Urgent!!! Need advice for gluing fresh flowers.

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mgarden05

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Feb 25, 2006
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Sunnyvale
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Hi everyone,

My bride has requested a headpiece with fresh flowers at the last minute for her wedding this Sunday. I've tried gluing with the Lomey floral glue in the past, and have sometimes experienced the flowers not holding on. YIKES!!! By the way, I was at my local floral supplier today to pick up a tube of the glue, and was told the company had to recall them because there were many complaints about the glue not being secure in holding the flowers. Any advice or techniques on how to keep the flowers secure? I'll be using a satin fabric covered headband, spray roses and dendrobium orchids.

I've considered using the aluminum decorative wire to mold the headband, then gluing the fresh flowers. Has anyone had any experience in doing this? If so, please share.

Thank you all in advance for your help and expertise.
 
lomey glue is for joining lomey containers, a major and common mistake made by a lot of people. You must use oasis glue, allowing it to "set up" for about 30 min before storing it in the cooler. If you are not putting the items in a cooler, regular pan glue will hold, but I suggest making it the day of or the product will not hold up.
 
Oasis floral adhesive has never failed me. My wholesaler told me today that they are recalling the glue becuase they have a new formula that is much clearer in color, not becasue it is not working. I don't usually wait 30 minutes to put mine in the cooler. Is that is in fine print? The writing on those tubes is so small.
 
Use Oasis glue NOT lomey glue.
Sometimes I will also use a touch of Floralock spry for especially heavy flowers.
Good Luck!
 
This reply is too late for this wedding, but when I glue the flowers, I try to make certain that they are touching each other, ribbon, or foliage enough to have several spots of glue, and, therefore, help to hold each other steadfastly. How much easier the Oasis floral adhesive has made our lives!

Also another thought on this subject, at a recent design show, an Oasis designer told us that when you apply the glue to the end of the cut stem, it seals the stem in such a way that the flower actually lasts longer than it would have otherwise. He explained why that was, but I don't remember right now.

Since I've now mentioned that design show twice, I'd like to give credit to the designer, but can only remember that he was young, and his first name was Cory.
 
Connie -

It was probably Cory Lonsert.

cory_lonsert.jpg


He's on the Oasis Design Team and was the winner of the 'Making It Big' episode described in this thread. Talented, affable young man.
 
CHR said:
Connie -

It was probably Cory Lonsert.

cory_lonsert.jpg


He's on the Oasis Design Team and was the winner of the 'Making It Big' episode described in this thread. Talented, affable young man.
Click to expand...


Yes! He even went into the warehouse and helped customers find the products which he had shown. He did not appear to even take a break between the morning and afternoon sessions. He was delightful!
 
flaflower said:
My wholesaler told me today that they are recalling the glue becuase they have a new formula that is much clearer in color...
Click to expand...
That would be terrific! I have worked with this several times, and always end up using a little more fresh product to hide the gooey brown stuff.

Also, another design show I went to, the presenter said to apply glue to both items that will touch (like the base of your item and the actual flower) and let them both set for a minute or two to get gummy. Haven't tried that yet, but he said it's pretty much like rubber cement. And he did mention the sealing of the open stem, which I always wondered about, especially with thirsty flowers.
 
I know this is too late for this one ....

but like Traceypieface said ... you have to apply to the flower or item being glued in and also to the area into which you are gluing .... let them both get tacky and then insert. The glue glues to itself .... at least that what JTV says and when I used it that way, it became cemented in. They only time it worked for me. I also use only Oasis glue.
 
As others have said, my post is too late, but I feel compelled to comment anyway.

Floral designers need to learn the basics and the old ways of doing things.

Wire and taping flowers is a tried and true method for making headpieces.

Joe
 
Joe Mioux said:
As others have said, my post is too late, but I feel compelled to comment anyway.

Floral designers need to learn the basics and the old ways of doing things.

Wire and taping flowers is a tried and true method for making headpieces.

Joe
Click to expand...

Yep........still the best way in MHO and you sure won't have to worry about it falling apart!
 
Glue vs wire

I learned how to wire them and there's no way my Mom would even try anything else in this shop. I think I respect that. What I mean is that i'm not convinced that glue can give you the same worry free, 100% it ain't going anywhere feeling. It's not only that you're wiring but you're also taping it, you know the roses aren't going to "blow". I haven't shut the option of glue out of my life 'cause i've never tried it but i'm looking for some persuasive reasons as to why I should pick up a tube? of glue over some wire.

As per the applying glue the the end of the stem, it probably helps retain the moisture inside.
 
a bit of clarification.

My earlier post is not to suggest that wiring and taping is better or worse.

I made the comment to suggest there is more than one way to accomplish certain floral design task.

When plan "A" goes awry, go to plane "B" or c or d or........

joe
 
Reasons to Glue:

Much, much faster than tape and wire, especially for newer designers. A tape-and-wire hair wreath can be a 30-60 minute job or more. The same effect with glue is 15 minutes or less.

Glue allows for much more flexibility of material choices. Delicate flowers like delphinium or larkspur blossom can be added with pin-point precision.

Hairpieces and corsages are light as feathers without all the added tape and wire.

I agree that mastering taping & wiring is an important skill, but if we can create twice as many wrist corsages or hairpieces (that look more fashionable and contemporary, too) in the same amount of time, doesn't it make sense?

We've been using Oasis Adhesive for more than ten years. Have never had it fail because we use it properly.

You cannot leave any flowers on their natural stems (especially roses) and should only be gluing the calyxes (if that's a word???) to the base. Make sure to use a generous amount of glue and make sure your base anchor (bow, ribbon, tuft of tulle or foliages) is solidly attached to the wristlette or circlette.

Practice a few times before sending them out on real orders. Shake them hard when testing.

Flower heads break off even when taped and wired if they're handled roughly. I'll wager that the properly glued ones will actually fare better.
 
We give all glued items a good shake before sending them out. In fact, and especially at Prom time, we shake each corsage in front of the customer. Sometimes to achieve a "look," such as an extended stem, we wire a flower and then glue it to the remainder of the item.

Joe, I also believe in learning, and then building on, those basics. Sort of like learning the color wheel and then getting funky with how you know that certain colors affect certain other colors. That's when the real fun begins!
 
Gigi said:
I haven't shut the option of glue out of my life 'cause i've never tried it but i'm looking for some persuasive reasons as to why I should pick up a tube? of glue over some wire.
Click to expand...

Since you asked ;)

I broke my thumb playing fast pitch in HS. I have almost NO range of motion in my left thumb and after making over 75 corsages my first homecoming I was literally crying while doing the last ten or so. I forced myself to learn how to glue and I will never, ever, go back to wiring and taping corsages. Here are some of the positives of gluing...

  • I can make five or more in the time it took me to wire one.
  • I can make up bases four or five days in advance and add flowers in later
  • Adding wire and other funky add ins works perfectly since I can either use them as a base or glue them in with the flowers
  • The flowers last longer with glue than wire and tape.
  • There is no ugly green tape "stem" at the end.
  • Did I mention it takes half the time to make a glued corsage? ;)
  • Adding lights for prom and homecoming is a lot easier and you can do it ahead of time.

There are only a few negatives with gluing such as it doesn't smell the greatest, it gets every where and you could possibly glue yourself to something with it ;)
:) Heather
 
CHR said:
Reasons to Glue:

Much, much faster than tape and wire, especially for newer designers. A tape-and-wire hair wreath can be a 30-60 minute job or more. The same effect with glue is 15 minutes or less.

Glue allows for much more flexibility of material choices. Delicate flowers like delphinium or larkspur blossom can be added with pin-point precision.

Hairpieces and corsages are light as feathers without all the added tape and wire.

I agree that mastering taping & wiring is an important skill, but if we can create twice as many wrist corsages or hairpieces (that look more fashionable and contemporary, too) in the same amount of time, doesn't it make sense?

We've been using Oasis Adhesive for more than ten years. Have never had it fail because we use it properly.

You cannot leave any flowers on their natural stems (especially roses) and should only be gluing the calyxes (if that's a word???) to the base. Make sure to use a generous amount of glue and make sure your base anchor (bow, ribbon, tuft of tulle or foliages) is solidly attached to the wristlette or circlette.

Practice a few times before sending them out on real orders. Shake them hard when testing.

Flower heads break off even when taped and wired if they're handled roughly. I'll wager that the properly glued ones will actually fare better.
Click to expand...


Rock on Sista!:musical:

In MHO I utterly and completely agree with you!
 
felicityflowers said:
Adding lights for prom and homecoming is a lot easier and you can do it ahead of time.
Click to expand...

Lights???

Thanks for all your input. Next order to Hoffland i'll get myself some oassis glue and try it out for myself. One thing I wanna know is why would a flower that has been glued last longer than a wired one?
 
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