Specialty Designs

The vast majority of people who send flowers are sending flowers for a 'special' occasion - a birthday, a memorium, an anniversary. Each is a celebration - it's one of the greatest things about being a florist - we get to be part of our customers special days.

The various holidays are no exception, Christmas florals are a large part of the work we do for our clients. As people become more aware of the vast selection of products that are available, holiday styles evolve. Traditional christmas designs are still popular.

One of our clients is a popular ski resort with an excellent restaurant, they recently asked us to create some holiday designs to include tropical flowers with traditional elements. Two of the pieces were created for the bar area, we also created multiple designs for the restaurant tables.

Next year when you're considering your holiday flowers, consider something contemporary - you will be pleasantly surprised at the possiblities.

Gift giving from a distance

The holiday season will soon be upon us and holidays frequently mean gift-giving to ones far from home. Here are a few tips to help avoid disappointments over the holidays.

• Order early, the best selection is available at the beginning of the season. The longer you wait to choose your item, the bigger the chance that item will sell out.
• Provide complete information to your florist. In our busy day to day schedules, it can be hard to find people at home. Having an accurate address, phone number and even an email address allows the florist the means to find and arrange a delivery with the recipient.
• Give alternates – sending a red poinsettia is a classic but because items do sell out, have a second choice in mind.
• Time. The internet does make ordering faster but floral designs are created by skilled craftspeople and these orders take time to fill. Order two or three days minimum in advance to guarantee delivery on your preferred date.

More holiday giftware

Here's another teaser view of holiday gift and decor items from Mann Florist.

One of the more prominent displays features an eight foot Christmas tree bedecked with rose and amaryllis permanent botanicals, red and gold holiday ornaments and vibrant red ribbon. A nearby display (a hint of which can be seen in the mirror!) features dark red glass vases in a variety of sizes and shapes as well as classic characters from the Night before Christmas.

Our store is open late this evening for your shopping convenience.

The Season is almost upon us

We're little over one month away from Christmas and our store has switched to a holiday theme. The store is alive with colour for the holidays and we feature not one but three christmas trees this season.

Sparkling crystal and silver dominates our front window which features a nine foot tree. This nine foot tree is decorated with almost 1000 white LCD mini-lights, acrylic sparkled snowflakes, crystal dot garlands and a variety of crystal teardrop and drop ornaments. This picture doesn't do the tree justice, the flash drowns out the effect of the lights. There is also a matching chandelier tree to match.

Flanking the crystal tree, there are two large illuminated planter arrangements filled with holiday greens, silver branches, silver stars and crystals. These planters are quite large - approximately 30 inches tall excluding florals.

We'll post more pictures of the store and our giftware over the next few days.

Moonlight Magic - November 19th

It’s Moonlight Magic in Sault Ste. Marie’s Downtown community on Nov. 19^th. Most Downtown merchants will be open late night to accommodate shoppers looking to get a jump on their holiday gift purchases.

We have a large selection of holiday curios, giftware and decorating items. Selected items in store are 50%, stop by and ask for more details.

New Home Decor

A shipment of wall hanging arrived recently, it's part of our decor item line. We have a variety of mirrors, art pieces and decorative plaques available. Here's a small sampling... for a larger view, click on the picture.

Ceramics - New Product

With the closure of a few specialty stores, our customers have been asking more and more for items that can be used as decor items as well as gift-ware. Recently, we received a pitcher and a crock with kitchen utensils that perfectly fits this. Both crock and pitcher are in a neutral palette with a leaf motif, they're made of a thick ceramic and are the perfect size for an arrangement.

Without flowers, they sell for $8.95.

Congratulations James and Mandy

This update took longer than normal - vacation time has a way of playing havoc with your plans.

We recently had the pleasure of working with a charming couple named James and Mandy. They came to us asking for a simple but elegant option for a wedding on the beach and we were happy to oblige. They selected an elegant white metal archway with two containers in white and blue to compliment their theme. One thing we didn't take into consideration in the planning is beaches on the shore of Lake Superior are windy places. We ended up having to utilize stones to hold down the runner.

James and Mandy, thank you for letting us be a part of your special day.

Congrats Anita and Rob

This past weekend, we were pleased to see Anita and Rob happily married with a few minor snags. Mother Nature decided not to play nice so the outdoor wedding spontaneously became an intimate indoor event and we had to quickly come up with an indoor alternative.

The only available location was a small room off to the side but it featured a fireplace that didn't really fit with the theme. To hide the fireplace, we stacked milk crates and covered it with fabric, placing the 'give-away' gifts (cedar seedlings) on top. The arrangement that had been intended for the arch went on the mantle and we placed the urns to the side.


The rest of the seedlings were placed on pillars, the seedlings were wrapped in a dark brown recycled paper and tied with a raffia bow - the sign in the background says 'please take me home and give me a space to grow'. The bridal and groom were delighted to find at the end of the night that all the seedlings found new homes!


The table centerpieces were a hit, the vases were filled with pine cones and riverstone. The arrangement on the top was mixed flowers - solidago, statice, astible, etc.

Eco Wedding

One of the trends around here lately is 'eco' - we're looking at carrying a line of 'eco' based products so it really came as no surprise when a good customer of ours ordered an 'eco' wedding.

For those interested in an 'eco' wedding, there are a lot of choices. This bride chose to go colorful so the centerpieces are a mix of 'wildflowers' - heather, solidago, astilbe, statice with cedar with pinecones and river rock in the vase. The bridal bouquets and the boutonnieres are all of the same theme. The wedding is outside at a ski resort during the day and the reception moves inside the resort during the evening.

One of the more interesting parts of the 'eco' theme was the give away gift for the guests - cedar 'saplings' in six inch pots are decorated with a recycled chocolate brown paper wrap and raffia bows. Hall pictures will be forthcoming.

Special flowers for special occasions

One of my earliest memories involves flowers. My mother started in the floral business when I was a toddler and her employer, a fine dutch lady, encouraged a love of flowers in me by periodically giving me tulips. Her philosophy was that any day was an occasion for flowers and that giving flowers to people was good but giving yourself flowers was needful too. It's a philosophy that I've embrace wholeheartly.

Big showy vases are fun to do, they're impressive but day to day, they're just not practical. A bright orange gerbera daisy and a bell of ireland in a bud vase is - it's bright, it's fun and it's infinitely affordable. In this day of tight fiscal planning, the luxuries often get cut first and it's hard to justify the little things. As a customer pointed out to me today, the gerbera and bell of ireland cost less than lunch and coffee out and they would be her sun in her cubicle. She says she's worth it and I agree.