how to help! Hand tied bouquet

lil_goldie

lil_goldie

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Apr 15, 2009
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Chatham, Ontario, Canada
www.pizazzfloralsandballoons.com
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Ontario
When we wrap bouquets at our shop for delivery or cash and carry, we pick out the flowers (or pre-made bouquets), lay them down and wrap them with tissue, cello and some curling ribbon.
I've been hearing a lot about hand-tied bouquets.

I would love to use this technique at the store for most of our bouquets (say over $30).

I think anyone can pick up a bouquet at the grocery store, but a beautiful hand-tied bouquet can only be found at a florist

Plus, it scares the crap out of me when the guy says "I'll just put it in water before she gets home." I always wonder what they look like when she gets them. (I can just see her staring in horror and he says "I got them at Pizazz!")

I can do one okay with a dozen or two dozen roses and some aspidestra (Thanks Cherrie for the awesome video on your website), but when it comes to a mixed bouquet I'm totally lost! I seem to be only able to use round flowers. If I use line flowers they just end up looking HORRIBLE!

I went to school for design, I really did. The school sucked though. I wish I had never gone. I didn't learn how to do a vase arrangement or a hand-tied bouquet!

My question is:
Do you hand tie all your bouquets?
Is there a good book or video on technique you can recommend?
Do you charge the same labour charge as you would on an arrangement or just leave the 2x markup as your standard charge?
 
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We hand tie all of our bouquets, mostly using the Dutch spiral method, but even a single stem gets similar treatment. I don't know of a website to learn the technique, but seeing as you are in Chatham, you may want to consider hiring a teacher to come to your shop and educate you and your staff for a day. You will learn much mor quickly when there is someone there t correct little errors befor they turn into big messes.
Albert Graves comes to mind...he has taught a good one day seminar for colleges.
Re pricing, no we do not charge an extra labour fee...once you get the hang of it, it really doen't take more time or materials to make a good hand-tied buquet. We make it as the customer (or as we) choose the flowers.
However, I do question your 2X mark-up. There's no way we could survive on that markup, so you may have to charge an extra fee.
PS I'm interested what school you attended. We get so many people asking about schools, and I hop I'm not reccommending the one you attended!
 
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Thanks Joanne!
You're always posting such helpful things.
I never thought of having someone come in and teach it.
I went to Canadian Institute of Floral Design in Toronto.
I should back track and say a few nice things first.
Don and his staff were excellent. We did learn several things, but I felt a lot of time was wasted. Perhaps this is because I've worked in a shop for as long as I have. We spent a whole day just practicing wiring and taping. We did wire and tape cascade bouquets, we never learned vase arrangement or casket sprays. We did learn how to do a hand-tied bouquet, but it was only done using roses, not as a mix, which most customers prefer.
I found it very hard when I came back. Everyone expected me to design like a seasoned pro.
I would say that half of the arrangements we deliver are in vases and I never learned to do that.
Luckily I have had wonderful teachers at my mum's shop.

Our 2x mark up is only on some flowers. That is definitely the norm around here. It really varies on what we get in.
Gerbs are $3/stem (I think we pay $1.10)
Carnations are $1/stem (we pay .60)
Roses we pay .69/stem and sell at 2.99 for design of $20 C&C.
Our labour charge on our designer arrangements is 25%. That includes the container, unless the container is prohibitively expensive (i.e. more than $45)


I'm going to do more research on had-tieds. I'm looking for ways to seperate from the pack.
Thanks Joanne,

Congrats on Small business of the year.
Your website and presentation is beautiful
 
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my first suggestion would be to buy Rene Van Rems book. He is the master and his book shows step by step. He is left handed (which works great for me because of my deQuervan's syndrome in my left hand)

Other than that, I'd say practice, practice, practice. I would take flowers we were getting rid of and practice. That included many varieties - even if you just use the stems to practice the spiral, tie, then cut the stems to set on the table.... (it should stand by itself to achieve balance)
I believe Rene's book is available from Florists Review Bookstore!
 
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I read Rene's book, saw videos but still didn't get it when it came to the spiral method, finally found a class taught by an AIFD designer at a seminar and was so relieved I did. I still had to practice, but at least I knew something of what I was doing, proper method and all. I really need to see it done and all the little foibles explained to me, guess I'm just dense.
 
I would do what Joanne says and ask someone to come and show you. I dont think i could have got the hang of it from a book but we all learn differently. I like a demonstration and then someone looking at me when i am doing it to give critique.

Ask a florist from the next town maybe and pay them for the day to go in, i would help someone out in the next town to me no problem.

Or, you could fly me in... i would spend all week with you for free and I handtie everything that goes out of the shop!!;)
 
I also got my training at the Canadian Institute of Floral Design in 1999.
Back then the school was run by Bob Ross and included 105 hours of instruction.
We spent a full day on hand-tied bouquets and could not leave until the bouquet stood up by itself! The course was definitely geared to wire service orders, but we covered every category (did you do the "bouquet from hell"?).
Last I heard the school was using old funeral arrangements for their flower source (don't quote me, it's probably just a rumor), but Bob is no longer with the school.
I've interviewed several "designers" since I opened the shop and the CIFD grads beat the Seneca grads in overall knowledge and design technique.
Emily
 
www.boerma.nl
We went to Holland to study their hand-ties. It was worth the expense. We were very near Aalsmeer so we could also go to the flower auction, see the shops in Holland and see the tulip fields in bloom. if you can go to keukenhof gardens also it is invredible!. We went in late March
 
the handtieds being referenced are totally different than what we do for a casual loose cut bouquet.

Goldie, you need to know how to make a vase arr - making a hand tied for loose bouquet uses the same principles, but your loosely held fingers are the vase. Spike flowers go up, face/focals go out, fillers go 'round. Depending on the size, we may make all around, or one-sided but still fluffy like a nice one-sided full vase would look.

Think of your hand as the vase.

hth
 
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Palms said:
I would do what Joanne says and ask someone to come and show you. I dont think i could have got the hang of it from a book but we all learn differently. I like a demonstration and then someone looking at me when i am doing it to give critique.

Ask a florist from the next town maybe and pay them for the day to go in, i would help someone out in the next town to me no problem.

Or, you could fly me in... i would spend all week with you for free and I handtie everything that goes out of the shop!!;)
Click to expand...
I'd fly you in.....
 
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emilymoonflower said:
I also got my training at the Canadian Institute of Floral Design in 1999.
Back then the school was run by Bob Ross and included 105 hours of instruction.
We spent a full day on hand-tied bouquets and could not leave until the bouquet stood up by itself!
Click to expand...

We had three different teachers. Each one was a wonderful designer, but there was so much overlapping in the curriculum it was stupid.
I did learn some new things, but we had TWO lessons on how to split a carnation to make it look like a mini carnation because each teacher didn't know that it had already been taught.
The flowers themselves were fresh though because twice a week a truck would come down and we would have to process everything.
 
When doing a hand tie with different types of flowers, I generally use them in groupings. I like the effect and it's easier to put together.
Like if using liatris, snaps, and roses, and salal, I would start wit all of the liatrus, then the snaps, then collar with the roses, and last the salal. It's simpler to use all of one kind of flower at a time.
Thanks for the compliment!!!
I had the pleasure of assisting Rene a couple of months ago.
He does and ties much differently than I was taught by Dries Alberts many years ago. Rene spreads out is hand ties and cuts them very, very short. I've been trying to do it his way.
If you get the flowers to the right and stems to the left rhythm going, it becomes automatic. Practice, practice, practice.....
 
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René is the master of the spiraled hand tied bouquet. He travels all over so I suggest you go to his site www.renevanrems.com and see when he will be near your neighborhood. There may be a possibility that he will be giving a workshop on the very topic and you may be able to attend.
 
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