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Designing Holiday Arrangements
A MAJOR PART of floral sales is
associated with holidays. The
holidays are usually the busiest time of
year for florists. People celebrate on
holidays, and flowers contribute to a
party atmosphere. For some
holidays, such as Easter,
Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s
Day, flowers can convey deeper
meanings.
Objective:
� Demonstrate how to design holiday floral arrangements.
Key Terms:
� cornucopia
novelty designs
paddle wire
raffia
votive candles
Holiday Arrangements
Flowers play a large part in many holiday celebrations. Because of this, holidays are big
business days for the floral industry. Major holidays for the floral industry are Valentine’s Day,
Easter, Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Sweetest Day sales are growing.
Spring brings Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Administrative Professionals’ Day
(or Week), and Mother’s Day.
Summer holidays include Memorial Day, Father’s Day, and Independence Day.
E-unit: Designing Holiday Arrangements
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Fall holidays begin with Labor Day, followed by
Grandparents’ Day, which falls on the first Sunday in
September after Labor Day. Other fall holidays are
Sweetest Day on the third Saturday in October, Hal-
loween, and Thanksgiving.
Winter holidays are Chanukah, Christmas,
Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Eve.
In a recent year, Christmas accounted for 31 per-
cent of all holiday purchases of fresh cut flowers and
plants, according to the Society of American Florists.
Purchases for Mother’s Day totaled 25 percent, Valen-
tine’s Day 21 percent, Easter 11 percent, and
Thanksgiving 6 percent.
MAJOR HOLIDAY THEMES
Different flowers, colors, and styles of floral
arrangements are associated with the different holi-
days. However, the techniques used to make holiday
arrangements are the same as for other floral work.
Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day is on February 14. The
day is linked to love and romance. Red,
pink, and white are the colors of choice for
this holiday. A traditional Valentine’s Day
arrangement is a dozen roses in a vase with
baby’s breath. Another popular floral piece
includes red and white carnations and
mums. Often, an arrangement is enhanced
with accessories, such as plush animals or
other stuffed figures, hearts, or chocolates.
St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish holiday. It is
often said everyone is at least a little Irish
on that day. Green-tinted carnations are
big sellers for this holiday. Potted oxalis,
commonly known as shamrock, is pro-
duced for this Irish holiday and is sold in
floral shops.
E-unit: Designing Holiday Arrangements
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FIGURE 1. Flowers play a large part in holiday
celebrations.
FIGURE 2. Hearts and flowers are a great combination for
Valentine’s Day.
Easter
The Easter holiday creates a demand for both
spiritual and whimsical arrangements. Novelty
designs that resemble kittens, bunnies, chicks,
lambs, and ice cream are examples of whimsical,
imaginative designs. Both pastel colors and bright,
vibrant colors are appropriate at this time of year.
Lavender, purple, and yellow flowers are particu-
larly popular. The white Easter lily represents
beauty, hope, and life and is grown as a potted
plant for this occasion. Accessories for this holiday
include birds, nests, carrots, eggs, plush animals,
and crosses.
Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day is a day set aside to honor moth-
ers across the country. It falls on the second
Sunday in May. Arrangements made with spring
flowers are most popular. Corsages are well liked,
and orchids are often used for this purpose.
Halloween
Halloween arrangements
involve fall colors, hollowed-out
pumpkins, and everlasting flow-
ers. Orange and black is a com-
mon color scheme. Accessories
include gourds, spider webbing,
and figures of ghosts and witches.
In recent years, Halloween has
proven to be the fastest-growing
holiday for floral design.
Thanksgiving
The centerpiece is the major
arrangement for Thanksgiving.
No table is complete for the Thanksgiving meal without a holiday centerpiece. Analogous col-
ors of red, orange, and yellow highlight this autumn occasion. Often a cornucopia, a cone or
horn-shaped container of flowers, fruits, and vegetables, is used as a Thanksgiving centerpiece.
Raffia, a fibrous material made from palm trees, offers a natural ribbon appearance to fall
arrangements.
E-unit: Designing Holiday Arrangements
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FIGURE 3. The Easter holiday creates a demand for
both spiritual and whimsical arrangements.
FIGURE 4. A pumpkin is a fun and appropriate container at Halloween.
Christmas
Christmas is an extremely busy season for the floral industry. Traditional colors include
red, burgundy, white, gold, silver, and green. Holly and a variety of woody evergreens are used
to green arrangements and to make wreaths. The season starts in early November, when flo-
rists begin displaying not only arrangements but also all kinds of holiday decorating items.
Most florists sell potted poinsettias that have been prepared with foil and bows. Poinsettias are
the number one potted flowering crop in the United States.
Christmas centerpieces are often accented with votive candles—short, stocky candles
placed in holders around an arrangement. Other accessories include ornaments, cones, nuts,
toys, gifts, Santa, elves, angels, and snowflakes.
An Oval Christmas Centerpiece
Steps to make an oval centerpiece for Christmas follow.
1. Select a designer bowl.
2. Position a half brick of moistened floral foam in the center of the bowl. Trim the foam
edges for easier stem placement. Secure the foam to the container with waterproof tape.
3. Position a candle and candleholder in the center of the piece of foam.
4. Place a glass chimney around the candle, pushing it slightly into the foam to secure its
position.
5. Place leatherleaf, evergreens, or other greens to create an oval pattern. Begin by placing
four pieces in horizontally at the base—two longer pieces and two shorter pieces to
establish the length and the width. Place the greens so the tips angle down slightly. The
size of the arrangement when finished greening will dictate the length of the flower
stems. Continue to fill in with evergreens and leatherleaf.
6. Extend primary flower placements to the length and the width of your arrangement.
Carnations are flowers frequently used for this type of arrangement. Position four
flowers horizontally to the table, with two having a greater horizontal length than the
other two. Position the longer flowers at 12 and 6 o’clock and the shorter flowers at 3
and 9 o’clock. The height of the arrangement should be 3 to 4 inches above the floral
foam.
7. Fill in space between the primary placements with secondary flower placements. Pomp
chrysanthemums are a good choice for secondary flowers. The general shape of the
arrangement should start to appear. Watch the proper height, and be careful not to place
the flowers in too close to the foam. A red bow may be placed in the arrangement,
replacing the position of a flower.
8. Add additional flowers to fill in empty gaps. These complete the contour and width of
the design. Smaller flowers may be placed toward the center to create depth.
9. Cover any visible foam with additional greens to hide the mechanics.
E-unit: Designing Holiday Arrangements
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10. If desired, insert accent material, such as Santa picks, cones, ornaments, snowflake
picks, etc.
Wreaths
Wreaths can be purchased from a wholesaler and decorated by a florist, or they can be cre-
ated by a florist. Assorted ribbons, cones, dry flowers, and ornaments are used as decorations.
Wreath construction is not difficult, but it takes time and patience. Paddle wire, used to
create wreaths and garland, is a piece of wood with wire wrapped around it. For a wreath, a
wreath ring serves as the framework. For garland, a heavier wire is used. Clusters of greens are
held in place on the wreath ring and secured tightly with paddle wire at 1/2-inch intervals. Uni-
form-sized clusters are added one at a time, each overlapping the previous cluster. The paddle
wire is not cut until the last cluster is secured.
Summary:
� Major holidays for the floral industry are Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day,Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Sweetest Day sales are growing.
Valentine’s Day is linked to love. Red, pink, and white are the colors of choice. Atraditional Valentine’s Day arrangement is a dozen roses in a vase with baby’sbreath.
St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish holiday, and green-tinted carnations are big sellers.
The Easter holiday creates a demand for both spiritual and whimsical arrangements.Pastel colors and bright, vibrant colors are appropriate.
E-unit: Designing Holiday Arrangements
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Copyright © by CAERT, Inc. — Reproduction by subscription only. E030063
Begin
anywhere
BeginBeginLast
addition
End
Placement of the bow
CIRCULAR TWO-SIDED
Side 1 Side 2
FIGURE 5. Wreaths may be circular or two-sided.
Mother’s Day arrangements made with spring flowers are popular. Corsages arewell liked, and orchids are often used for this purpose.
Halloween arrangements involve fall colors, hollowed-out pumpkins, and everlast-ing flowers.
The centerpiece is the major arrangement for Thanksgiving. Analogous colors ofred, orange, and yellow are used.
Traditional colors for Christmas include red, burgundy, white, gold, silver, andgreen. Holly and woody evergreens are used to green arrangements and to makewreaths.
Checking Your Knowledge:
� 1. What are the major floral holidays?
2. What are the color schemes for Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Hal-loween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas?
3. What traditional floral pieces are associated with Valentine’s Day, Easter, andMother’s Day?
4. What are the steps to making an oval Christmas centerpiece?
5. What is a method for making a Christmas wreath?
Expanding Your Knowledge:
� During the course of a year, visit floral shops and note advertisements for holidayarrangements. Record the types of arrangements sold, styles, and color schemes.
Web Links:
� Triangular Arrangement (PowerPoint presentation)
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:KyiLJMWhQuIJ:lr010.k12.sd.us/triangular%2520arrangements.ppt+how+to+design+floral+centerpieces+powerpoint&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=19
Christmas
http://www.aboutflowers.com/holidays_b11.html
Valentine’s Day
http://www.aboutflowers.com/holidays_b5.html
Flower Care and Giving
http://www.800florals.com/care/
E-unit: Designing Holiday Arrangements
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