If you are ordering flowers for a special event, be it a wedding, engagement or birthday party, I'm going to treat the flowers differently than if you are sending something to someone as a gift.
The difference? The flowers I send out for gifts are sent to look great on first arrival, but to then open and develop over a period of days. Flowers that I arrange to be on the table for a special event, on the other hand, need to be in that opened and developed state on the day of arrival. Which means I use my years of experience with handling flowers to coax the blooms open at just the right time so they are full and gorgeous in the vase as I design with them. Making a design that is going out as a gift I'm using the blooms in a tighter form, so in those cases I'm anticipating how they will open and designing for the initial look as well as how they will look in a few days time.
Two very different ways of designing, for two different outcomes.
For floral gifts, I'm mixing in longer lasting blooms that will take a little longer to open, so that as the arrangement develops through a period of days there's something new opening and unfurling as something else is finishing, allowing the design as a whole to be enjoyed for a longer period.
For event arrangements, the flowers need to be at their peak beauty, bold and full and gorgeous on the day of the event (it's no use them arriving tight in bud then opening a few days later when no one is there to see it!) Events are also a great opportunity for me to use flowers that don't hold well over time but are so beautiful and special in designs.
As a florist, I love both ways of designing, event work certainly allows me to use florals that I don't get to send out in daily deliveries which lets me have a little more creative fun, but the challenge of designing bouquets that I won't get to see at their peak is also a great creative exercise, kind of like seeing into the future!
