A topiary tale - how a woman made 15 wedding topiaries

Sunset, May, 1996 by Christine Weber Hale

How making 15 wedding centerpieces took over her life

I can laugh about it now. But believe me, after a frenzied four-day marathon of single-handedly making 15 topiaries for a friend's wedding reception, I was much closer to crying.

It all started with breezy overconfidence. My good friend Joan had fallen in love with the idea of dried-flower topiaries as table centerpieces for her garden wedding reception, but at a retail cost of more than $100 per topiary, she couldn't afford to purchase one for each table. When I unwisely remarked that one could make topiaries for much less money, she looked hopefully at me for a moment, then asked, "Could you?" I glibly assured her that indeed I could, and volunteered for the project - though I had never made a topiary in my life.

Fortunately, I had friends who had made them and who were happy to provide how-to instructions. Six months before the wedding, I made a prototype, which went together fairly easily and quickly, considering my lack of expertise. First, I spray-painted a small clay flowerpot gold and set it aside to dry completely. Then I poured plaster of paris into a plastic flowerpot small enough to fit inside the clay pot, and inserted a straight branch topped with a 6-inch-diameter plastic foam ball. I held the ball in place between two chairs while the plaster dried.

To attach the ball, I gently poked one end of the branch about 2 inches into the foam, removed the branch and added some hot glue to the hole, then replaced the branch and let the glue dry for a few minutes. Once that had set, I covered the ball with white glue and pressed on green moss (from the garden department at Orchard Supply) to cover it completely. This took about half an hour. After another drying period of about 8 hours, I attached individual dried flower buds using a glue gun. Joan's wedding flowers were pink, cream, and yellow, so I used dried rosebuds and larkspur. I also threw in some deep blue-purple statice to pick up the royal blue of the bridesmaids' dresses. To protect the flowers from shattering or fading, I sprayed them with florist's sealant.

Finally, I inserted the topiary into the painted clay pot, glued a thick layer of moss over the plaster to hide it, and tied a bow around the "trunk." I took a photograph and mailed it to Joan, who gave me her stamp of approval to make the remainder in the same fashion.

I breathed a sigh of relief. If I made a couple of topiaries each weekend, I'd be finished long before the big day.

As always, the best-laid plans went haywire and I was finally reduced to doing all the topiaries in one four-day weekend. And they quickly lost their charm in mass production. The acrid, chalky smell of the huge quantity of plaster of paris nauseated me, and I burned blisters on most of my fingers with the hot glue. My back throbbed from hours of leaning over while attaching the flowers. I began to understand why ready-made topiaries command such high prices.

In the end, I finished them in time and they made wonderful centerpieces. After the reception, Joan gave them away as thank-you gifts to friends and relatives who had helped with the wedding. She offered one to me, but I'd had my fill. I might make more someday, though, now that I've learned some valuable lessons.

TOPIARY TIPS

* Don't leave this project until the last minute! The plaster of paris needs at least a day to set, as does the white glue used to attach the moss. Allow yourself plenty of time to attach the flowers - it's a painstaking process.

* Don't do this by yourself. Invite an army of friends over to help, and make a party of it. Have several glue guns and a large work area available.

* If possible, buy your flowers at a wholesale flower market. You will save a significant amount of money and can buy them in large quantities.

* Be sure to cover the drain holes in the bottoms of the plastic flowerpots with tape to prevent plaster from running out before it sets.

* Never pour the plaster directly into clay pots; always use plastic pots, then place them in clay pots later. Plaster expands while hardening and can crack or break the clay.

* Wear cotton gloves while attaching the flowers (if you still can handle the flowers delicately with gloves on) to protect your fingers from the hot glue.

* Sit in a chair with good back support, and work at a table. I sat on the family room floor so that I could watch television while I worked, and my neck and back paid the price.

* If you're making the topiaries far in advance, keep them covered to prevent dust buildup. Don't cover them with plastic bags, as I did with the prototype. I don't know whether contact with the plastic bag or a lack of oxygen was the cause, but the flowers faded dramatically. A better solution would have been to drape them gently with tissue paper or a lightweight cloth.