Article Author:  Easy Florist Supplies Editor

Date: 20th August 2007

With glass vases becoming increasingly important to floral arrangements and wedding tables, we thought we would give you a few tips to help you pick the right vases for your occasion.

 

When buying glassware there are certain things that you should look for to ensure that you get the best quality available.

 

Firstly the glass should be clear and relatively free from bubbles. As the majority of glass vases in the UK are hand blown each piece is likely to vary slightly. Occasionally you will get a couple of small air bubbles in a glass vase, however these will hardly be noticeable to the eye unless pointed out to you, and certainly won’t be noticed once you have your arrangement set up.

 

Poor quality glass will have a lot of air bubbles in the glass, and these may vary in size from small to large bubbles. Try and avoid this as it could make your arrangement look untidy.

 

Secondly the clarity of the glass is important. You want to make sure that your guests can see what is inside the vase clearly. Try to avoid cloudy glass vases. These are often cheaper and manufactured differently to the higher clarity glass vases available.

 

Also try to avoid vases that are made using recycled glass. You can usually tell this, as a recycled vase is usually slightly green in colour. The clarity of recycled glass is often very poor, and it will not look as good in your arrangements. 

People use glass vases for lots of different occasions and arrangements. Whether it is for your wedding or a simple arrangement for your home it is important to consider the style of vase that you want, the size of the vase and also the size of the area that the arrangement will stand.

 

With the choice of styles and sizes of glass vase available constantly expanding this can sometimes be a difficult choice and often it is worth buying a single piece to test what it will look like, before you make up lots of arrangements for your wedding or event. 

With the large range of vases now available it can often by difficult to choose a style of vase for your occasion. The next section will discuss some of the popular styles available 

Bubble balls are often referred to as fish bowl vases and are a favourite for weddings and table decorations. Fish bowl vases are available in a range of sizes and our range includes 4 inch bubble balls right up to 16 inch bubble bowls.

 

Florists will often fill the fish bowls with decorative stones at the bottom followed by some sort of flowers in the top. A popular arrangement is to take three sizes of bubble ball and stack them on top of each other with the largest at the bottom and smallest at the top.

 

Apart from the standard bubble balls, you can also find fish bowls with a candle holder on the inside and also flattened bubble balls. 

Again another popular item with wedding organisers and event organisers, our large martini vases are available in a range of sizes up to a massive one meter tall. Anything is possible with these fantastic, larger than life vases, with the only barrier being your imagination.

 

These vases are available in a clear finish and also a black finish dependant on what you are after. Recently a martini vase with a wavy stem has been introduced, making them more fashionable than ever.

 

Place them in the center of your wedding tables and fill with martini and a load of straws if you like. But more often a group of two or three different sizes in the center of a table decorated with flowers works well. 

Florists are going mad for mirrored glass plates and cubes this year. A great idea from whoever thought of it. Simply place a mirrored plate in the center of your table and place a vase or some candles on top. A simple yet very stylish table decoration.

 

Often paired with the martini or cocktail vases, the mirrored plates are usually available in round and square with a variety of sizes.

 

Mirrored cubes and candleholders are also becoming more popular, and the more stylish cubes often feature a bevelled edge and black interior.  

Tall vases come in a variety of styles and look stunning at the center of an arrangement. Simple circular vases are often available up to a massive one meter high. Make sure that you don’t overload these vases to prevent them toppling over. It is often a good idea to weigh the base down with some decorative sand or stones.

 

The choice of tall vases is huge so it is a good idea to decide exactly which style you require, maybe by buying a single piece or looking at other people’s arrangements. Lily vases are often popular but for a more stylish look you could try a conical vase. 

Glass cubes are coming back to fashion. The simple idea leaves a vast range of possibilities for your arrangement. Stack them on top of each other, place them side by side, fill them with stones or coloured water, and that’s before you start adding flowers.

 

You can get glass cubes from 7cm right up to 20cm in size. Glass tanks will often be larger, mainly in height, and will appear more like a square based vase. Again these look great when your guests can see right through the glass and see what’s inside. A popular idea with cubes is to fill with roses so that the top of the rose bud is only just showing out of the top.