On Sunday, Mike Jones more than made up
for the lack of flowers he has bought his girlfriend in
the last several months.
As Carol Berg collected the several
bouquets of flowers she selected at the Montana Florists'
Association fundraiser for Women Against Breast Cancer
auction, it was Jones who was going to be footing the bill.
"He hasn't bought me flowers for a really long time, so today
he made up for it," Berg said.
And, he was able to raise money
for the local breast cancer awareness organization while
Berg got to admire her bouquets filled with bright-yellow
roses, copper-toned calla lilies and lots of other complex
floral arrangements.
"What girl doesn't love flowers?" she said. "I'm
going to put them in my entryway and on my table and take
them to a friend at work."
Sunday's silent and live auction, which raised $1,124,
capped off a weekend of events that drew florists from
around the state to the 77th convention — this year
at the Heritage Inn — aimed at teaching designers
about the hot trends, new colors, and different techniques
they can use.
Rich Salvaggio, vice president of industry
relations and floral publication for Teleflora, was one
of the guest speakers and designers at the convention.
He also designed all the bouquets used in the live auction.
His
role this weekend was "to better educate our Montana
florists," he said.
He preached better practices and new
tricks of the design trade. He also aided designers in
seeing what is out and what is "in" in the floral world.
Wedding
bouquets are more medium-sized now and are more open. Glass
vases are all the rage; as are monochromatic colors. And
less is always more, he said.
"There are rules of design, color and form and they all
have the style," Salvaggio said.
Viki Anthony, coordinator
of this year's convention and a florist at Herman's Flowers
in Great Falls, said this is a creative event.
"Most of these people are creative to begin with," she
said. "They can just see beauty in anything."
Brianne McAllister
and Denise Wustner, designers with Heinrich Floral in Missoula,
saw the beauty in a strange arrangement of tall ornamental
pieces attached to a blue-glass base with cutouts of fish
attached.
"It's an aquarium-themed arrangement," McAllister said. "It's
unique."
They purchased the oceanic item for $15, which
all goes to the local chapter of Women Against Breast Cancer,
Anthony said.
But the two Missoula designers bought it for
their boss, who couldn't make it to the convention.
"She's fun," Wustner said. "She's
always going for the glittery." |
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