Tips on creating floral drama

Flower arrangements these days are simple, elegant and dramatic, said Donna Lochner, who creates them for M & M The Special Events Company.

"You want it to be simple but artistic," she said. "It's not how many flowers, it's how you put them into the vision."

Here is what she used for a Chinese-themed party to celebrate the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, which opens this week in Beijing.

• Flowers include red ginger and red and white anthurium and green orchids. Monstera or split-leaf philodendron and areca palm provide foliage.

• Black aluminum wire creates stands to support some floral arrangements, and it wraps around blooms to hold other arrangements together. "Wire is a very big material," said Lochner.

• Repeat shapes. Some of the plates are triangular, so are the cymbidium orchids. Fold your napkins that way, too.

• Flowers are dramatic and beautiful, but they are accents. The food is more important. On a buffet table, the floral arrangements should frame the food.

• Lime green is a very popular color that Lochner likes with the red, black and gold. "I love green and red together," she said. "Green is a popular accent color."