

34 



The Florists^ Review 



May 4. 1922 



an unselfish reason to induce customers 

 to let me decorate for them diflferently 

 than they were accustomed to. So I 

 expressed myself accordingly. I stated: 

 " At a wedding or reception in a house 

 you clear out of the rooms all unneces- 

 sary furniture. "Why? To have space. 

 Then the florist brings a lot of plants for 

 decorating and takes up more room than 

 you saved." Another reason I put 

 forth: "You and your friends feel as 

 strangers in a house in which you lived 

 and which, possibly, they knew, for 

 many years, because the decorator did 

 not try to preserve the home atmos- 

 phere." These arguments helped me to 

 introduce my kind of decorations. The 

 cost of the old type of decoration did 

 not show favorably in comparison with 

 the cost and results of my modern work. 



Satisfies Florist and Customer. 



1 gained both ways with my introduc- 

 tions. I gave the customer more satis- 

 faction and made a profitable transac- 

 tion. With churches or hotels it was not 

 any different. With the palm decora- 

 tion, as in former times, or the banking 

 of flowers — which is possible in a church 

 only in one space, at the front, where 

 the ceremony takes place — decorations 

 look more or less all alike, and if a guest 

 went to several weddings at the same 

 jilaoe he got the impression of having 

 l)oen at the same wedding several times 

 over. 



Formerly wo made large, showy 

 groups of [)lauts, disregarding architec- 

 ture of building and disregarding color- 

 ing. When we gave an estimate we 

 didn't pay any attention to the time of 

 the wedding, wliether it was to be in 



daylight or at evening by artificial light. 

 We didn't pay attention to many other 

 details. At the present time the florist 

 has to be certain of all details of sur- 

 roundings selected for a wedding cere- 

 mony, and the wedding decoration has 

 to be made accordingly. In one place 

 flowering plants or cut flowers arranged 

 in the proper way will give a harmonious 

 effect and will make a cheerful decora- 

 tion. In some places a decoration of 

 green appears gloomy and unnatural, 

 and vice-versa. Where the building is 

 beautiful and in good proportion, we 

 can follow the architecture. Where we 

 have to contend with walls which are 

 dilapidated or discolored, as is some- 

 times the case in old country churches 

 where the proper care has not been 

 taken of~the building, we have to have 

 a green background. We florists should 

 liave the ability to brighten gloomy 

 buildings and to tone down too bright 

 ones. Our instinct should teach us to 

 create an atmosphere where there is 

 none. 



Tor Illustration. 



We can accomplish wonders with any 

 kind of material. Assuming that we 

 have a plain wooden country church, 

 where architectural beauty was disre- 

 garded and where there are many win- 

 dows, we can treat the walls as if they 

 were the walls of the outside of a house, 

 covering them with vines or any sort of 

 green, something similar to a wall over- 

 grown with ampelopsis. We can inter- 

 twine, with the green, climbing roses or 

 any other flowers to give color where the 

 building is dull, using only green where 

 tlie space is bright and sunny. Place 



window boxes covered with natural bark 

 in the windows, filling them with flowers 

 or with branches of flowering shrubs or 

 flowering bedding plants. Use for flank- 

 ing the front similar boxes on stands 

 the height of the window sill, giving it 

 also a background of softer green. 



A decoration of this kind is much 

 more impressive than groups of palms. 

 This type of decoration will impress the 

 customer more and give a better back- 

 ground for the bridal party, and because 

 the material is all sold and not loaned, 

 it is easier for the florist to estimate and 

 is more profitable to him. It also gives 

 less work and takes little effort to dis- 

 mantle. It is the best chance for a 

 florist to advertise, and this is one rea- 

 son why he should put every effort into 

 it. A decoration for a wedding should 

 never be severe or cold. It is important 

 for us florists to consider the guests, not 

 alone the bridal party or the j)erson who 

 placed the order. Stepping into a dec- 

 orated space, everyone should feel the 

 sacredness of the ceremony for which 

 this space is prepared. One should not 

 need to hear a good musician playing 

 Lohengrin to feel touched. Our work 

 should impress the holiness of the space 

 on the minds of those present without 

 any tones. A florist can make and un- 

 make with his decoration. He can up- 

 lift and he can depress^ and those of 

 the poets who wrote about the "might 

 of song" might have written about the 

 might of flowers. There is no other pro- 

 fession which comes so near to human 

 nature. There is no other profession so 

 closely connected with life, and because 

 of that, floral art is above every other 

 art. To sculptors and artists, to poets 



Bare Walls of Lecture Hall Covered Without the Usual Extensive Use of Palms. 



