Sbptbhbbb 9, 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



17 



RETAIL STORE MANAGEMENT 



WHAT THE LEADERS IN THE TRADE ARE DOING 



FOR A LAWN WEDDING. 



The Artist's Opportunity. 



It is quite easy for the ordinary 

 thoughtless person to move among the 

 iiiiest decorations without realizing the 

 beauty which surrounds him or the care 

 which was required to create those 

 beautiful surroundings. This is particu- 

 l.Trly true when the person's interest 

 is so absorbed in an event that his eyes 

 i^ecm closed to outward sights not di- 

 rectly connected with the chief point 

 of interest. Yet that beauty, whether 

 noticed or not, has its effect; if con- 

 tributes powerfully to the joy and im- 

 jirossiveness of the occasion. 



Take a wedding, for instance. When 

 a florist has carte blanche for the dec- 

 orations, he is the stage manager who 

 is to provide the setting for a brief, 

 but momentous, scene. His ingenuity, 

 his resourcefulness, his sense of the fit- 

 ness of things, his best efforts in the 

 execution of his plan — all will be di- 

 rected toward the creation of a beauti- 

 ful, harmonious background for the 

 wedding, a background so designed that 

 the central features are made prominent 

 iind the less important parts are duly 

 subordinated. 



Outdoor Possibilities. 



For an outdoor wedding, flowers, 

 ferns, shrubs, trees, ribbons, stands, 

 baskets and so on are his stage proper- 

 ties; the lawn is his stage; the bridal 

 party and the guests are alike his actors 

 and his audience. Here is an opportu- 

 nity to do a piece of work which will 

 give him untold personal satisfaction as 

 an artist and will be of great advertis- 

 ing value for his business. 



How this opportunity can be well 

 made use of was shown at Pasadena, 

 <'al., in the wedding of E. Crawford 

 May and Miss Margaret Mortenson, 

 when Siebrecht's House of Flowers, of 

 Pasadena, had charge of the decora- 

 tions. Jacob Mortenson, the father of 

 the bride, is a large lumber dealer and 

 at one time worked for the father of 

 tlie lato Charles Willis Ward. 



Aisle and Gaxden Chapel. 



The wedding took place on the lawn 

 west of the Mortenson residence; the 

 lawn is 130x190 feet, with only a large 

 I'alm, Phanix canariensis, in the center. 

 Henry A. Sicbrecht, Jr., of Siebrecht's 

 House of Flowers, placed 260 eucalyp 

 tiis trees, twenty to fifty feet in height, 

 ■nound the edge of the lawn to form an 

 'lutdoor chapel, with an improvised altar 

 •'t the opposite end of the lawn from the 

 '■''sidence. At the altar, on a raised 

 Iilatform, as shown clearly in one of 

 Hie accompanying photographs, a white 

 pric-dicu was placed on an oriental rug 

 'iiulerneath a canopy consisting of rose 

 ■ ines, white roses, Easter lilies, sweet 

 !'cas and Shasta daisies. On each side 

 "f the canopy were two large bay trees 

 'f'stooned with white roses, giving the 

 I'fTect of while pyramid rose trees. 



The other illustration shows the aisle 

 made by connecting the aisle posts with 

 broad white satin ribbon leading from 

 the residence around the palm up to the 

 altar, the canopy of which appears at 

 the top of the picture. On top of each 

 aisle post was a basket containing white 

 roses, Easter lilies, Shasta daisies and 

 Gladiolus Colvillei The Bride; each bas- 

 ket had also a shower effect of hanging 

 Asparagus Sprengeri festooned with 

 white sweet peas. The base of the 

 phffinix was surrounded by gladioli, 

 Shasta daisies and other flowers. Two 

 large bay trees containing white roses 

 stood at the entrance to the aisle. 



On each side of the garden chapel at 

 regular intervals among the eucalyptus 

 trees were placed fifteen bay trees which 

 had been transformed into standard rose 

 trees; these had alternately Columbia 

 and Russell roses. Aside from their 

 own beauty, these berosed bay trees 

 helped by modifying the stiff wall ef- 

 fect of green. Altogether about 3,000 

 roses were used in the chapel decora- 

 tions. Potted palms and ferns were also 

 used to advajitage. 



Unusual Bride's Bouquet. 



The residence was beautified in keep- 

 ing with the decorations of each room. 

 The main stairway was festooned with 

 running Columbia and Russell roses, 

 each newel post having a basket with 

 three or four dozen Russell roses. The 

 bride's bouquet was distinctive. It was 

 in shower form and consisted of lilies 

 of the valley, white cattleyas, forty 

 odontoglossums and gardenias. There 

 were ten streamers from the center of 

 the bouquet and ten from the handle; 



these were festooned with valley and 

 gardenias, beside a broad sasli of white 

 ribbon. 



ART AND WINDOW DRESSING. 



Clothing an Opportunity. 



An odd phrase that — window dress- 

 ing. It suggests that the window is 

 something naked and waiting to be 

 clothed. And, in fact, the bare glass, 

 with its empty display space behind, 

 is a naked opportunity, waiting for the 

 clothes of character. The display win- 

 dow, like the display manikin or wax 

 figure, needs to be dressed in order to 

 be of use. 



Just how it is to be dressed is of the 

 greatest importance, because it gener- 

 ally makes the first impression; it has 

 the best chance to sell the possible cus- 

 tomer; it is the store's first opportunity 

 to say its message. Some of the chief 

 department stores in the larger cities 

 have brought window dressing, or trim- 

 ming, to a high level of skill and in- 

 genuity. But the florist has a peculiar 

 advantage right at the start, in the su- 

 preme beauty of his staple commodities. 

 What backgrounds he shall give them 

 and how he shall select and arrange 

 them to get the full value from their 

 color and form are problems worthy of 

 much study. Certain florists have 

 recognized the importance of this study 

 and have employed skilled decorators 

 and window dressers to solve it for 

 them. Their experience gives rise to 

 such suggestions as these from Oscar 

 Tekniepe, decorator for the Mullanphy 

 Florists, Inc., St. Louis, Mo.: 



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Looking Toward fiie Altar Set for Wedding in California Garden. 



