Newswise — While Mississippi State floral management majors will not be privileged to attend London's forthcoming royal wedding, they are getting some practical experience designing bridal bouquet prototypes worthy of a princess.
Students in James M. "Jim" DelPrince's wedding floral design class have spent the semester researching information about the April 29 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Their goal: to create their own arrangements inspired by the much-anticipated event at Westminster Abby.
Students will create bouquet prototypes to be displayed 9 a.m.-2 p.m. April 15 in the university's Colvard Student Union. In addition to viewing the creations, observers during that time may vote on which should receive a "people's choice" award.
Historically, royal weddings set trends in design, floral arrangements, fashion and other areas. For example, English garden style weddings stayed in vogue for years after Princess Diana and Prince Charles married in 1981.
In completing their research, the young MSU designers learned about many influences related to the elaborate ceremony, including royal wedding histories and possible wedding gown designers, as well as popular trends and floriculture crops and design principles. As a result, they now are considering which personal details about the royal couple to incorporate into the bouquets.
"We know they like tradition, since the engagement ring was the blue sapphire that Charles gave to Diana," said DelPrince, an authority in Victorian era floral design and a professor of plant and soil sciences.
"We feel like this wedding also could influence future commerce in the floral industry," he said.
His wedding floral class specifically teaches about preparation, sourcing of materials and creativity involved with planning such events. Gaining experience also requires having a vision and the ability to multi-task.
"A good wedding floral designer is a good marketer and has to be really organized," DelPrince pointed out.
Projects such as this prepare are designed to prepare MSU's floral management majors for a variety of careers. Along with traditional full-service florists, positions in floral purchasing, mass-market brokering, product development, research and development, and event planning are among some career options.
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