Holiday Floral Scrapbook
Gia Barthe
Valentine's Day
One theory suggests that St. Valentine was a priest in 3rd century Rome who continued to perform marriages to young couples after it had been outlawed by Emperor Claudius II who thought that unmarried men would make better soldiers. Claudius ordered that Valentine be put to death after his actions were revealed. The date of Valentine's day is supposed to correlate to the time when he was put to death.
A second theory says that Valentine helped Christians escape Roman prisons where torture and beaten. Valentine was imprisoned and it is said that the first "Valentine's card" was a letter he sent to his jailer's daughter whom he had fallen in love with.
In the 5th century Pope Gelasius declared February 14th St.Valentine's day. This date is the beginning of bird mating season which lead to the day being associated with romance.
Valentine's day is celebrated in the United States, Canada, Australia, Mexico, France, and the United Kingdom. The typical tradition in these countries is to give small tokens of affection or a love note/card.
Floral Arrangements for Valentine's Day
Colors used: Red, Pink, and White.
Price Range: $20-$50 per arrangement
Common flowers used: Roses, tulips, stargazer lilies, & daisies are used due to their color.
Flowers available: spring and late winter flowers
Valentine's Heart- a floral arrangement of different flowers with some sort of filler flower/foliage going over the arrangement in a heart shape.
Mixed Bouquet- instead of being composed of one type of flower like the rose bouquet, this arrangement features multiple different flowers arranged in a circular shape.
Halloween
Halloween was originally the Celtic festival of Samhain, a celebration before their New Year. In this time it is believed that ghosts returned to earth and the presence of these ghosts helped Celtic priests predict the future. Animals and crops were sacrificed in a bonfire while people danced in costumes of animal skins.
The influence of Christianity lead to November first being All Saints Day and the day before being called All-hallows eve which later changed to being called Halloween.
Halloween is celebrated in Ireland, the U.S., and England where the tradition is to dress up in a costume and receive small gifts or candy.
Floral Arrangements for Halloween
Price range: $5-$30 per arrangement
Common flowers used: Orange daisies, sunflowers, chrysanthemums, roses, & candy (for a candy arrangement).
Flowers available: Fall and late summer flowers.
Candy Bouquet- an arrangement made with different sized candy instead of flowers since candy is immensely popular around Halloween.
Pumpkin arrangement- an arrangement of flowers in a circular shape inside of a pumpkin.
Asymmetrical arrangement- a small arrangement usually with some kind of some kind of uniquely shaped branch as a line element and t add an element of scariness.
Candle- atypical arrangement with a large candle in the center.
Mother's Day
History:
This originated from a Christian festival called "Mothering Sunday" which usually took place on the 4th Sunday of Lent. it was originally seen as a time when the faithful returned to the mother church of their home. This was eventually changed to a secular holiday.Ann Reeves Jarvis started mother's day work clubs to help teach mothers how to raise children. Later, her daughter Anna Jarvis, who was ironically unmarried with no children, pushed for a celebration of mothers to be an official holiday. Woodrow Wilson eventually made Mother's day an official holiday in 1914 for the 2nd Sunday of May. By 1920 Anna Jarvis had become so disgusted with how Mother's day had been commercialized that she actively spoke out against numerous groups and used most of her savings in legal fees against the holiday.
Mother's Day is celebrated worldwide but mostly in the U.S.. Other countries celebrate it on different days and in different ways. For example, in Thailand Mother's day is celebrated in August and in Ethiopia families sing songs and eat feasts over multiple days for mothers.
Floral Arrangements for Mother's Day
Colors used: Magenta, pink, white, light blue, yellow, & orange.
Price Range: $10-$50
Common flowers used: Roses, stargazer lilies, tiger lilies, carnation, daisies, hydrangea, & tulips.
Flowers available: Spring flowers.
Mixed Bouquet- a mother's day bouquet made of different types of flowers that mainly compose of the colors pinks, oranges, and yellows.
Rose and Lily Bouquet- a bouquet made completely or primarily of roses and lilies. The most common combination is red roses and stargazer lilies.
Mardi Gras
Before Lent, people would binge on cheese, meat, eggs and milk before they ate only fish and fasted. In France, the day before Ash Wednesday is called Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday.
Mardi Gras came to the U.S. on March 3, 1699 when Beinville and Iberville, french explorers, came to what is now Louisiana and had a celebration there. Louisiana became the only U.S. state where Mardi Gras is an official holiday. Traditional customs include throwing beads and trinkets from parade floats and eating king cake.
Mardi Gras is celebrated in Brazil, Canada, Italy, France, Germany, and Denmark. Most of these countries host a festival or carnival in the days or week leading up to Mardi Gras or Easter.
Floral arrangements for mardi gras
Price range: $15-$40 per arrangement
Common flowers used: Spider chrysanthemum, roses, iris, carnations, & leather leaf.
Flowers available: Late winter and early spring flowers.
Asymmetrical L-Shape- An arrangement of different flowers and line elements made into a L shape.
Rose "Tree"- an arrangement of mostly foliage and roses shaped in a triangular "tree" shape.
Vase arrangement- An arrangement of flowers in a vase that usually consists of mostly yellow roses and violet irises and other flowers.
4th Of July
History:
July 4th was the day the Congress adopted a document mainly written by Thomas Jefferson called the Declaration of Independence. This day is now celebrated as the birth of American independence.
The U.S. Congress made July 4th an official holiday in 1870. Though the political influence has lost importance it is still celebrated as a day of American patriotism.
This holiday is only celebrated in America and the official name is Independence day.
Floral Arrangements for Independence Day
Price range: $20-$100 per arrangement
Common flowers used: Daisies, carnations, white lilies, roses, fruit & blue bonnets.
Flowers available: Summer flowers
Basket arrangement: An arrangement of red, white, and blue flowers inside of a basket with a small flag or other american symbol placed alongside.
Glass vase arrangement- a red, blue, or clear glass vase usually filled with red, white, and blue flowers. Depending on the vase color only 2 of the other colors may be used.
Edible arrangement- very popular around this time due to family food gatherings. An arrangement of different fruit with red, white, and blue elements prominent.
St. Patrick's Day
St. Patrick's day is a global celebration but is primarily celebrated in Ireland, Britain, and the U.S. where tradition is parades, drinking, and eating various green colored food.
floral arrangements for St. patrick's day
Price range:
Common flowers used: Bells of Ireland, carnations, spider chrysanthemum, daisies, & lilies.
Flowers available: Spring flowers.
Basket arrangement- an arrangement made of green carnation or other green flowers, daisies, and bells of Ireland.
Carnation arrangement- composed mainly or completely of green carnations.
"Tree" arrangement- an arrangement with large flowers at the bottom and line elements, mainly bells of Ireland, coming out the top in a triangular tree shape.