My favorite and least favorite floral to work with. Spoiler: it’s the same thing.
My favorite and least favorite floral to work with happens to be the same thing: pampas grass. I equal parts hate it and am obsessed with it. How can something so bad be so good?
Well… I’m a boho girl at my core. I’m in love with the stuff. I mean, look at it! It adds so much depth and style to this bouquet. Truly one of the most gorgeous additions you can make - and it doesn’t take much, either. Just a touch will really add to the look and feel of your arrangements.
Now for the downside. Dried pampas grass sheds everywhere. You don’t want to be a bride holding a bouquet up against your dress, only to have it rub off on you, leaving behind pampas grass fragments. There’s a solution to this, though: hairspray! To prep pampas grass to use, I take it outside, give it some good hard shakes to get all the shedding out (it goes all over the place!), and then give it a nice long spritz of hairspray. It holds the grass in place and keeps the shedding at bay - voila!
Something I wanted to make a point on is faux vs. real when it comes to pampas grass. This is one of the few items that I tend to use the dried version of, instead of faux. The reason is simple - I have never found a faux version of pampas grass that looks real. Every type I’ve bought, in store or online, has always come out looking boxy, shiny, and well… cheap. That is not the look we’re going for!
To illustrate how different they look, here’s a side by side of faux on the left, and dried on the right. These were taken at the same store in the same lighting. No contest, right?!
If you ask me, there is no other way to go except for dried. The only exception is when I’m using very small portions of it for accents in an arrangement that is otherwise quite full of other flowers. As an accent, used sparkingly, faux works just fine. But when you’re using it to amp up your boho vibe, the dried version on the right is where it’s at.
Below is a YouTube video I posted earlier today about this topic. Check it out for more info and to see that gorgeous pampas grass close up!
