Add a Bit of Willow

I'm just sitting here between trying to read my Floral Management and cathing up on e-mails, something catches my eye which gets me to thinking. This weekend we have two parties - one a bar mitzvah and one a bat mitzvah where we will be using one of my favorite "accents". Curly willow. I love using curly willow.

A delicate and graceful natural branch that can add a bit of drama to floral design work. About 3 years ago my niece Rosalie met with me to talk about her wedding flowers. "I want lots of roses, pearls and sticks in my wedding arrangements, Aunt Georgianne". Um, Rosalie, has your Aunt not taught you that those are not sticks - branches, my dear, they are branches.  If I told my brides that I wanted to add sticks to their wedding flowers, they would want to hit me!!

But truly, how can you call these lovely line elements sticks? Still fresh and bendable when they arrive to our shop, they are such a fantastic floral tool both natural and architectural in form. Yes, they can be a bit rustic but as you see at left, paired with hydrangea, roses, pearls and amaranthus, they were very elegant. This weekends "Mitzvahs" will really show the versatility of the willow with party having them to create a garden feel used with pink gerber daisies and the other being used to add drama to soft mounds of hydrangeas and roses. Curly willow, the unsung hero of the floral world - but after this, not unsong by me!!

To see more of our floral designs, visit our website at http://www.sendingsmiles.com/