Altar flowers are a simple way to enhance the beauty of any church. Pre-cut and pre-arranged flowers can be expensive, however, forcing many to reconsider their worth. Arranging your own altar flower arrangements can cut back their cost significantly. With the right types of flowers, a bit of creativity and a few key tips, you can arrange your own flower arrangements to be placed on your church's altar in a matter of minutes.

Purchase (or cut if you have your own flower garden) the flowers to go in your arrangement. There should be several different types of flowers: one or two large, ornate and colorful type(s) that will act as the arrangement's focal point (roses, tulips and daisies are a few of the types of flowers that can be used as the focal point), one or two filler or background flowers that are smaller and less ornate (baby's breath, dianthus and alstroemeria are a few of the different types of filler flowers) and some greens (usually ferns) that will be used to fill in any extra spaces.

Select the vase(s) that will be used to display your flowers. The vase will determine the overall size of your arrangement (large vases can hold more flowers, thus making the arrangements larger; square vases allow the flowers to be arranged in a square shape). If you will be creating more than one flower arrangement, try to have at least two vases of the same size and shape to create symmetry across the altar.

Fill the vase(s) with water and flower food. Position the vase(s) on a platform that is comparable to the altar so that they may be viewed at the appropriate level while you are arranging them. If using two vases, position the vases at opposite ends of the altar to uphold symmetry.

Place the greenery and filler flowers into the vase first. These filler types of flowers should be evenly distributed throughout the vase to give the arrangement a "full" look. Arrange these flowers in the shape you want the final arrangement to be in before you place the larger flowers into the vase.

Place the large, ornate flowers into the arrangement last. An artistic rule that can be applied to the arrangement of these last flowers is the "symmetrical triangle." Arrange the large flowers in a triangle of sorts, with one flower (or group of flowers) acting as the left, right and top corners of the triangle. This will help give symmetry to your flower arrangement.