An anchor-shaped funeral wreath

Sometimes work in a flower shop goes beyond the usual — that happens when an out-of-the-ordinary order comes in. A client ordered a very unusual funeral wreath. A wreath in name only, really, because it was to be an anchor made of flowers.

This piece is unusual enough that I am happy to show how it was made.

It all started with printing a picture of an anchor on an ordinary printer and then scaling it up onto kraft paper. That gave me a 1:1 template. With the template and a sheet of plywood I had bought, I drove over to a carpenter I know. A few minutes on the machine and I had the anchor cut out, along with the remaining parts needed for the frame.

The whole structure was screwed together and fixed with screws and metal angle brackets: a double base, an upright arm and the anchor itself. We screwed plastic holders for the floral foam onto the anchor, plus two foam holders on the sides. Once fixed in place, the soaked foam was trimmed to the shape of the anchor.

The rest was precise work on the arrangement of chrysanthemums, spray roses, delphinium, hydrangea and eucalyptus. For the finishing touch, I added a hemp rope.

The result — delighted clients, and one more unusual commission I can add to my projects.