Lili makes ... a bouquet

One of my colleagues (and a good friend) defended her PhD yesterday (and she did great btw!).
I worked in a flower shop all through university, and I loved it. It's been almost 6 years ago since I last worked there, but I always have this Proust-madeleine experience when I pass by a flower shop or stall ... So it was pretty obvious for me that when colleagues decided I would be in charge of the bouquet we would hand her at the end of the defense (since I "know" my way around best), that I personally would assemble the bouquet - which I did. I just went to the local market (it conveniently was the same day as the defense, so yay for fresh flowers!), chose what I wanted and assembled it at home.
This is the result :-)

Before: getting things ready

And after!

The bouquet was made out of "Vampire" roses, hypericum and alstroemeria. I also used tree fern, leather fern and bear grass.
I also applied a trick from my florist days: the water bubble. It's very easy, and comes in handy if you know your host doesn't really have a vase at hand.
You just cut out two squares out of some wrapping plastic, and place one on top of the other (extra layers, so the water won't flush out). You take the plastic sheets and wrap them around the bottom of your bouquet, as if you wanted to make a "bubble". Secure everything at the bottom of your bouquet (last picture: where you can see the ribbon) with tape, and then you fill the bubble with water (I did it with my shower hose, so you don't spill any water. If you have a long water tap, that's just fine - I just didn't have the space in my tiny kitchen to do so). The trick for having the bouquet standing up without tipping over is cutting the bouquet in a 'straight' manner. Just test out before making the bubble whether your bouquet can stand upright without tipping over, and you'll be fine. I hope this makes some sense ;-). If not, please feel free to ask!

Thanks for stopping by!