Floral Sash for funeral tomorrow--help!!!

[victoriamary]

Hi All,
Any quick help you can offer is most appreciated on this. I have a request for a floral sash, to be placed on the deceased, sort of like a Miss America sash, about 9" wide, made of various (size) roses. The sons want her surrounded by her favorite, roses. There will also be a garland in the casket. Any suggestions for the mechanics of the sash?

I've purchased some fabric for the backing, and was thinking of "weaving" a base of Italian Ruscus and attaching the roses to that, using the fabric as a backing. The wake/visitation is tomorrow night and the funeral Wed morning, so I should think they would last ok?? pin, wire, staple, glue??? In addition, have a large cross, 3 wreaths, 3 large urns, a garland and the casket spray for same funeral...I should be at the shop huh?! How would you charge for such an item (the sash)?

Thanks for any suggestions...haven't had this request before. Did a search for horse blankets (felt a little funny looking at that for this sweet lady---but....) the mostly had suggestions of using a saddle...and we all know THAT won't work.

I don't think I'll sleep tonight...

Cheers!
Victoriamary

 

[flaflower]

Just a suggestion.... measure the head of one of the roses and multiply widthXlength. I would use oasis floral adhesive. Charge your mark up on the roses and extra percentage for labor because it's going to take a while. Hope that helps!

 

[ivygreen]

Floral glue, and do this piece first so everything has time to set. I think I would try to get this piece and the garland to the FD as soon as possible for placement purposes. And I might skip the ruscus altogether, but you can try it and see. Good Luck!

 

[victoriamary]

Update...floral Sash-we Did It!

It was so easy...forget weaving anything or backing. I used coffee foliage! It lies flat, deep rich green. Wired and wrapped spray and 40 cm roses as you would for corsage, and used buillion to wire to the foliage. Filled any gaps by glueing spray roses. It was beautiful, family loved it and it draped across their Mom beautifully.

In all, had 10-12 pieces for this funeral--all coordinated and turned out just as the family envisioned. Felt good.

Thanks!
Victoriamary

 

[Victoria]

Sounds beautiful. Did you take pictures? If so please share!!!!

V

 

[Glamflowers]

Well done, it must be a great relief that you achieved your goal and the family were thrilled with your work. It shows you care passionatly about your work to worry so much. Hope you took some photos as i'm sure fellow flowerchat florists would love to see the end results. Especially the ones in the UK as we have such a different approach to our funeral designs.

 

[TOTO]

You might want to use Nylon Mesh material.

My NYC REAL FLORIST friend Oz and his wife had to create one of those 1930's style casket blankets which gently drapped over the casket and was completely covered in white pom poms.

Back in those OLDEN DAYS, the old timers used cloth or burlap, after which, they had to hand sew the foliage and flowers onto the fabric.

At first, they tried the burlap and hot glued everthing on. However, and while in the cooler, the flowers kept popping off like has happened to many of us with corsages and due to the moisture and cool temps in the cooler.

Oz came up with the idea of using NYLON MESH material which can be purchased at any hardware store in various widths and lengths. It's the same material we now use for taping the joints when hanging Sheet Rock, only those rolls are sticky on both sides.

You might want to go out and buy a piece of that and cut it down to the width and size you need. Then, you can Hot or Cold glue foliage like lemon leaves onto the fabric and then, Hot or Cold glue the flowers as needed.

It should be a real time saver for you in this case.

I think auto body shops use the same type of white nylon mesh material to help cover the holes and when they add the fillers in.

It probably also comes in different thickness gauges as well.