Old school florist told me to skip the floral foam, I thought he was nuts

So my mentor back in Austin, guy who's been arranging since the 80s, flat out said floral foam is ruining my work. He told me to use chicken wire and tape for everything, even wedding centerpieces. I laughed it off because foam is so much faster and I've used it for 5 years. Then last month I did a big event, 40 centerpieces, and two of them literally collapsed halfway through because the foam got too dry. The client was cool about it but I looked bad. Now I'm trying his method on a few practice pieces and honestly the stems stay put way better. Has anyone else switched off foam completely or is this dude just stuck in his ways?

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paulnguyen11d ago

Man, that collapse moment is every arranger's worst nightmare. So what's the actual learning curve like when you switch over, does it eat up way more time on the front end or does it just feel slower at first because you're not used to it? I'm curious if the speed comes back after a few dozen pieces or if this old guy just has way more patience than the rest of us.