Mav 5, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



J 255 



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BEGINNINGS 



IN DESIGN... 



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THE BRIDE'S BOUQUET. 



The FuU Shower Effect. 



For a good liaiid bouquet there will 

 be required from 100 to 200 lilies of the 

 valley, whether it is proposed to have 

 the full shower effect, as shown in the 

 first illustration, or the round hand bou- 

 quet with the partial shower effect as 

 shown in the second illustration. The 

 size and height of the person who carries 

 the bouquet should be considered, also, 

 Don't weigh down a dainty little bride 

 with a half-bushel bouquet, unless she 

 has no more appreciation of the fitness 

 of things than to insist on it herself, 

 and don 't place a ' ' two by four ' ' shower 

 in the hand of a six-footer. 



The best foundation for such a shower 

 as is first shown is a dozen sprays of As- 

 paragus Sprengeri varying in length from 

 a foot to a yard. Bunch them securely 

 together about four inches from the stub 

 ends. A medium heavy wire is the best 

 tying material, for it not only fastens, 

 but is stiff enough to hold itself in place. 

 With the Sprengeri bunch half a dozen 

 ditl'erent length sprays of Asparagus 

 plumosus, and a bolt of narrow ribbon 

 cut in lengths to correspond with the 

 Sprengeri sprays. Ribbon for a shower 

 houquet should not be wider than No. 

 9. nor narrower than No. 3. Velvet is 

 the choicest, but embroidered gauze, taf- 

 feta and satin are all used. 



Having caught in one end of each of 

 the ribbon lengths, we now have a bunch 

 composed of the two kinds of asparagus 

 and ribbon, which, when held up, stem 

 end down, will fall out airily from the 

 hand. It will be our purpose throughout 

 this process of making the shower bou- 

 quet to preserve this airy and light ap- 

 pearance. Set this much of the bouquet 

 in a tall clean vase before you on the 

 table, while the flcwers are being made 

 ready. Remove all the valley foliage from 

 the flower stalks in order to reduce the 

 bulk and weight. Leave the flower stalks 

 full length, and replace about one-third 

 the foliage by folding the smaller 

 leaves loosely, without wrapping, around 

 the lower ends of a part of the flower 

 stalks. Have the sprays of the skeleton 

 bouquet fall half way around the vase. 



Attaching the Valley, 



Begin at the top to fasten the lilies 

 of the valley up and down the Sprengeri 

 sprays with one or two wrappings of No. 

 36 wire, more heavily at the top, 'and 

 gradually thinning the density towards 

 the bottom. A small proportion may be 

 fastened in an erect position at the top, 

 but the most of the flowers are supposed 

 to hang downwards, as though caught ac- 

 cidentally on the green. Knot the ribbon 

 here and there in single loops and double 

 bows, and in the ties have a spike of 

 lily of the valley with its foliage. Let 

 a few of the ribbon ends hang as they 

 are,' with a tiny cluster of flowers cling- 

 ing to them. Through others of the loops 

 pull a valley laden spray of the Spren- 

 geri. Fluff all the sprays out, and see 

 that none of the asparagus sprays are 



so heavy with the valley flowers that they 

 lose their spring, and hang straight 

 down. 



Slip about a yard of ribbouj through 

 the stem end of the bouquet upwards and 

 tie in a double bow, leaving a loop under 

 the bow, large enough to slip over the 

 hand or wrist of the wearer. It is a 

 little more comfortable to hold the bou- 

 quet by the stem end, however, and if 

 this method is preferred, wrap the stems 



this case the lilies of the valley should 

 be prepared as before, by removing all 

 and replacing part of the foliage. This 

 bouquet will require from 150 to 200 

 lilies of the valley. For a foundation, tie 

 together a dozen stiff, stubby stems of 

 Sprengeri, or something _ else equally 

 strong. Cross the stem ends, and when 

 they are tied tightly they will look like 

 a bottle brush. 



Next, group the valley flowers into 

 bunches of from six to twelve each, 

 sheatli each group with a leaf and wrap 

 with a wire heavy enough to bear the' 

 weight of the bunch. Begin to wrap 

 about a third of the way from the bot- 

 tom of the stem and wind the wire spii^ 

 ally to the lower end of the stem, leaving 

 the wire eight to ten inches long below, 

 for extra stem length. After preparing 

 all the valley for the main part of the 

 bouquet in this way, take the stubby 

 bunch of asparagus in the left hand and 



The Shower Bouquet of Asparagus and Valley. 



with foil and cover with a piece of the 

 wide ribbon which completes the bouquet 

 in a large bow at the back of the bou- 

 quet. Two yards of sash ribbon of a 

 quality to correspond with the narrower 

 ribbon used in the shower, will be suffi- 

 cient. The large bow is not essential, 

 but is often used. 



With the Green Shower. 



Another hand bouquet, with a partial 

 shower effect in green, is presented in 

 the next illustration. Perhaps this style 

 is more often seen than the former. In 



run the wired bunches of valley through 

 it by their sharp ends, till these same 

 wire stems come out among the stem 

 ends of the asparagus. Keep this up till 

 the bunches of valley have all found a 

 place in the bouquet, and its outline has 

 become well rounded, yet not compact, 

 the delicate sprays nodding freely, but 

 securely fastened in their place. If any 

 stray bits of blunt asparagus appear 

 among the flowers, clip off fheir tops, 

 or cover them with valley foliage, or a 

 delicate green stemmed in the same way 

 as the flowers. 



