How Scale Changes Everything
Scale is the invisible force that transforms a dozen stems into an experience. A single bloom in a colored-glass bud vase conveys intimacy and whimsy, while a hundred roses cascading down a ceremony arch evokes romance and grandeur. The flowers may be the same, but the impact is different.
You’ve seen both sides.
You walk into a wedding reception in a giant space (think: Audubon Tea Room) and don’t notice the flowers at all.
Why?
The flowers are there-- it’s a wedding, I promise they’re there.
When you look closer, there are flowers. But they’re tiny arrangements in vases not much taller than a coffee mug. It’s not that the flowers aren’t pretty or artfully arranged; it’s that they don’t make an impression. An arrangement that might look beautiful on your kitchen table looks miniature in such a towering, wide-open space.
At Kristen and Sekou’s wedding at the Audubon Tea Room, my team made a point to ensure that the arrangements accented the room. Tall, elongated vases drew the eye up toward the venue’s bright, vaulted ceiling, so guests would take in the space without letting the flowers disappear into the background. If we’d chosen shorter, wider vases (which work gorgeously in smaller, more intimate spaces), they’d barely be visible in the photo!
When we create these centerpieces, we’re considering an arrangement that has to be beautiful, visible, and sturdy as daylight slips into evening and the party really begins. A fragile, precarious arrangement at a dance party with an open bar? I don’t think so.
When the room is massive, the flowers have to hold their own.
That’s scale!
In a more intimate venue, such as the Pharmacy Museum, the florals don’t need to fight as hard for your attention. The space has a vintage coziness with lower ceilings and rustic elements like exposed brick.
In a space like this, clients typically want the venue's aesthetic to be accentuated by the florals, not overwhelmed.
For Melanie and Matt’s special day, you can see that we placed smaller vases with minimalist arrangements to add to the feel of the Pharmacy Museum. By adding candles and keeping the overall tablescape minimal, we added to the warmth and intimacy.
Fine details get lost at a distance, so precision is key in a smaller space, while larger designs require exaggeration, as we saw at the Audubon Tea Room.
If we’d offered the same vases and arrangements from Kristen and Sekou’s wedding, the Pharmacy Museum could feel crowded, even claustrophobic!
Scale changes how people feel. It goes beyond design and aesthetics —it sets the tone for the event. The floral design isn’t there just to look good; floral design affects how people feel and experience an event and the space it takes place in. Scale is what determines whether that moment is a quiet affair or an unforgettable statement.
Scale means working with the space, not against it.
Scale up your wedding, corporate event, or springtime garden party with Kim Starr Wise Floral Events:
📞 Call me: (504) 315-5607
