Day 4 and 5- Thursday and Friday

Thursday and Friday To Dos: Finish all bouquets and centerpieces and pre-pack for Saturday.




Everyone works together to put the finishing touches on the weddings. Bouquets and other personal flowers are finished as well as centerpieces.

We make flower petals the old fashioned way!!

Apples are put into vases for centerpieces and then pre-packed into boxes for Saturday.

When everything is done, we load up the van and take all the cardboard boxes to the recycling center!

The cooler is full and Saturday will be here soon enough!

:)

Day 3- Wednesday

Wednesday To-Dos: Process cherry blossom branches, start working on personal flowers, organize cooler!

This particular week, we have large centerpieces with cherry blossom branches. Even though it had been unseasonably warm, our supplier was able to secure us the very last of the season's blossom branches. They came in and they were VERY, VERY tall!!!

Each branch needs to be re-cut, put in water and moved to the cooler to keep their blooms from dropping. The branches are so thick, that we use a small saw to trim each branch. Then, we organize the cooler and squeeze the branches in!!

In the middle of all of the branch hub-bub, another client of ours drops off some glass teapots for a fundraiser event we were doing the following week! There's never a dull moment!!

Once all of the processing is finished, Kirsten and Shelly work on personal flowers. They are able to work on boutonnieres and some bouquets.

As the day draws to a close, Kirstin gets one more thing in the cooler! Tomorrow will be a big day!

Day 2- Tuesday

Tuesday TO DOs: Process any new flowers that come in and start to separate flowers for each wedding.

More flowers arrive! We unload them from their boxes and unwrap and process all of them. Each item we are expecting from market is checked off our flower list.

Shelly says flower processing is fun!

Once all of the flowers are processed, we start separating out the flowers for each individual bouquet and putting them in their designated, labeled vases. This particular week, that task took the rest of the morning!

Kirsten finishes the separating!

Once all the vases are separated, they all need to go in the cooler. We go from a very cold and empty cooler (as Chelsea demonstrates)..........

.........to a very cold, FULL cooler!!

Time for a break!

After lunch, we typically work on any little things that can be finished ahead of time. This week, we had small cocktail vases of green spider mums that could be completed.

Messes are ALWAYS made in the work area! Clean up occurs many times in a day!

Since we have SO much flower waste, we separate out the organic material for a compost pile! Since Sisters is our name and labeling is our game, we are sure to put a sign on the trash can to help us remember!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's activities!

:)

A Week in the Life of Sisters!- Day 1, Monday

This week, we will be doing something different and fun on our blog! We recently took pictures every day for a week of what we do here at our design studio. Day by day this week, you will be able to take a look at how we organize and design for our weddings. From start to finish, we will show a week in the life of Sisters Flowers!

DAY ONE--MONDAY

To Dos: Organize and Process Flowers

Most weekends, we have more than one wedding to design and service. To keep ourselves organized and running like well-oiled, flower-making machine, we color code our weddings. We assign a colored sticker to each bride and sort their flowers accordingly. Bouquet vases are labeled for each bouquet, and boxes are labeled for bouts. and corsages. Each label will have the person's job that day (bridesmaids, usher, mom, etc.)

If needed, leaves for the backs of bouts. and corsages can be done ahead of time and put in the corresponding boxes.

We fill up buckets and wait for the flowers to arrive!

The flowers come in long boxes like these, packed and bunched. Now, the fun begins and buckets are filled!

:)

Reminder about Vase Rebates!

Just a reminder about our vase rebates! We have blogged about this in the past, but we think it bears repeating!!

At Sisters Flowers, we do our best to leave a smaller "footprint" on the environment. We have always recycled and tried to conserve as much as possible. Starting in 2008, in an effort to be even more environmentally aware, Sisters Flowers began offering a vase rebate for used vases purchased from us for weddings or events.

Many times after an event is over, people find themselves bogged down by leftover vases of all shapes and sizes. They take up room in closets, basements, and pantries. Sisters Flowers helps recycle these vases by offering a rebate. We pay you for bringing back any reusable vases from your event within two weeks of the event. At the time of your consultation, we can give you a rebate price for each piece we are providing you. It's a savings for you AND we all get to help out our Earth. Everyone wins!

Since we have started doing this, we have rebated hundreds of vases and recycled all of them! This seems to be a success, so we will continue to do our part!! If you have any questions about this offer, please feel free to contact us!!

Fun with Wheat Grass

Here are some fun ideas for using wheat grass at your event!

Sisters Flowers rents our wheat grass box for place cards. Here is an example of how it can be used. This place card set-up was at a party we did with Lacy Branch Events. Ask about renting our wheat grass box for your wedding or event!

:)

Wedding Flower History Lesson

If you've ever wondered where the tradition of wedding flowers comes from, the following is a great post from www.fiftyflowers.com.

"Flowers, herbs and spices have been used in weddings for centuries. Today, the main purpose they have is to decorate our venues or complement formal clothing. However, in ancient times their use was more spiritually oriented. The bride carried aromatic bunches of garlic, herbs and spices to keep evil spirits away. Strong smells were related to protection from evil forces and mysticism. In ancient Greece and Rome, both the bride and groom wore a garland made out of strong-smelling herbs and spices around their necks. The garland was a symbol of love and happiness. Ancient Greeks also used flowers and plants to make a crown for the bride to wear and were considered a gift from nature. Although some cultures and religions still use herbs to celebrate marriages, they have lost their place in modern weddings and flowers are becoming increasingly important.

In some countries, the history and role of wedding flowers has remained and many practices continue to be preformed. Here are some of the traditions that are still important elements of every wedding, and not only in the countries where they originally appeared. Some of them are also the base of traditions we currently follow worldwide.

**Germany: both the bride and groom hold candles with flowers and ribbons tied to them during the ceremony.

**Sweden: the bridesmaids carry little bouquets of aromatic herbs.

**Austria: the brides crown their veils with the flowers of life.

**England: the bride and her bridesmaids walk to the church together. A little girl would lead them to the church while sprinkling flowers along the path. This tradition prevails in modern weddings with the "flower girls."

**India: rose petals are sprinkled over the bride and groom at the end of the wedding ceremony to help ward off any evil spirits.

Starting in the form of herbs and spices, flowers have always been an important element to weddings--not only for their undeniable beauty but also for their historical significance symbolic meanings."


:)