Saturday, September 26, 2009

The Floral Shoppe-Funeral Work

July 27th I started my internship at The Floral Shoppe, in Rexburg, ID. So far it has been an amazing experience and I've gotten to do a lot of arranging. On the days that I work, I usually do all the arrangements for the day, and I've even come in on my scheduled days off to design for special occasions. Here is some of the funeral work that I've done so far.

This was the first funeral arrangement--a casket piece--I ever made. It was on August 7th, for a Hispanic woman who was being cremated; her family wanted something bright and cheery, but not too expensive. I loved using the sunflowers and delphinium together because it created such a dramatic contrast.

The next day, August 8th, I made this spray for another funeral. I really like the symmetrical balance, but if I could go back and change something about it, I would try to incorporate the liatris better, or even take it out. Otherwise, I think the lavender daisies and yellow carnations look great together.

This easel and the next spray were both created on August 11th for the same funeral. I loved doing this easel piece because I got to use my favorite flowers--cosmos and daisies--along with a very cool lavender salvia that I had never seen before.

This spray is the most expensive arrangement that I've done so far while on my internship, and also one of the most dramatic by far. The stargazer lilies make such a great focal flower, especially when paired with the red amaranthus. As I was finishing the design, the owner of the shop walked in, and he gasped at its grandeur and gave me a high five. It was actually the first time I'd met him, so I think it helped me made a good first impression. :)

My favorite parts of this arrangement was the amaranthus, and the berries that I had cascading in the front.

As most of you that read my blog know, Rexburg is a small town in Eastern Idaho surrounded by miles of farmland. Because people are influenced by what surrounds them, we get a lot of requests for arrangements that "look like a ditch bank". This was a funeral spray for a local rancher with that very request, which I designed on September 14th. What made the arrangement extra fun to do, was that I used the rancher's old boots as the container.

I was told to not clean the boots up, just leave them as dusty and dirty as they were when they came in. The challenge to this arrangement was to make sure it didn't tip over. I had to weigh down the boots with rocks and marbles because it was so top heavy.

1 comment:

Ruth said...

This is very original, Kristin! Congratulations!