Holiday Floral Scrapbook
Valentine's Day
The History of Valentine's Day
A theory of the origin of Valentine's Day is that it began in ancient Rome, during the festival of Lupercalia, a fertility celebration celebrated annually on February 15. While other believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to memorialize the anniversary of Valentine's death which occurred around A.D 270. To begin the festival of Lupercalia, members of the Luperci, would gather at a sacred cave where the Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to be cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. The priests would then take the stripped goat's hide that was dipped in sacrificial blood to the streets and gently slap both women and crop fields. Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides, since it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman, often ending in marriage.
Celebrating Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14, it is a festival of romantic love and people often give cards, letters, flowers or presents to their spouse or partner. They may often arrange a romantic dinner in a exquisite restaurant as well. Valentine's Day is commonly symbolized by hearts, red roses and cupid. Valentine's Day is celebrated in North America, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. In Great Britain Valentine's Day began to become popular around the 17th century, by mid-18th century it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes and by 20th century printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Americans began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. Howland, known as the "Mother of the Valentine", made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap". Today, and estimated 1 billion Valentine's Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year.
Arrangement for Valentine's Day
Long Stem Roses and Baby's Breath
$$
Long Stem Roses, Baby's Breath, Leather Leaf, Chocolate and Teddy Bear
$
Pink Carnations, Baby's Breath, Leather Leaf
$
Flowers Used for Valentine's Day
Roses, especially, red and pink are the favorites used to celebrate Valentine's Day since roses have been symbols of the love. Carnations are typically used as well in the flower arrangements, because of their ability to be red or pink. Although roses and carnations are typically used, other flowers are available during the month of February, such as; the lilium stargazer, lilium casablanca, alstroemeria, calla assorted, delphinium, gerbera daisy, hydrangea, iris, kangaroo paw, larkspur, liatris, lisianthus, magnolia, paper whites, ranunculus, snapdragon, sunflowers and tulips.
Easter
History of Easter
Easter, which celebrates Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead, is Christianity's most important holiday. It has been called a moveable feast, since it doesn't fall on a set date every year. Instead, Christian churches in the West celebrate Easter on the first Sunday following the full moon after the vernal equinox on March 21. Therefore, Easter is observed anywhere between March 22 and April 25 every year. Some believe the word Easter is derived from Eostre, a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility. Others accounts trace Easter to the Latin term hebdomada alba, or white week, an ancient reference to Easter week and the white clothing donned by people were baptized during that time. Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection occurred after he went to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, the Jewish festival commemorating the ancient Israelites' exodus from slavery in Egypt.
Celebrating Easter
Lent is the period of spiritual preparation for Easter which involves fasting, penance and prayer. It was originally established by various Christian groups as interval ranging from a few days to several weeks. Among Roman Catholics, Lent lasts for 38 days spread across six and a half weeks before Easter; it starts on Ash Wednesday and concludes on Holy Thursday and does not include Sundays. Other Western traditions observe Lent for 40 days, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday and also do not Sundays. Mardi Gras is held on Tuesday, the day before the first day of Lent. The reference to "fat" refers to the custom of eating fatty foods on the evening before Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is held on a Wednesday. Holy Week is the week before Easter Sunday, during this week Palm Sunday, Holy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday.
Flowers Used for the Arrangement
Common flowers include lilies, daffodils, tulips and hydrangeas. When it comes to Easter, lilies are often some of the first flowers that come to mind. There are many different types of lilies that can be given as gifts or used in Easter bouquets.
Mother's Day
HIstory of Mother's Day
Celebrations of mothers and motherhood can b traced back to the ancient Greek ROmans, who held festivals in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele, but the clearest modern precedent for Mother's Day is the early Christian festival known as "Mothering Sunday". Mother's Day is a holiday honoring motherhood that is observed in different forms throughout the world. The American view point of Mother's Day was created by Anna JArvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Jarvis would later denounce the holiday's commercialization and spent the remaining part of her life trying to remove it from the calendar. While dates and celebrations vary, Mother's Day most commonly falls on the second Sunday in MAy and traditionally involves presenting mothers with flowers, cards and other gifts.
Celebrating Mother's Day
There are many versions of Mother's Day are celebrated throughout the world, traditions vary depending on the country. In Thailand, Mother's Day is always celebrated in August on the birthday of the current queen, Sirikit. Another alternate observance of Mother's