I need your help and fast

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Lady Biker Florist

Lady Biker Florist

Well-Known Member
Jan 12, 2003
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Hazel Park
www.daisypetal.com
State / Prov
Michigan
Neal & I go to a church of about 3500 (4 services). We recently acquired their floral account. This morning one of the pastors contacted me about an event on Saturday May 21st. Sunday May 22nd is our building dedication - we recently moved Feb 13th so it will be decorated for that also. Let me explain the event so you can visualize.

According to the Bible in Ephesians 4:11 & 12 it says that a pastors purpose is to equip the believers for ministry. His words to me this morning were "Staff is there to support the true ministers of the church". The concept here is a pastor serving so they are going to decorate the whole lobby like a ballroom & all the pastors (14 total) will be dressed up like butlers and serving the church during this celebration.

They want ice sculptures, a fountain, flowers, etc.

Typically we just do not do these kinds of things. We are not physically able to do a lot of this stuff, but I know many people at church would love to help so in this case I am not as concerned about our physical ability.

There are two staircases and there's one solid glass wall (very high) that overlooks a courtyard (the courtyard is not finished yet and we cannot go out there). There are two little areas with living room/den type comfy chairs surrounding a glass coffee table. There are many little areas with a couple chairs and a small end table. Many silk plants sitting around - rather large ones. It looks like a huge conference center.

We've thrown around some ideas, but I know many of you are so into this kind of thing - I am looking to you now in my time of need.

He asked me to get back with him in a couple days. Yikes!

Thanks so much my friends!
 
Wow Patty! What an event! Personally we handled more weddings than special events such as these. I think Beth in Austin, Texas would be a great resource for this! Hopefully she will not be too busy to hop on the board here and throw in some ideas. They handle a lot of these special events and with the upmost of class:) If she doesnt come on here, maybe you can email or call me and I can give you her contact information. I believe Boss also knows a thing or two about ice sculptures:)

Best of Luck to You!
 
Patty, look at Michigan ice.com.They have a cross carved in ice. Why not have something like that done on a buffet and have the food in a round or a long buffet with the ice as the focal point...we have done a special event at at a church before and we used pre-made fresh garland (plumosa & spring with a bit of salal) to drape and hang....it created more of a "cozy" feel.This church had huge ceilings so it was like an airport hanger and about as warm feeling as an ice sculpture.....with the garland, we added clusters of casablanca and then filled the room with vases and baskets of all white.....we also decorated the base of the ice......good luck!
 
My Ice guy travels

Lady Biker Florist said:
They want ice sculptures, a fountain, flowers, etc.
Click to expand...

You can see some of his work here and he's always looking for jobs...or he may just point you to the right person down your way...

YOU GUYS CAN DO THIS!!! And all of us here can assist...

Any chances of getting some pics of the church, or do they have a site up with interior shots?
 
Lady Biker Florist said:
the pastors (14 total) will be dressed up like butlers and serving the church during this celebration.
Click to expand...

This I would translate into a "Formal Affair"...possibly doing simple, high style arrangements in tall glass vases of Canadian Callas and grassy greens, with black marbles for the coffee tables. Depending on the stairways, smilax or Springeri garlands, with Callas or Gardenias pin'd into them, draped like for a wedding (since it is, marrying the congregation to the buildng), and I would suggest a Wedding Cake in the center of the "Ball Room".

Take their silk plants (ficus hopefully) and fill them with white minature Christmas Lights, and perhaps a small arr at the base in Oasis.

Alot depends on the budget, and how far they want to go...I can see it already, and if they go with the idea of a "wedding" and marrying the congregation to the Church, there ya go...you've done weddings, pull oout all the stops and make it one they will remember forever...

Patty, Neal...remember one thing, we'll all support you in this "event" and YOU CAN DO IT!
 
Without seeing it, it will be hard to give you a straight answer. I didn't really see a question in your post, so the below is my assumption with what you need help with. Also, I am assuming a low budget, since the church I attend, is always on a budget.

Make sure the butlers have bouts. White mini callas with lily grass.

The stairs: Garlands can be expensive, so, try this.... on the outside of the stairway 6-8 inches out... left and right side, line rose petals all the way up. Make sure they are out of the way of people feet. If the stairs have white carpet, forget this idea. The entrance to the stairs could have a couple of posies hanging from them, up top too.

The focus tables in these sitting rooms should have a tall modern glass vase with no flare up top, just straight. In these vases, have tall white calls and curly willow. (Keeping with the white calla theme - it is suiting for church) Green goddess Callas would look nice here too. You want to create something striking and visually stunning. It sounds like you have high ceilings, so you will want something tall. Smaller bouquets will get lost in high ceiling rooms. More cool ideas are, in those big vases use just curly willow, a lot of it or bear grass. Recently I took 10 bunches of bear grass and jammed a tall vase with it and it made a really nice shape. Simplicity on a grand scale adds an elegant touch.

As for the glass wall use rose petals, matching those in which you put on the stair case, and string them through the thinnest fishing line you can find, putting each petal about 12-14 in apart. The lengths of the lines will the height of the wall MINUS 8 feet. The reason why you want them 8 feet high is you don't want kids coming by and jerking on them. Once you get all your strands done (Depending on the width of the wall) attach them up on top of the wall, about 1 foot away from the wall, so with a light breeze, these strands will move a bit, BUT you want that.

Again without seeing a picture or knowing a budget, this is the best I can do. If you use Blah flowers, they will blend in and people will walk by and sub consciously think, been there done that. If you use more exciting type flowers and get dramatic with them, people will stop and view them as an attraction and know they are special... boring flowers never get this attention and rarely get you more business. Remember, the best advertising we have is our product and the cheapest is word of mouth. These two go hand in hand and all florists should use it to their advantage. If your shop is sending out boring flowers, don't expect a lot of word of mouth. My shop cut our advertising budget by %60 last year and out sales grew 30%. Word of mouth baby!!
 
Lady Biker Florist said:
...
We've thrown around some ideas, but I know many of you are so into this kind of thing - I am looking to you now in my time of need.

He asked me to get back with him in a couple days. Yikes!

Thanks so much my friends!
Click to expand...

Patty,
Here are some sample pictures of some high style...
They might give you some ideas...

http://alliedfloristsofhouston.org/news/tsfa-flowers-2003.htm
.
 
I'm in a small group that meets at the church Tuesday night so Neal & I will go early and take some pics of the lobby and such. I just searched the website and did not see any. I will post them here afterwards.

Thanks so much for all your ideas and thanks BOSS for the encouragement and support. You know me and how I shy away from this kind of thing. Neal is right on board with me on this so that's great, too. I think this pastor will be at the church tomorrow night also and I will ask him some more detailed questions as to exactly how elaborate they want it.

As for the budget, let's suffice it to say that the people have money and they love to give it. I don't think it's a big issue. They are very wise with spending. The new building cost a couple billion dollars and it's almost all paid for ahead. I will charge whatever our normal amount would be and then I will give a discount just because I want to. They would never ask for one or expect one. Anyway, I am definitely looking forward to this challenge.

What kind of bout.'s are you (anyone) thinking. I know not to do just the ordinary stuff, but we're pretty ordinary so I really don't know.

Sher, I talked to the lady at michiganice.com. They are real close to us and I got ideas and prices. Thanks much! I appreciate it!
 
Lady Biker Florist said:
What kind of bout.'s are you (anyone) thinking. I know not to do just the ordinary stuff, but we're pretty ordinary so I really don't know.
Click to expand...

Whatever they are, don;t make 'em white Carnie's! :)

I would want to utalize something that matched the other decor, ie: if using large White Calla's for the table decor, then match the bout's with White Mini Calla's...Roses to roses etc...

Anytime Patty, you got my number, call with any questions...
 
I agree with Mark... no white carns for bouts! Callas are a great way to go... as are freesia. I too love the simple clean elegance of white, creams, lots of variety in greens and glass. Straight lines softened with curves of grasses and callas... yummy. :)

Patty and Neal what a wonderful opportunity to spread your wings.

By the way, I think you're anything but "ordinary"! ;)

V
 
Freesia with rosemary, yummy. :) Wrapping a white tulip in a small green leaf with bear grass shooting out the bottom sounds fun too.

Hey Mlou, thanks for that link, very cool stuff!! Hey why is it that a lot of those large dramatic arrangements always use tropicals? Is it because of the clean modern lines of those types of flowers? Or maybe because there are a lot of tropicals that are large/long? Or probably a lil of both? Either way, sweet pics! :)
 
Ideas for your event

Here are some ideas that come to mind...

I definetely like the white and green color scheme and sticking to dramatic flowers like the calla lilies. I find steel grass to be more dramatic than bear grass. It's taller and stronger, lending itself to creating really intersesting designs.

Whenever I am doing ice sculpture arrangements, I always talk to the ice sculptor to find out the dimentions at the top. We often do the vase ice sculpture with flowers on top. I bet you could have one designed with a cross sculpted into it or inside of it out of reeds or flowers. I usually use a 12"-18" lome dish that just sits right on top. I always put a paper towel in between the ice and the dish, this will prevent the arrangement from slipping off the ice as it melts. Steel grass and callas and monstera leaves would be beautiful.
http://www.amazingicedesigns.com/vases.htm

For the glass wall, I love the idea of stringing flowers and hanging them. Some variations on the idea could be using white dendrob blossoms. These hold up really well and can be done several days in advance. If you could, hanging a solid flower cross behind the strands would be interesting too. I would make this out of hard green styro and hot glue green buttons, front and back, all over. This could be done early as well. It's light weight, no oasis needed. The mums hold up great with this applicationtoo. It might create a waterfall effect with the strands hanging out and in front of the cross.

For the staircase, wild smilax is great if you can find it this time of the year. My source in Texas says it's just about over, but I can email you the info if you want. You can water tube roses and wire them right into the smilax, giving it a natural vine effect. Italian ruskus and grapevine gives a similar look. For a wysteria look you could do the ruskus and grapevine, then hang stems of lavender or white stock from it, letting the grapevine make interesting movement up the staircase. The stock can be ready to hang at install by prepping them: cut stem short 1-2" before blooms start, put wire through stem and make a hook shape at top. This is a real dramatic look and fairly easy.

For the tables, small scenarios of vases with clusters of 1 type flower in each- high and low, and some solid green button spheres to go around it. You could use black river rock and exotic foliages inside the vase. For smaller areas a 4" square vase with river rocks and a single blossom would be beautiful. I'll try to postmore later, gotta go.
Beth
 
Last three pics. The last pic is one of the welcome centers at each end and it seems to me like they should be attended to in some way also.
 
Ok Patty...I'll stick with what I said before, but add:

I know it is not Christmas, but I love twinkles! :) You can get battery powered twinkle lights (white) to go into those faux trees. Fix the lights to slowly move in and out, it sets the mood better than quick blinks. What time of day makes a lot of difference, since a lot of light comes through those windows. Plus in such a tall and convention like look, the lights will warm it up a bit. Definitely take those faux arrangements off the tables and replace it with what was said in my post above. ndi.com has nice silks if anyone wants to know. Their price is in their product code. Just look at the last part of the code, the first part of the code is the quantity.

On the stairs, which are more industrial than I thought, and they make a 180 turn, I would make a two foot tall free standing (no vase) arrangement made out of tei leaves exploding up with white and green goddess calls coming up out of the top. Maybe add some grass too. Take these and attach them to the corners of the railing, on the middle platform part of the stairs. Think of callas as the fireworks and the tei leaves as their casings.

Thanks for the images, I was imagining something wayyyy different. :)

Hey no leaves on those trees yet? It must be cold where you live :(
Keep warm and pray for sun, because your bike is begging for it. :)
 
Guys, this has been a very inspiring thread. Not only for your willingness to help, but for your wonderful ideas also! :yourock:
 
not brown nosing

It is very impressive to see how helpful you all are to each other. It's to bad the rest of the flower industry can't work this way. At my end of the biz everything is a big secret and you have to worry about the competition (which I don't).

The sooner this industry learns that we can all benefit from working together
the better off it will be! :hammer:
 
BOSS's Quote of the day

nonbitter said:
The sooner this industry learns that we can all benefit from working together
the better off it will be! :hammer:
Click to expand...

And thats the end of the story!!!

Well said!
 
nonbitter said:
It is very impressive to see how helpful you all are to each other. It's to bad the rest of the flower industry can't work this way. At my end of the biz everything is a big secret and you have to worry about the competition (which I don't).

The sooner this industry learns that we can all benefit from working together
the better off it will be! :hammer:
Click to expand...


There is always more power in positive co-operation. :)

V
 
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