This year we stepped it up a notch and had the wonderful opportunity to provide flowers for the Cosmetic Industry Buyers & Sellers (C.I.B.S.) annual Holliday Gala at the beautiful Grand Ballroom in the Hilton New York City. We had learned we got the job in October and knew only to plan for between 80 - 100 tables. The design agreed on consisted of three different size vases filled with an array of White & Green Hydrangea, White Tibet Roses and White Orchids draping down. Candles and silver holiday balls would add the final touches to what we hoped would be an amazing looking centerpiece display.
For this job we did a pictorial of the entire job from start to finish. Since the flowers pretty much consisted of the same thing 70 times over (along with a spattering of boutonnières for VIPS) there wasn't much to offer for a pictorial so we figured why not show the people how two florists and one creative husband can turn over 2100 flowers into 70 amazing centerpieces.
The first challenge in a job this size is to prep the all of the flowers. With over 1000 roses, 600 Hydrangea and 500 Orchids to clean, prep and maintain for days the problem of space and cooling was a concern. Luckily we had a wonderfull work space available to us through our wholeseller and both of those problems were resolved.
Debbie geared up to knock out and clean over 600 Hydrangea in Green & White. Pictured above is (400) cleaned and ready for design.
After everything is cleaned it's time to start building centerpieces. Although designing for (70) tables, each table would consist of three different size vases making it (210) pieces to design. We decided to make the smallest centerpiece on site (a single bunch of Hydrangea in a cup) making the in-house work a little easier to manage, but still 140 pieces is a lot of work so we had to get all the vases prepped and ready and build them as a team.
Prepped with Oasis and watered the night before, 140 short & tall vases are ready to turn into the heart of the centerpieces in just 2 short days.
With all the vases designed and ready the next task would be to pack them up and get them ready for the 45 mile drive from suburban NJ to the heart of the fashion district in New York City. We utilized the boxes the flowers arrived in to hold three centerpieces for transport making the night before and morning of packing time for the crew.
The 140 designed vases would now be packed into 47 boxes and hauled upstairs where the box truck would be waiting for transport.
For the florists the hardest part was done, now it was up to the guys to get them ready for the final stage of the journey into the city. It took two guys alot of work to load the centerpieces and get the 50 boxes of flowers (loose and designed) and supplies into the truck for transport.
It would take a second 8' x 4' level to have enough room to pack up the 50 boxes of flowers, centerpieces and supplies.
Flowers designed & truck packed it was now time for what would be the most tedious part of the entire job; transport and delivery. Luckily nice weather made most of the dirve bearable, but entering the tunnel in the wrong lane sent us 20 blocks in the wrong direction and a grumpy bunch of union dock workers made getting from the street to the ball room nothing less of frustrating, but everything arrived in one piece and it was time to knock out the final stage of the job.
From the basement to the Ballroom the final phase of this long journey was at it's final venue and ready for set up.
Once on site it was time to turn two designed flower vases into a beautiful centerpiece worthy of the class and cliental the C.I.B.S Gala entertains. To help with set up we brought in Leslie's daughter Robin and my good friend Mary to help with the finishing touches. The task would include setting up all 140 transported vases, prepping and setting the third small cup piece while placing the Orchids in all the vases (they were kept out to prevent damage in transport) then adding rose petals and silver balls to help create the final look.
The third cup was added on site as were the draped Orchids. Silver balls would be added to the vases and on the table along with a spattering of rose petals. Finally candles were added and when the lights went down the final product was everything we had hoped for and more.
In the end everything came together strikingly. The Ballroom looked amazing, the clients were happy and all of my helpers survived. With a little bit of help from our friends two florists and a husband managed to turn over 2100 flowers into a high class ballroom display for a great event. I want to thank everyone involved in helping me prove I can succeed at this level. For starters my dear friend Halley Mechanic who put me in touch with all the right people to get the ball rolling, Laura & Donna and from C.I.B.S who gave me the chance to handle their premier event, my friends Leslie who helped me knock them out and Robin & Mary who helped set them up, Mike M. who helped get the job up and out and of course my dear husband Matt who without I could not make any of this happen. His resourcefulness is beyond my imagination. With a little bit of luck we will have many more such events as our business continues to grow in an ever changing world. Final thanks to you the customer who has taken the time to learn what I do, love what I create and believe in me for your special day or event.
For more information on the Cosmetic Industry Buyers & Sellers group you can visit their web site at www.cibsonline.com . Additional photos from their Holiday event are posted there along with all the information on the organization.
