Bedford Flower Shop News
New Hampshire florists see demand bloom despite event cancellations - New Hampshire Business Review
Wednesday, December 02, 2020Orde, “and [the spike] illustrates that consumer demand is strong for regionally-grown flowers.”Despite the lack of special events, Bob Cote of wholesaler Baystate Farm Direct Flowers in Bedford says business has been brisk. However, the continued postponement of large gatherings for funerals and nuptials is not hardy news for florists powering through less than ideal conditions. “Weddings are our bread and butter for the summer,” Cote said.Floral shops, like other retailers, are adjusting their operations to address customers’ hesitancy to browse in their aisles. In addition to offering delivery and curbside pickup, Hewson encourages people to visit her open-air greenhouse where she transferred many of her ancillary gift items. She also posted that same inventory on a revamped website.“We’re still using that [the greenhouse and the website] for people who don’t feel comfortable coming into the store,” she said. “Being inventive is what got us through.”Catalysts for compassion‘We have been crazy, crazy, crazy’ busy, says Shirley Wrenn of Shirley’s Flowers and Sweets in Nashua, who recently added a third vehicle to keep up with demand for flowers. (Photo by Sheryl Rich-Kern)Community well-wishers also helped merchants withstand the pandemic’s aftermath. One customer started what Hewson calls a “flower chain.”In April, Maryanne Jackson of North Conway purchased 20 table-sized bouquets of friezes, roses and greenery from Hewson with a note wishing people “joy and color,” asking them to support small businesses and consider paying forward the gift. Many of the recipients heeded the suggestion and called Hewson’s shop for more orders.“It was a real Easter bunny, Christmas elf, tooth fairy kind of opportunity for us,” said Jackson.That investment of kindness restored the dreariness of March, generating enough revenues to maintain Hewson’s cash flow.With the Mother’s Day rush behind them, florists are mixed on what the future will hold.Pandemics don’t have silver linings, but they’re catalysts for compassion. Aimee Godbout of the family-owned Jacques Flowers in Manchester, said she expects sales to drop off during summer, but she’s seen an uptick in customers placing orders outside of special occasions.“There’s the everyday ‘I miss you,’” as people choose flowers for parents they’re unable to visit, a neighbor who can’t get out of the house or the local nursing staff, she said.“Right now there’s a lot of ugliness happening in the world,” said Godbout. Working at a flower shop provides contrast. “Every time you pick up the phone, it’s someone calling to be nice.”Wrenn, of Shirley’s Flowers, has noticed that requests are grander and more intricate. Instead of ordering simple bouquets to honor birthdays, customers want floral cakes dotted with lavender blooms and candles. Or they request novelties: flower arrangements designed to resemble mermaids, unicorns or cats.Meanwhile, proms and graduations are canceled. Godbout said her company normally sets up the stages to honor these milestones, but “all that business is gone.”Offsetting a potential summer slump is Godbout’s garden shop. Springtime has pollinated a kinship for plants and with people spending more time at home, even those without a green thumb are taking up the horticulture hobby to cultivate a backyard escape.In the last week or so, Godbout has arranged phone or video consulta... https://www.nhbr.com/new-hampshire-florists-see-demand-bloom-despite-event-cancelations/
Where to have a small wedding in Westchester, Rockland - The Journal News
Monday, August 24, 2020Additional food items are served from long pizza trays from six feet away, including a caviar course. Book it: 630 Bedford Road, 914-366-9606 ext. 236, bluehillfarm.comKanopi Events, White Plains The Ritz-Carlton may be closed but that doesn't mean you can't still enjoy the view from the 42nd floor. Kanopi, the fine dining restaurant and event venue led by Chef Anthony Gonçalves, is still operational and helping couples plan their dream-come-true wedding, provided it’s 50 people or less. With multiple rooms, all with breathtaking views, there's plenty of space for a ceremony in one room, a cocktail reception in the next, or a sit-down dinner in another. Gonçalves, who's known for seasonal Hudson Valley cuisine with a nod to his Portuguese roots, is happy to customize offerings to accommodate your food preferences. He and his team can also help with music, flowers and more.In addition, they've taken great care to make sure everything adheres to strict safety regulations. Upon entry, guests are vetted with a series of health questions and led to an elevator that takes them direct to the event space. In addition, there's a three-person "clean team" that disinfects surfaces constantly. Though they prefer two weeks notice, these unusual times mean they will try their best to help in any way under any time frame. The hotel, it should be noted, is currently undergoing a multimillion-dollar renovation, as part of Marriott International’s Autograph Collection.Book it: 1 Renaissance Square, 914-761-4242, kanopievents.comMonteverde at Oldstone, CortlandtThe weddings staff at this 18th century estate has always been about personalization, and that hasn't changed. Their new four-hour "micro weddings" include a reception either on the outdoor stone patio, terrace or in the historic mansion, along with the option of hosting your reception in one of their permanent tented pavilions overlooking the Hudson River. Part of the package also includes a three-course meal. In addition, you can also rent one of the seven standard guest rooms and/or their two suites. As per the new state guidelines, there is, however, no dancing, food/liquor must be served while guests are seated, tables must be socially distanced and guests are required to wear masks when not seated. Book it: 28 Bear Mountain Bridge Road, 914-737-6555, monteverdeatoldstone.comNed Kelly & Co., PiermontNed Kelly has been helping couples celebrate their nuptials for more than 25 years, ... https://www.lohud.com/story/life/2020/07/29/coronavirus-changes-wedding-plans-places-readjust-your-nuptials/5449704002/
After 73 years, this could be Stagemeyer Flower Shop's last Valentine's Day rush - York Daily Record
Sunday, February 09, 2020Hinson has been a florist for nearly 50 years — a fitting occupation considering her maiden name was Rose. She began her career in high school at Doyle's Flower Shop in Bedford. It was around the same time she met her husband, Dan. "We were high school sweethearts, and it went from there," she said. In 1976, the pair left their hometown and made haste toward York. "My brother was living in York at the time, and he convinced me there were a few more opportunities for work out here," Dan said. Karen got a florist job at Stagemyer Flower Shop in December of that year. Dan picked up work at Miller's Auto Supply in West York. In June of 1977, they purchased the business from Charlotte and Claire Stough. Charlotte's father opened the flower shop in the first floor of their row home in 1947. "I had no idea what I was getting into," Dan said. At any given moment, Stagemyers has about 75 varieties of flora. Simple bouquets such as a dozen cuenca roses may take Karen about five minutes to design. Larger, more intricate arrangements could take upwards of 25 minutes. "It's a physical job, and it is a lost art, but it is an art," Karen said. Come Valentine's Day, the store will be filled to the brim with nearly 5,000 roses, dozens of arrangements, and you can expect a line out the door come Friday, Dan said. "It is the absolute biggest day we have," he said. "There are three or four guys that come in every year — it's like a reunion." ... https://www.ydr.com/story/news/local/2020/02/06/stagemyers-flower-shop-york-could-final-valentines-rush/4655589002/
How a Calvin Klein designer started his own floral design business - Los Angeles Times - Los Angeles Times
Tuesday, July 23, 2019Kabigting is relaying the story of his trip from inside his Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment, where he lives with Kasai and their puppy. The building is on a historic row of Greystones, and most of his home’s interior is more or less preserved from its original construction — there’s a French door frame separating the living room from the kitchen and a small nook with a stained glass window. Upon his dining room table: a spread of galvanized canisters and glass vases holding red rose buds, honeysuckle berries and flowers from a Ginkgo tree located right outside his house. He grabs a sprig of this, a handful of that, and sits at his coffee table to put together an arrangement. The stone base — which he says he picked up at Calvin Klein — has a small tool called a kenzan inside, used to hold the branches and stems in place. Snipping off ends, he places the Ginkgo flower next to some mushrooms he foraged while at a friend’s house upstate, and points to them. See? Conventional beauty — the flower — next to something a little more gnarly — an old mushroom. Asymmetry. Imperfection. Advertisement Kabigting got his start in the fashion business while living in Los Angeles in the early Aughts. He worked at BCBG for three years before making his move to New York in 2010. Once there, he bounced around, dabbling in marketing, working for a nonprofit, then Li & Fung and ultimately at Calvin Klein, where he designed handbags for the off-price division. He then worked for other brands, but was called back to work at Calvin Klein with the contemporary market. By that point, Raf Simons had come on board at the fashion house. Fernando Kabigting works on a window display.(Jillian Sollazzo / WWD) “Raf’s new direction was exciting, and I wanted to be a part of that,” Kabigting explains, adding that the company allowed its creative team and designers freedom in their day-to-day activities.“One day, my entire team might take a trip to [art museum] Dia:Beacon, and be inspired that way,” he says. “You coul... https://www.latimes.com/fashion/la-ig-wwd-calvin-klein-designer-flowers-20181218-story.html
After Nearly 40 Years in the Subway, a Flower Man Stops Peddling - Bedford + Bowery
Tuesday, July 09, 2019Jamaica, Queens, but in 1980 the MTA leased him a nook in the 1st Ave L train station and he has remained there ever since. -- “I came in young and I leave an old man,” he told Bedford + Bowery on Monday. After almost half a century of selling flowers to rushing New Yorkers, the Greek native is retiring. Friday will be his last day.One of his daughters wanted to make a Friday reservation for dinner at Kyclades, the Greek tavern just outside of the train station, to celebrate the date. But Tsoumas said no. “I don’t want my kids to spend money on me. Also, Friday my head is going to be like this,” he said, making a gesture as if it was exploding. He has already started cleaning the shelves from his corner kiosk and the void of the missing objects has been hard on him. As the flowers surrounding him dwindle in numbers—his last purchase was at the beginning of the week—Tsoumas was left reflecting on his memories and his life decisions.Peter was born Periklís Tsoumas in March of 1948 in the idyllic Western Greek coastal town of Nafpaktos, where young people live a “beautiful life,” in his words, and where Greek mythology says descendants of Hercules built a fleet to invade the Peloponnese.When he was seven years old, young Tsoumas picked up a book about the US and later that night summarily decided he was going to go to America. His father thought his son had gone mad, but Tsoumas just said, “Yes, I read a book, it says so many nice ... https://bedfordandbowery.com/2019/06/after-nearly-40-years-in-the-subway-a-flower-man-stops-peddling/
A devoted florist gives each 9/11 victim a white birthday rose - Anchorage Daily News
Wednesday, December 02, 2020NEW YORK — Every Sept. 11, Michael Collarone, a Brooklyn-bred florist who goes by Mikey Flowers, has the same routine. In the hours before 8:46 a.m., the time the first plane struck the World Trade Center 19 years ago, he parks his truck in downtown Manhattan and, bearing buckets of angelic white roses, walks to the site where he once helped scour for victims' remains in the twin towers' smoldering wreckage. There, the burly 62-year-old meets up with “my guys” from the Port Authority police. This year, he will be wearing a mask for the first time and, for social distancing reasons, the victims' names will be played from recordings on a loudspeaker rather than read aloud from a stage, but little else will change for him. “I’m going to hug my friends,” he says. “I’m going to hug my guys.” Collarone’s steadfast devotion to honoring the victims of 9/11 isn’t a once-a-year kind of thing, though. He’s been the de facto volunteer florist to Ground Zero since it was known around the city... https://www.adn.com/nation-world/2020/09/10/a-devoted-florist-gives-each-911-victim-a-white-birthday-rose/
Earth Within Flowers to Host a Virtual DIY Wreath Weaving with Appetizers and Cocktails, on Sunday December 6th - PR Web
Wednesday, December 02, 2020About Earth Within FlowersEarth Within Flowers is more than just an ordinary flower shop. From its humble beginnings in Brooklyn, New York, their exceptional services and professionalism resulted to opening the now 6-year old flower shop in Missoula. It caters to a range of services, including full-service wedding flowers, A la Carte Wedding flowers, and virtual DIY floral workshops. ###For those interested in participating in the said event, simply call (406) 240-1367. Visit https://earthwithin.com/product/12-6-virtual-diy-wreaths-aps-cocktails/ for more information about the company’s virtual classes and other floral services. Share article on social media or email:... https://www.prweb.com/releases/earth_within_flowers_to_host_a_virtual_diy_wreath_weaving_with_appetizers_and_cocktails_on_sunday_december_6th/prweb17558787.htm
New York City's ‘Flower Flash’ Florist Designs a Display for Ralph Lauren - Architectural Digest
Wednesday, October 28, 2020The whole idea of the flower flash is to give back, to give joy,” explains Lewis, who has created eye-popping arrangements for New York’s most revered cultural institutions (including MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, and the Whitney) as well as a who’s who of fashion and media brands (Vogue, HBO, and Netflix). “We live in a crazy world and we’re a little bit starved for joy—if we can have a feel-good moment, that’s really important right now.”On October 23, his second installation will bloom outside Macy’s Herald Square. And in an engaging twist, the art is meant to be touched. Shoppers will be encouraged to pluck flowers to take home, part of an effort to spread love (and the #pinkpony hashtag) around the city.“It’s a gift to New York—take a picture or take a blossom,” Lewis says, emphasizing that the temporary nature of his flashes is what makes them so powerful: “You go from this larger-than-life still life to a scattering of leaves on the ground—that’s the life it was meant to live. There’s a strange beauty in the disarray as well.”Another Miller creation outside of a subw... https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/ralph-lauren-flower-flash
Philly florists bring beauty back to voting with public installations across the region - The Philadelphia Inquirer
Wednesday, October 28, 2020What they do have are flowers — a lot of them. So to highlight the beauty of voting and nip the negativity in the bud, they’ve teamed up with 15 other florists across the Philadelphia region, New York, and New Jersey for United by Blooms, a nonpartisan outdoor floral installation event from Oct. 14-16 aimed at promoting voting. “By incorporating it with flowers, we bring back a positive connotation to the actual process of voting,” Lam said. #right-rail .newsletter-card,.newsletter-card.hidden-desktop{display:none} Inquirer Morning Newsletter Get the news you need to start your day United by Blooms is the brainchild of farmer-florist Kate Carpenter, co-owner of EMA (East Mount Airy) Blooms. Participating florists and growers, who donated their time and flowers to the project, were asked to provide a positive public experience while raising awareness about voting. Designers were encouraged to put their installations near mailboxes or ballot drop boxes (but not on them), to highlight voting by mail and the necessity of the U.S. Postal Service, which has faced its share of heavy criticism this year, too. “It’s an opportunity to thank the postal workers, who are essential workers, and to get the community engaged about participating in our democracy,” said Carpenter, 35. “Plus, it gives growers and designers the chance to take their talents to the streets of Philadelphia and give people something to enjoy right now.” Carpenter’s design, which she created with her business partner, Courtney Jewell, was inspired, in part, by the rainbows that people placed in their windows for children’s scavenger hunts during the height of quarantine. Several rainbow-colored chalk paths lead to the installation at Green Street and Carpenter Lane in Mount Airy, where flowers crawl up a stop sign and flow out from underneath the mailbox nearby. A QR code at the site takes visitors to a map with the locations of the oth... https://www.inquirer.com/news/united-by-blooms-art-flowers-philadelphia-voting-20201015.html