'Beauty lies in the moment'

Florist and master binder Ilona Oostenveld runs her studio with heart and soul. ‘After having a shop for years, I recently chose a new path: no more opening hours, but a studio where work is only done on order. I wanted more freedom and creativity in my work. In a store you are often bound by the clock. Now I work by appointment, I can fully focus on the wishes of my customers and I have more time for freelance work.’

‘I get my inspiration from daily life, a walk through the forest or beautiful art that I come across, those are things that stimulate me. Nature gives me endless ideas, especially in the summer. That is the most beautiful season for me: everything blooms, lives, and sparkles. I like to work with seasonal flowers – Delphinium and peony are the real summer flowers for me.’

Ilona's floral work is an ode to color, seasons and the small happiness of every day. 'In a world that is often rushed, I want to show that beauty lies in the moment - if you have an eye for it. I love the colors and the trend of today: organic shapes and natural tones, which brings nature even more inside!'

Summer power

We've already had a taste of it this spring: summer. And what is particularly striking about those first beautiful summer days is the power that this brings about. Not only in nature, which literally explodes, but also in people. Everyone seems more cheerful, lively, and full of energy.

Mirror, mirror

The base of this bridal bouquet is a round mirror with a frame of wooden sticks. A handle is made from rustic wire, which is wrapped with binding wire for a neat finish. Subsequently, all the flowers are glued to the mirror frame, with the unusual, and therefore exciting, use of color catching the eye. Flowers used: spray roses, lisianthus, spray chrysanthemum, Peperomia leaf, Craspedia, Chasmanthium grass, Limonium, Talinum 'Long John' and Gloriosa. 

Floating droplet 

This seemingly simple bridal bouquet has a base of thick aluminum wire with a number of thin aluminum wires in gold color over it to fix the shape. Over the frame, only tendrils with small tufts of yellow and white Limonium set on bullion wire are wrapped to create this filled teardrop. A ring wrapped with thin aluminum wire functions as a handle. In the middle, it is fixed with a wire, creating space between the bouquet and the handle, making the bouquet appear to float. As a finishing touch, three yellow Gloriosa flowers are glued to the top. 

Cuddly

A stem made of wire is attached to an Oasis lady round bridal bouquet holder, the whole thing is sprayed gold. To make it more comfortable to hold, the bottom is covered with pieces of wool. Fluffy Stipa grass is glued to the outside with hot glue, which gives it an extremely cuddly appearance. To finish the edge nicely, stones in the same color are glued on. The flowers, lisianthus, Scabiosa, gypsophila and carnation, are inserted, then Peperomia and Begonia leaves and a jasmine vine are glued on.

Airy lilac

The base of this refined fan-shaped bridal bouquet is made of rustic wire. This is attached to a curved wire wrapped with copper-colored bullion wire – to obtain a fan shape. To create more airiness, brown fiber rope is attached to the base. Subsequently, the hand-tied bouquet is arranged in this base with Scabiosa, carnation, Clematis, Limonium, Clematis fluff, stripped Asparagus, and jasmine vines in pink, cream, and lilac shades. The stems are finished with a lilac-colored ribbon.