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The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



747 



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Wedding Decorations. 



The innumerable forms of churcli floral 

 decorations ;ne .-ullirieutly interesting 

 for a longer series of articles, but we 

 can only now deal with the most im- 

 portant points. The few rough sketches 

 we present this week must be considered 

 from a framework point of view; we 

 hope to be able to again present them 

 from a finished side. It must be remem- 

 bered that a frame is but as a founda- 

 tion, the superstructure depends on the 

 artist. 



One of the most difficult problems for 

 the decorator is how to fasten a stand in 

 the pews without defacing woodwork or 

 obstructing the passageway. We have a 

 stand which fits snugly in the corner 

 of the pew; one screw eye in the floor 

 holds it in place. Any of the stands 

 shown can be put in the pew; a screw 

 eye under the seat will make secure from 

 tampering fingers or superfluous adi- 

 pose. Don't use wire in fastening 

 bunches of flowers on the end of pews ; a 

 stout rubber band or baby ribbon is best. 

 It does not always require an immense 

 amount of stuff to make an effective 

 decoration; a plant or cluster of greens 

 well placed and daintily finished is a 

 pleasure to look at. 



Now, in regard to house decorations, 

 be it for the wedding or the reception, 

 somewhat different rules apply. Color 

 lines need not be so severe; that is, we 

 mean more colors can be used in a house 

 than in church, but in all cases the 

 greatest harmony should prevail. You 

 have different rooms in a house and each 

 should be made a feature by distinct 

 treatment and different color. Your 

 greatest efl'ort should be made in the 

 ceremonial room. The banking of mir- 

 rors, unless you have e.xtra fine material, 

 had better be left alone; the custom is 

 dying out any way. If you can untwist 

 and train a Crimson Rambler or two on 

 something similar to the wire shown it 

 will show off better than all the stiff 

 banks of greens you can manufacture. 

 As mentioned, you can cut off the blooms 

 and tie on any color desired. Golden 

 Gate, De Watteville, Carnot, Bride or 

 any of the light colors will be most ac- 

 ceptable roses in the principal room, and 

 the ne.xt to it should be something bril- 

 liant, siich as Liberty, Meteor, Brunner 

 or Beauty, to emphasize color effects. 



Spring flowers, such as tulips, dafl'o- 

 dils, lilies, etc., can be made very attract- 

 ive all in one room. A room fixed up in 

 one or two colors in carnations is apt 

 to be more admired than the roses. Com- 

 binations can be made, of course, with 

 almost anything, but the arranger must 

 not be color blind. 



At extensive weddings in New York a 

 colonnade of Greek or Roman pillars of 

 plaster of paris or stucco are often used; 

 the pillars are usually about 8 to 10 

 feet in height and 1 to IJ feet in diam- 

 eter. Roman garlands of roses, or pref- 

 erably climbing roses, naturally entwin- 

 ing the pillars, make them verv imnres- 



if place on any- 

 f vines or gar- 

 ;; only fit embel- 



part, that is on a background of, say, 

 white or yellow bunting, with tracery of 

 vines, immense heraldic or cupid bows 

 and streamers of delicate pink ribbons, 

 with here and there clusters of flowers 

 to' match, can be made to show up amaz- 

 ingly good. Combinations can be made 

 to suit the exigencies of the case, or 

 the imagination of the artist; some very 

 good examples of this kind of decoration 



were done at McKinlcy's last inaugura- 

 tion, which we attended for the purpose 

 of writing up for this department; a 

 |]H's.,uii' lit nilii 1 iiiJitcrs, however, has 



|Mc\-iiir-l 11, I '-jning our impres- 



>i.iii,. lull ;iii iilliiir like this is always 

 viiliiiible. \\r -liiill ili-russ it during dull 

 times. 



But again to wedding decorations. 

 The use of flowering plants is most ap- 

 propriately pleasing in the house, and 

 you want to tell your customers the 

 placing of them in vases in conspicuous 

 places is apt to give the impression that 

 they have always been there, and people 

 desire to create this impression. The 

 less artificial (we mean "rigidly fixed 

 up" or too apparently fixed) your work 

 looks all the better. A great mistake 

 is made by even the best artists in having 

 some of the best parts of their work too 

 low down. It is certainly absolutely nec- 

 essary that pots, etc., should be covered, 

 that a group of plants should have a 

 finished look; but we should remember 

 that when a room gets jammed with 

 people, as it docs invariably, your deco- 

 rations are lost if they are not above 

 the heads of the people. Keep your best 

 work where it can be seen at all times. 



Remember, too, in a house there is 

 less call for the spectacular. Some great 

 paintings must be always viewed from a 

 distance. Your work in large buildings 

 must be on the same principle as the 

 "impressionist" picture, but the work in 

 the house must bear close range criti- 

 cism only, therefore it must be of a more 

 polished type. , 



We will deal exclusively with bouquets 

 next week. In the meantime if vou have 



liny question to ask send it along. We 

 very frequently hear from the introduc- 

 ers of novelties. The great trouble with 

 growers is that they are satisfied to stick 

 a half-dozen of their pets in a vase, get 

 thorn photographed and have the picture 

 ])ut in with their adv. We would be 

 [jlcascd to assist in better presentations 

 of deserving flowers or plants. 



IVEItA. 



HELPS IN DECORATING. 



We have roughly sketched a few wire 

 frames and devices that are useful in ar- 

 ranging large decorations. These are 

 made by Reed & Keller, of New York, 

 whoso address will be found in the ad- 

 vertising columns. 



Figure 1 represents a very substantial 

 arch made of bolted sheet iron. It is 

 made so that when not in use it can be 

 taken apart and stored in a small space. 

 It is usually made ten to twelve feet high 

 but can be extended. It is suitable for 

 church, house or ball decorations and 

 can be made the principal feature of 

 even the most extensive job. With sim- 

 ple wire hooks growing plants can be 

 suspended from any and every pait. 

 Wlien covered with growing plants of 

 Adiantum Farleyense and a vase or two 

 of choice flowers it gives a magnificent 

 effect. 



Of course there are numerous ways of 

 "making it up." One very effective way 

 is to cover it entirely with climbing 

 roses. It is merely a matter of price, 

 material and "know how." A bell or 

 set of bells can be suspended from the 

 center. One thing about this arch is 

 that there need be no fear of its falling 

 over, and the shape is a matter of choice. 



Figure 2 is a wreath canopy for a 

 house wedding. The wreath is of the 

 orescent shape, very wide frame and 

 from four to six feet in diameter, the 

 top of wreath inclining forward to form 

 a canopy effect. There is a very large 

 liow at the bottom of the wreath. The 

 iron pipe stem is eight feet high with a 

 heavy rest at the foot. 



This design can be made up very hand- 

 soMudy. The wreath should be filled full 

 with but one color rose, the bow of a 



contrasting color. Sometimes it is made 

 of flowers on wire work but most often 

 is of sash ribbon. Very bright colors 

 are usually used in this design to most 

 surely avoid funeral effects. 



A very popular design now is the shell 

 canopy. It is a wire frame in the shape 

 of a sea shell on a pipe stand like the 

 preceding. It "makos up" very effect- 

 ively and is full of meaning. 



