in the middle sections of the foam. (Here is a quick video on what I mean by “breaking down stems”, you can apply this to all greenery.) Remember to use different lengths and sizes here to help create depth. You don’t want to use the same size of greenery as it could end up looking too uniform and rigid. 

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• Next I move on to a different greenery called Salal, this greenery has a different shade of green and a different leaf structure. I place the Salal in a similar fashion as I did the shorter stems of Leather Leaf. There isn’t an exact formula to this, just keep filling in until you think the Salal is evenly dispersed. Then continue with the Gunni Eucalyptus, layering in each variety as you go with the same approach. 

• I finished greening with the Baby Blue Eucalyptus, which is very linear and very rigid. Usually, I use this variety to add some length and a variety of color. I basically use this sparingly more like an accent. 

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Part 2: FLOWERS:

Focal Flowers: Protea, & Roses

• Protea
  • These are large and bulky so keeping the number we use low is a good idea. I’ve used three here and placed them first to help focus the design on them, and I wanted to make sure they were front and center. 

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• Roses
  • I’m using two different rose varieties in this tutorial and first up is the fuchsia rose. I usually work in three’s. Meaning I place three flowers at a time in a loose grouping. In this design since it’s linear, I focused on placing them evenly from one end to the other, placing them at different spots at varying stem lengths. 

Next I place the Deep Purple roses and focus on varying stem lengths and even distribution. Again, no specific science here, just do what feels right on the placement and if three isn’t working, use two, or one! 

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• Line Flower
  • Here I’ve used the gorgeous burgundy Snapdragons. I typically treat these in similar fashion as the longer pieces of greenery and have used them more on the ends of the arrangement to help create length and reinforce the shape of the arrangement. 
• Spray Flowers
  • Now I begin placing our spray flowers. Here I’ve used Alstroemeria which is a great flower not only for color but for longevity. They last a LONG time. With the sprays you can use the stem as it is or break down the sprays into smaller groupings. 

• Accent Focal Flowers
  • Next up is the gorgeous Hypnosis Carnations. I treat these the same way as the roses. I *try to* work in three’s and vary the stem lengths, evenly distribute. 

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Detail Flowers

• Astrantia
  • It is also a spray but I use it more as an accent flower here due to the deep color and texture it provides. Again, in some places I use the whole stem and in some I break it down into smaller groupings. 

Filler Flowers

• Wax Flowers
  • Lastly, we work in the filler flowers. Here I’ve used Wax Flower to fill in spots that seem like they need another flower or to break up solid masses such as greenery or roses, etc. 

And voila! A beautiful, rectangular table runner-style floral arrangement. Perfect for a head table!

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DIY Floral Runner Centerpiece Video Tutorial

If you are a more visual learner or need more clarification, please check out our full-length tutorial where I walk you through this design process step by step! 

At Bloom Culture flowers we help creative brides stay in control of their wedding budget and enjoy the most beautiful wedding flowers. Because with us, do-it-yourself doesn’t mean do it alone! If you’re a bride on a budget looking to DIY your wedding flowers, we’d love to help! Hope you feel inspired as we truly think DIY is a wonderful & cost-efficient way to have gorgeous wedding flowers! Check out our pre-created DIY flower packages or have us design one for you!  Happy flowering! 

More about Bloom Culture

Doing your own wedding flowers has never been easier. With Bloom Culture, we set you up with a guided approach and a step-by-step process. We give you flower recipes, a supplies list, a timeline, tutorials and so much more! We are your one-stop-shop for all things DIY Flowers and we can ship the flowers directly to your door! Because with us, DIY doesn’t mean do it alone.

Content designed, created, and written by Alison Fleck of Bloom Culture Flowers

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