Bad Floral Foam!!

Happy New Year!! (Unfortunately there are no photos or funny pictures today as the blogger program does not want to load anything...bad blogger!!)

I would like to touch on the subject of New Year’s resolutions. I have been reading and thinking about the benefits of recycling, the environment and the general well being of fauna and flora. With the New Year I finally took action.

We enjoy the beautiful flowers nature gives us, but we do not always return the favour. I have come to realise that we, as florists, have a big responsibility to keep our carbon footprint as small as possible. Without the beautiful flowers nature provides we would be stuck in a tiny grey office on the 25th floor - any florist’s nightmare!

All the products florists use to make the arrangements our clients buy are disposable; it's not something you would keep for a long period of time. Once the flowers die you throw the baskets, plastic wrap, oasis, green florist bowls away. Most of these products end up at the rubbish heap and gets buried at the landfill site. Out of sight, out of mind is how the saying goes. Cape Town, alone, produces 6000tons of waste PER DAY! To put it into perspective, that is 1.7 to 2kg of waste per person per day (1). One ton of waste will fill a 3m x 2m room (to the ceiling) with waste (2).

Floral foam is the product I use to create floral arrangements for table centrepieces, etc. I have always wondered what it is made of and whether or not it is biodegradable. Sadly I learnt that it is not biodegradable. After testing it on rats and rabbits (which breaks my heart), they found it to be harmful to people when exposed to it over long periods of time...like me. (3)

The basic "emergency overview" is that is "may be irritating to eyes, skin, and respiratory tract" (3). Personally I have not experienced any of these symptoms.

It contains the following chemicals (which explains the abovementioned symptoms):

Formaldehyde - Formaldehyde is highly toxic to all animals, regardless of method of intake. Ingestion of as little as 30 ml of a solution containing 37% formaldehyde has been reported to cause death in an adult human. Water solution of formaldehyde is very corrosive and its ingestion can cause severe injury to the upper gastrointestinal tract. At concentrations above 0.1 ppm in air formaldehyde can irritate the eyes and mucous membranes, resulting in watery eyes. Formaldehyde inhaled at this concentration may cause headaches, a burning sensation in the throat, and difficulty breathing, and can trigger or aggravate asthma symptoms (4).

Barium Sulphates - Although soluble salts of barium are moderately toxic to humans, barium sulphate is nontoxic due to its insolubility. The most common means of inadvertent barium poisoning arises from the consumption of soluble barium salts mislabelled as BaSO₄ (5).

Carbon Black - is a material produced by the incomplete combustion of heavy petroleum products such as FCC tar, coal tar, ethylene cracking tar, and a small amount from vegetable oil. (6)

Although these products are all ingredients in floral foam it should be taken into consideration that the extracted discussion above relates to the chemicals in general and is not related to their behaviour in the floral foam. These are not the only ingredients in floral foam and therefore the ones mentioned above is only a small component of the overall product.

Having one brick of floral foam in your house probably won't be harmful. Working in the factory that produces floral foam might be an entirely different situation.

At this stage I am looking for a biodegradable replacement, but I cannot find any in South Africa. I have, however contacted a company in the UK and enquired about the products they have available. They advised me that they are working on the development of the product and will keep me posted on their progress.

Well, there you have it. I think everyone agrees that this information should be printed on the box. Sadly it is not. My new year's resolutions are therefore to find alternative ways of arranging flowers and in the meantime to continue to advise my clients to please recycle the Oasis floral foam bricks, to keep it away from children and pests and to dispose of it as soon as the arrangement has wilted and died.

 

 

The first time...

I had my first photo shoot on the weekend of the 17th of November.

This may not seem to be anything to make a big fuss but I am going to anyway!

My previous entry quickly explained how I go about preparing flowers for a quaint little restaurant in Hatfield. I went on about what I plan on buying for them and how I hoped my plans would work out.

As I got there I phoned the client and advised her that I will deliver the flowers later today (as we have an agreement that I supply flowers every week) ; "O" she said "I forgot to tell you that I quickly ran out and bought some flowers yesterday. I am very sorry that I didn't tell you".

So I am standing there....

...really?? 

 

 

 

And then it dawned on me......

 

 

 

I decided then and there that I will take the opportunity to do a photo shoot for my website! I need to build my portfolio and have been thinking about doing this for quite some time - I just needed the push!

 

All I had to do was plan 4 tables layouts in the shortest time possible as all the flowers in the shop are literally being bought and pushed past me as I sat at the coffee shop trying to plan my MO.

 

I quickly walked through, saw what the market had to offer, ordered a iced coffee and got to work. After, what seemed like an eternity, I had 4 table designs! Thanks to my awesome S3 cellphone I was able to download all the catalogues of the decor companies in my area to see what they had in store...now I had to pray that the items was not booked out...(but that did not occur to me until it was too late...optimism seems to be the operative word...)

 

With all the flowers bought I brought it home and had to start cleaning it all, which is not my favourite part of being a florist. This was on Thursday - everything took so much time that I was not able to rent any decor which meant I had to leave it to the next day.

 

Friday 18 November 2012

 

In a frantic state of mind I planned my day; driving from the closest to the furthest decor hiring company in the hope of finding everything I need - at this stage realised that the items might be booked out, seeing that it is wedding season and... did I mention is it FRIDAY (dun dun)!

 

When I arrived at my first destination I learnt that they would charge me for everything that I wanted to rent. This might seem obvious, but I thought they would only ask for a deposit should something break. I will be using their decor in the future, which means that  I will do business with them...anyway; I had to pay for everything which I did not budget for...



 

 

 

 

Luckily I found a new company; the owner thought about the situation the same way I did and lent me everything I wanted...unfortunately she was my last stop, but I still managed to save some money!

 

That evening I sat down and planned everything (again) to make sure all the designs fit with the decor I had.

 

The next day I arranged flowers until I felt like a zombie...looking back I have no idea why it took so long. I think it is because of the tremendous tension I felt; I spent all this money on flowers and decor. If these photos don't come out the way I want...NEED...them to I am screwed!!I only managed to arrange flowers for three tables as the calla lilies that I had planned for the fourth table were simply too old and did not want to bend the way I wanted them to.

 

At this point the tension started to build.

 

Unlike the northern hemisphere; it is summer in November, which means that the daylight it too bright for me to take photos - I need to wait until about 17:30.

 

The plan was for me to take photos on Saturday, but the arrangements took so long that I only finished at about 17:00 and by the time I had all the decor in the car (did I mention I have to take the flowers to the park where I can use an old 19th century farmhouse as a background?) I was frantic and agitated! I left the house at 17:25 only to find that I did not secure all the flowers properly and they were falling over at every turn.  I turned around and came home!!

 

 

 

The next day I spent with my husband; going to a historic car meeting. We met his brother there who reminded us about his step fathers birthday party...to which we said we would go and forgot about!! I had planned to take photos of the flowers that afternoon. I was already worried about the fact that the flowers have been standing around since Thursday and I have not photographed them!! Now I had to leave it until Monday afternoon!

Luckily we got home at about 16:45. I jumped at the opportunity to take the flowers to the park. To my husband's dismay I asked him to help me...not a happy camper!! When we got there I ran around like my hair was on fire - I had to set up the table, take all the decor out of the car, arrange everything, fold serviettes!! People probably thought "What the hell is wrong with you; showing up this late and trying to set a fancy table?!"

By the time I got to the last table the sun was gone. I scrambled to get a few shots, but to no avail. I had to come back the next day. Luckily I realised that the building faced east and so it would be possible for me to use the western side to take photos any time of the day as the table would be in the shade!

 

 

That evening I went through the photos and realised I didn't put wine glasses or cutlery on the tables!! No wonder the tables seemed so empty!! I made peace with the fact that I would have to go back the next day and do everything all over again!

 

On Monday I fixed the flowers where they needed a bit of TLC, put everything back in the car and started all over again. This time I loved every moment! I was calm, happy and thankful for the opportunity I had to design these arrangements and take the photos.

 

Here are the results of my labour!! It came out exactly how I planned and I am thrilled!!!

 

Pink and Silver:

 

Moroccan:

 

 

Whimsical:

I love the results!! After all the hard work (it took 5 days to finally take these pictures!!) I am very happy that I pushed trough and made it happen!! Success!!

This Little Piggy Went to the Market...

Behind the Scenes: flowers at the Honeybadger Bistro

The Bistro and I have an arrangement that I provide them with flowers every ten or so days. They want plain and simple designs; which means only one flower per vase. This can be a bit tricky as there aren't many flowers which allow theme selves to stand alone, especially on a tight budget.

I am going to the market in a few minutes...in fact, as soon as I finish this post...to get some flowers for the Bistro.

The first thing I do to prepare is to grab The File with a list of (mostly) all the flowers at the market in order to get a visual. Today I would like to try and get Asters (Callistephus) as they are a bit quirky. The vases are quite small, so I might be able to cut the flowers short and fit them in.

 

 

I need to fill 15 small vases and then one larger vase. Hopefully we can find some Golden Bird (Solidago) and beautiful Deep River Iris'.

 

 

This might seem a little loud, but the Bistro is all about pairing strange colours together to create a perfectly peaceful atmosphere.

 

I will keep the details of the auction at the market for another day...especially for the day that I get a big order that necessitates me to go. The orders for the Bistro are too small to buy from the auction, so I buy from the smaller wholesale shops instead.

 

Here are some pictures of the market.

 

This is the entrance:

 

 

This is the auction floor which I will tell you more about on another day.

 

 

This is how flowers are displayed at the shops (even though the photo is the right side up on the computer..I cannot get the blogger to keep it that way...sorry guys 0_o )

And this is what my trolley usually looks like..you'll need to turn your head to the right...sorry!

 This concludes the tiny section of one of my days in the week. I will keep you posted on how the flowers at the Bistro turned out!

Do you really need a florist?

I have been asked many questions about DIY wedding arrangements. With today's 'vintage-rustic' wedding styles it seems so easy to arrange your own flowers that people consider the option very strongly.

There are, however, a few things to consider when you come to this decision. Where will you purchase your flowers? When will you purchase the flowers? How many flowers do you need? How will you ensure that you have enough flowers (and seeing that this option is mostly considered when on a tight budget) or ensure that you don't buy too many flowers? Where will you purchase the oasis, wire, etc. needed for the arrangements? When do you plan to arrange your flowers? Do you know how much time you will need to do all the arrangements?

Are you still considering doing you own flowers?

There is no doubt that you will get a lot more 'bang for your buck' if you know where to shop for flowers. The thing is, the money that you've save would have been spent on the knowledge and experience of a florist...one who is up to date with the latest styles and must-haves. It will also be spent on the authority to say to your florist: "this is not exactly what I had in mind" or "I loath carnations, d-o n-o-t use them!!" or even in the unfortunate situation "this is not what we discussed, I said I don't want carnations!". If you leave the arrangements to dear aunt Margaret who happens to love red carnations, especially if you pair it with ivy and baby's breath, then you might have to hold your tongue.

The advantages of having a florist is that he or she has the contacts and experience (and a reputation to uphold) to provide quality arrangements to your wedding or event. What is more is that (if they are reputable florists) they will always have a little bit of extra flowers with them for whatever you need - the groom was in charge of the cake and neglected to arrange for flowers, the restrooms look dull and dreary, you said you will arrange your own confetti and you forgot (this one I can say is from experience at my own wedding). A florist is always a good investment as he/she will be at the reception area and will (should) always be willing to help if something goes wrong. It is an extra person with experience on board to make your day the most memorable day of your life.

 

Yes, flowers are not cheap, they are delicate and need a lot of care and attention when they are cultivated, harvested and transported. They need even more care when they are being arranged, but in the end your florist will buy quality flowers which will last long to make beautiful arrangements which you can give as (quality) tokens of appreciation to the family and friends which made your day flawless.

The question is therefore not 'Do you really need a florist?" it is "Is it worth it to invest in  a florist" and in my honest opinion, yes, it is. You should be focused on yourself and your guests on the big day, not on worrying if persuading aunt Margaret not to use the red carnation actually worked! It is your spescial day, enjoy it!

DIY Photobooth

My cousin phoned me yesterday for some advice on DIY flower arrangements as her budget is a bit tight. My advice, was to get quotes from florists and compare it to the price of flowers that you plan on buying to arrange yourself; keeping in mind that a florist knows what she is doing and will do exactly what you asked her to do....as opposed to over-eager aunts.

This made me think about where I thought we saved money on our wedding. The one thing trending amongst our friends at the moment is the photo booth we had.

When clicking your way through pinterest and flipping through magazines you are bound to find ideas on photo booths. After seeing all the cute props and wonderful ideas I just had to have one! The problem is that photographers charge a pretty penny for the setup an the photos.

Enter Pocketbooth....notice how his expression changes as he realised how it works! [Thanks Hubby for letting me use your "I'm eating my breakfast" photo...]

We installed Pocketbooth on to our iPad and used it as the photo booth at the wedding. All we had to do was rent some props from a fancy dress rental shop, put it in a box next to the iPad and some instructions (which no-one read as it is self explanatory)! Here's one of the photostrips [Thanks to my fun-loving friends!!]

 

You can download the app on your iPad or iPhone http://www.projectbox.com/pocketbooth/. It worked perfectly as you can move it around withyou guests as they move from the 'welcome-drinks' area to the reception.

Please note I was not paid to advertise the above mentioned product.

Welcome!!

With a youthful and vibrant attitude; we are focused on supplying our clients with the latest and most unique floral designs to frame the vision they have for any special occasion. Our floral designs and carefully selected decor will reflects your personality and personal style. This is your moment, the one day you have planned down to the finest detail. The decor should therefore guide and compliment the atmosphere and vision you have chosen for the occasion.

The aim of our business is to provide our clients with unique and memorable designs. We create floral art which represents everyone with quirky personalities to designs which will compliment an elegant evenings

 

Although we are based in Pretoria we cater for weddings, functions and parties throughout Gauteng. Apart from floral design we also provide decor to compliment our floral creations.

Time is limited in today's busy world; therefore we will discuss your vision for your event with you and compile all the decor, choose the flowers and create the floral designs on your behalf. This allows you to carry on with your daily activities while we worry about the details of the special occasion.

Should you prefer to pick everything yourself; you are more than welcome to do so. We will assist you in every way we can.

Apart from creating floral art for weddings and functions we also provide restaurants and shops with our creative designs.

 Nothing creates an inviting atmosphere like fresh flowers. Contact us to discuss the various options we have available to provide your business with a personal touch.

 

Visit our website www.uniqueflowers.co.za for all our contact details. Follow us on

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