Exotic Flowers in Boston

photo credit cbsnews.com

When you fill a ballroom with star power like Amy Adams, Diane Keaton, Bono, Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Douglas you must use flowers that honor the stars. My two favorite flowers were chosen for the table centerpieces at the 2014 Golden Globe Awards. An accent of cymbidium orchids lends its beauty to the show stopping bouquet of roses. Peach, yellow, and orange roses served as the centerpiece at the awards dinner. With all the black clothing and amber table setting this floral arrangement really popped off the table and illuminated the room.

phot credit: eonline.com

Miss Golden Girl 2014 is shown carrying a eye popping presentation bouquet of hydrangea and Movie Star roses. It is no coincidence that this LA florist uses the same lime green tissue paper that we use at Exotic Flowers in Boston to really make the flowers 'pop'.

 Florists know that no party is complete without flowers. The United States Constitution turned 225 years old. Ask any Ron Paul fan and you know that the Constitution is the umbrella of our society, protecting every citizen within its words. On September 17th, 2012 dozens of florists collaborated on a once in a lifetime floral design to honor and celebrate the birthday of the document.

Philadelphia florists Bill Schaffer, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, and Kristine Kratt, AIFD, PFCI, have a reverence for history, inspired by their hometown. They spearheaded the idea of celebrating the 225th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution with an unforgettable floral display. Schaffer and Kratt rallied florists all over the world to help with the project. From 46 states, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom florists became 'the stars' of the monumental floral display. The florist volunteers created red, white and blue stars using botanicals and other fibers and shipped them to Schaffer and Kratt at Schaffer Designs in Philadelphia. These stars are designed to hang under a 12 foot by 16 foot umbrella shaped canopy on the lawn of the U.S. Constitution Center for one day only on September 17th, 2012. 

The striking bouquet included eighty starts, suspended spheres of flowers and a perimeter of flowers surrounded the structure. Flowers included were carnations, hydrangeas, larkspur and carnations. Bravo to Delaware Valley Wholesale flowers for donating the flowers. Kudos to Smithers-Oasis and Floracraft for their donations of hard goods. Schaffer gave a conservative estimate of $20,000 of creative and material costs, which were donated by the floral industry's elite forward thinkers. 

To get a more detailed look at one of the stars, check out the star of Alice Waterous, AIFD, CF, PFCI, from Michigan. She made this star with seeds “to represent the seeds the Founding Fathers planted for our country to bloom,” she said. 

There is no doubt that floral designer Preston Bailey is a genius at his craft. Bailey has created some of the most stunning floral arrangements and events for his clients. He has elevated his craft to an art. As a Boston florist, I have often sought out Bailey's work for inspiration. Talk about a walking and talking version of Pinterest. 

I also read Preston Bailey's blog. Recently Bailey weighed in his opinion on how vendors should dress when working on an event. As a Boston florist who creates many weddings in New England, we work with many other vendors like photographers, bakers, party planners and musicians. Although our staff is uniformed for event set up, we often bear witness to some sloven colleagues as well. And while I am not upbraiding Bailey for judging his colleague's attire, I am questioning some other glaring view points in his blog post.

In his recent post, Bailey takes us into the audience of a recent wedding that he created and attended. Bailey observes a videographer whose attires upsets him. Bailey writes " I realized with horror that the videographer following her was wearing jeans and Ugg boots! I understand that some cultures are more casual than others, but Ugg boots at a formal wedding ? Come on.

 The very worst part, though, is that when one of my colleagues said something to the videographer about her unprofessional attire, her reply was very rude and she used the F word. If this videographer is reading, you know who you are, and shame on you."

Bailey and his colleague’s heart are in the right place. Unfortunately we have witnessed a drastic culture change where decorum has been cast aside.

I do admire the videographer for telling his colleague where to go. I do not think it was Bailey's colleague’s place to offer any further disruption to the event.

Perhaps a well written note next time would be better received. Or coordinating a team effort before the wedding takes place. After all, if the bride was confident in the vendor, then Bailey should have made an effort to reach out to the vendor before hand. The bride chose Bailey and the videographer with reason. I feel it is unfortunate that Bailey does not mention the videographer's name here. If you can drop an 'F bomb' at a wedding, then can handle a bad blog post.