Holiday tips and tricks

Pine sap, which turns your hands black after it has dried, can be removed easily with hand sanitizer applied generously and wiped off with a paper towel before it dries on your hands.  Olive Oil is another liquid you can use to remove the sap. 

Change the water in your vase of cut flowers and greenery daily.  Especially those vases with pine sap, this is important.

Poinsettias are NOT poisonous.  Yes, if you eat it, or your pet eats it, it will probably make your stomach upset. 

Mistletoe IS Poisonous..to humans and animals...as is holly berries.

Centerpieces should have water added daily as well...this helps keep the oasis foam wet and keep your greenery looking fresh.  You can even spray the evergreens with water if you want.  Keep centerpieces away from heat, flame, and dry rooms.

Panty hose are great for adding the shine back to your decorative candles. Slip hose over your hand and run your hand over the candle.  Voila!

If you have a candle in your centerpiece- do not leave a burning candle unattended.  Clip any greenery that may interfere with the candle once it burns down.  Don't burn the candle down all the way, use only during a dinner then extinguish the flame. 

Poinsettias brightly colored "flowers" are actually brightly colored bracts, or leaves.  The actual "flower" is the yellow circular flower in the center of the bracts.

Flowers DO have a freezing point....32 degrees...do not place any fresh flowers in the freezer...EVER.

Holiday Orders

Only a few days left to order your Holiday arrangements for delivery all next week!!
We will be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so next week is the last week to get orders placed and delivered anywhere in Frederick and Clarke counties!  Sometimes the best gift for someone who has "everything" is a fresh flower arrangement...for a side table, centerpiece or to brighten up their apartment or assisted living room!  Order today!

12.12.12 Weddings!

 

Today is the very special 12.12.12!  Lots of weddings about town today and everywhere in the US.  I had 2 weddings today, both very different.  The first is shades of purples:

 

 This bride actually constructed her bouquet of all brooches and brought me additional brooches to accent her attendant's bouquets.  I love the brooch idea and I think it works best when you keep the brooches either in a similar color scheme or theme.  The silver and crystal brooches worked well with the cool purple and lavender shades in this bouquet.  Lisianthus, Stock, Alstroemeria, Roses and Maine Blue Limonium.

The second wedding echoed the winter season:

 

The attendant carried white Freesia, Roses, Stock and accents of deep red Hypericum berries with fresh local evergreens

 

for the Bride:

 

Red Roses, white Stock, white Freesia, deep red Hypericum berries and fresh evergreens. ( The important thing to remember with red and white bouquets, to use various shapes of flowers, otherwise a polka-dot effect will be present in your pictures!)  I think this turned out very well.
                                             Congratulations on your wedding day Ladies!

When a floral designer marries...Part 2

I've had the pleasure of decorating the gorgeous mantle in the GW Hotel Ballroom several times, and every time is different.  For my wedding I opted for and arrangement to flank either side of the mirror, and several low cylinders with roses and floating candles in the middle.

 

Red Kangaroo Paw, Red Mokara Orchids, Red hanging Amaranthus, Black Magic roses, maroon carnations in a clear glass urn, the arrangement is handtied and is simply placed into the vase on site.

Low Centerpiece of Roses, red Ti leaves,Leucadendron, accent of silver around top of cylinder vase.

I was able to "test drive" a new product available to me for the wedding.  LED submersible light strands.  The strands are flexible and perfect in this application. 

 

Did I mention I like simple?!  Cupcakes from Frosted Crumbs, serving trays by GW Hotel...easy and hassle free for me!

The silver and lavender flower shaped broach was my late Grandmother's.  A big thank you to my cousin for finding it and gifting it to me on my wedding day :)  

(All photographs courtesy of Julie Napear Photography. A big thank you to the other vendors:  Flowers by Snellings, George Washington Hotel, Stephanie Novak Artistry,  Frosted Crumbs Bakery)

 

 

Gerberas

This is how most of our Gerbera Daisies are delivered from our supplier.  In water and in vertical cardboard trays to help prevent damage. 

Once we remove them from the shipment box we have to take them out, one by one, recut and place them in a bucket of preservative with a tray lid on top.  The lid on top of the bucket allows each stem to stay upright and in water.  The "high-maintenance" handling on both ends of the supply chain, plus the lack of growers is attributing to the higher cost of Gerberas per stem then what we once experienced.  And it's pronounced ger-ber-a just like the baby food with an "a" on the end.  They come in 2 sizes, standard and mini.  The price is generally the same for either size ironically.  Color range is very broad, with mauve/lavender shades coming on the market.  No black or blue shades.  Availability is year round.