The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



OcTOBKU 15, 1908. 



out this comical little pumpkin-head. A 

 pointed knife is quite necessary to carve 

 out the eyes, nose and mouth, and you 

 can give them amusingly different expres- 

 sions by varying the features, some with 

 slanting eyes, some with yawning mouth, 

 etc. If you have the small electric bulbs, 

 illuminate the heads; if not, various col- 

 ored beads will serve for eyes and finish 

 them off with gay colored caps of dif- 

 ferent shapes, easily made from crepe 

 paper. 



I worked out this idea in my own win- 

 dow last year and it was pleasing to see 

 the merriment it made for the passers- 

 by. Not only did it attract attention, 

 but I sold all the extra heads I could 

 make. Anna G. Sawyer. 



THE MUM AND THE WEDDING. 



Autumn Brings Nuptials. 



It is not alone to the vernal season 

 that the retail florist looks for good 

 wedding orders, for, while marriages are 

 more numerous in June, it has been 

 found that many of the largest hymeneal 

 affairs occur in the autumnal months of 

 the chrysanthemum, when the boldest dec- 

 orative effects are fortunately possible 

 with the use of foliage and flowers. The 

 well equipped decorator knows the neces- 

 sity of being prepared at this season, 

 but those not well equipped need not be 

 concerned lest they be overtaxed, for the 

 public has a marvelously acute percep- 

 tion in such matters, and rare it is in- 

 deed that the fond parents of a blushing 

 bride call upon other than the decorator 

 who possesses skill and other resources in 

 exact proportion to the work required. 

 If you want the best work, prepare your- 

 self with the best of facilities. Don't 

 expect to make your preparations after 

 you book your order — keep your facilities 



always at least a step ahead of the re- 

 quirements of the best job you ever had. 



Skill and Other Requisites. 



In these days one needs something more 

 than skill to be a decorator, but acces- 

 sories are so numerous that it is not 

 necessary or, indeed, possible for any 

 retailer to possess more than a few of 

 the many changes of stage setting; for 

 instance, as in the accompanying illus- 

 trations, not more than once in a life- 

 time would the average decorator be called 

 upon to provide so many tall, tin-lined 

 birch bark vases as were used in this 

 decoration — and the number of styles of 

 such large vases is considerable, although 

 none could have been chosen more in 

 harmony with the scheme selected — birch 

 bark and autumn's queen, the chrysan- 

 themum. 



It is in the harmony of detail that the 

 work of the capable decorator shows for 

 what it is. Suppose, for instance, that in 

 the decoration pictured the white wicker 

 Beauty vases had been used for the 

 mums: Would the effect have been so 

 good? And what about the railing which 

 surrounds the platform on which the 

 bridal party is to stand? Would any 

 other treatment have so well accorded 

 with the stately lines of tall birch bark 

 vases of mums down the central aisle? 

 Note that the rough bark of the saplings 

 used to make this rail is not covered with 

 the drapery of asparagus — its mere out- 

 line only was softened. Even the base 

 of the kneeling stool was of birch bark. 



The Church Decoration. 



Of course, this is a big church wed- 

 ding and a much larger job than the 

 ordinary. Indeed, the leading stores do 

 not get more than one or two such jobs 

 as this a year and outside the larger 

 cities such orders are rare, but ideas are 



just as necessary to proper treatment 

 where the space and quantities of stock 

 used are smaller. No matter how large 

 your palms, you must get them up on 

 plant stands to give the effect of greater 

 height to the decoration. The larger 

 the roonnt the higher you must go. Note 

 that the support for the canopy over the 

 kneeling stool is far back among the 

 palms and entirely out of sight. 



The platform foi* the ceremony was 

 specially built for the purpose and on 

 two levels, so that the central figures 

 might be above the rest of the bridal 

 party, while all were above the floor 

 level. Many a good decoration has been 

 spoiled by the fact that none except those 

 in the front of the body of guests could 

 see the point of greatest interest. It 

 was a big little thing in this case to 

 raise the whole decoration and to put 

 the encircling rail and vases on the first 

 platform level and not on the floor itself; 

 it was where people could see it without 

 craning their necks. 



It is too often the case that where a 

 decoration is to be put up in a large 

 room, like a hall or a church, the size 

 of the room dwarfs the florist's work and 

 a disappointing effect of inadequacy is 

 the result. For decorations in large 

 rooms there is no better flower than the 

 chi^santhemum, if, indeed, there is any 

 other so good. The weeks of the mid- 

 season mums is the time when the florist 

 may undertake his largest work with the 

 feeling that for the time being at least 

 he has at his hand a flower whose bold 

 decorative qualities will respond to strong, 

 free treatment. 



CARE OF HOUSE PLANTS. 



Of all the questions asked by the pur- 

 chasing public, the one most frequently 

 hurled at the unprotected plant seller is. 



Decoration for a Large Autumnal Wedding. 



J 



