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A first night of Hanukkah get-together over appetizers or a sit-down Christmas Eve dinner -- there's more to the holidays than just the fare.

Think floral centerpieces, tabletop arrangements and wreaths or door swags.

Floral designer Mark Held is never short on ideas when it comes to using these to set the stage for decorated gatherings, whether he's dressing the tables at the Oscars' Governors Ball or hosting an intimate dinner at home.

A co-owner of Mark's Garden in Sherman Oaks, Held recently launched marksgarden.com as a greater L.A. offshoot of his national Web store marksflowers.com, where his ideas burst into full bloom.

And when embellishing the holiday home, the celebrity florist uses the same approaches.

Check out his DIY tips for transforming what's at hand -- like supermarket fir wreaths, fresh-cut flowers, succulent clippings and assorted nuts -- into festive, yet affordable looks inspired by his own high-end holiday creations.

GO ORGANIC

Ease up on the glitz and go for a more organic look this holiday season. At Mark's Garden, the organic trend is translated in wreaths, door swags and centerpieces of Christmas greens -- pine, noble fir, cedar -- adorned by easy-to-find succulents in a variety of shapes and sizes.

"Once they're cut, succulents will last for several weeks," Held says, adding that interesting mosses also lend a nice touch. "The overall effect is in the green tones but you can add a little touch of color to it with some red berries or silver if you want."

MAKE IT EASY ON YOURSELF

Hang a festive wreath on the front door or gate of your home to show off your holiday spirit. But instead of buying a pricey wreath with all the trimmings, Held advocates picking up an inexpensive one at the supermarket and then decorating it to your liking.

"You can add a beautiful bow that matches your decor," he says. "You can hot-glue on succulents, berries, any kind of interesting nuts and bunches of cinnamon sticks for a more natural look, or for a little more sparkle you can add silver or gold balls and wire on extra ornaments that you're not using. There are a million different ways to do it, which makes it a fun and interesting project for people who want to be creative on their own."

THINK MONOCHROMATIC

A one flower, one color look delivers visual punch without any fuss.

It's as simple as lining up a bunch of all-white tulips, giving the stems a fresh cut and then dropping them into a short vase.

For a tall vase, go with long-lasting amaryllises or bunches of ilex berries or roses of the same color.

"With these one flower, one color arrangements you don't need to worry so much about should it be higher, should it be lower because actually they look best when they're about the same height," Held says. "Same thing with the ilex berries.

"It's foolproof."

BRING THE OUTDOORS IN

Fill a vase with a few branches of aromatic pine, eucalyptus or other fragrant tree. Its lingering scent will help set the mood for your holiday gathering as it drifts through the room.

DON'T OBSTRUCT THE VIEW

Keep the centerpiece low and spread out at the dinner table.

Held favors dropping different flowers of the same color into several small containers of water separated by candles.

"One could be all roses, one could be all hydrangeas, one could be all tulips, one could be all amaryllises, one could be all narcissus paperwhites or something like that," he says. "It's a nice clean look and it's actually a lot easier than creating a long, low, single centerpiece."

(c)2011 the Daily News (Los Angeles)

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