Tropical Pineapple Patio Party!

Helping Gerry Toh, AIFD in Denver AIFD Symposium

What might you ask did I help with? Of all the tasks to be done, mine was quite the challenge. At 7:30 at night in the Downtown Sheraton banquet room where Gerry Toh parked himself for almost a week, I finally got the chance to do whatever I was asked by him. After some cart pushing of large oasis soaked foam and some other menial tasks such as putting votive candles on 40 tables, I received a challenge from Gerry that I will never forget. See the piles of leftover styrofoam from the shapes that were cut out for the reception centerpieces? Well, we are going to create art by gluing these shapes in random patterns to look like it was all planned out exactly how you see it. And by the way we only have 5 glue sticks left to save our souls, so be very sparing. We have 20 three foot grates upon which to glue these shapes and almost no space in which to work. No matter, we are florists and we are creative. Once I got over the initial shock of my guts turning and wanting to exit rapidly from this mess (reminiscent of my shock of helping out for the Rose Bowl Parade in December in other words, floral concentration camp) I found my groove and away I went. There is something very serious about working with your hands, trying to find a pattern in which to work and to work as rapidly as you can. Even though I was not designing with flowers but instead with shapes and glue there was still a groove in which to get into. I wanted to help Gerry and I got more out of this experience than if everything was all set up, organized and free from constraints. And to top it all off when Gerry saw me at the finale dinner extraordinaire he gave me a hug and thanked me! What a sweet, humble, incredibly creative and talented designer.

Prom is The Bomb

Prom is The Bomb!
Organization is everything! http://youtu.be/QXXQkyPN56E

Creating Something Out of Nothing

A Day in The Life of a Florist:
Today was a miracle! I had no white roses for an 8am. Mon. funeral. Late Sat. I drive to Sam's Club and pick up their only dozen decent white roses that came in the day before (their retail is my wholesale cost LOL!) It's the day before Easter and we have run out of everything! Even greens. I have to make a $189 cross out of practically nothing! I sparingly insert the remainder of our Israeli Ruscus, hoping that the brown mâché is not too obvious. Next I strategically place the dozen white roses (including one extra broken one from last week left in the cooler) into the cross. I recycle one of our droopy Easter lilies, cutting off the best buds. I remember that Rene Van Rems taught us how to insert chenille stems into buds that are difficult to push into foam, and lo and behold it works perfectly. Wondering what to do next to make this cross turn out ok, I quickly see if it's for a male or female-"Grandfather", ok baby's breath is out. Then suddenly the white dendro's from last week barely holding on for dear life, call out to me! OH the texture, oh the lime color, oh the lovely surviving white blooms! Miracles of miracles, I cut the dendros in thirds and begin placing them here and there. Now this cross is getting interesting! It drips with opulence and intrigue. It looks like some floral artist carefully thought out and planned this piece to turn out like this. The best part is using up "what was in my wagon"!