Need Help choosing an Arrangement? Watch this video
From A to E, vitamins are responsible for strengthening our senses, bolstering our bones and invigorating our bodies from the inside out. Research proves that flowers, being dubbed by some as Vitamin F, help feed our need for serenity, inspiration, wellness, gratitude, love and optimism.
Mind and matter are interconnected, according to personal fulfillment expert and best-selling author Jayme Barrett, as she points to university research studies linking flowers with happiness, creativity, compassion and tranquility. Barrett’s interiors expertise coupled with the floral investigations demonstrate that flowers hold an intrinsic, natural energy that, when used throughout the home, can create positive shifts in emotions, and lead to truly inspired living.
“People and flowers both have a life force that needs oxygen to thrive, and light and water to live. And, when we are surrounded by nature, our emotions are calmed and harmonized,” says Barrett, who has applied the principles of Zen and feng shui to floral design. Her philosophy is that we can cultivate idyllic atmospheres by purposefully integrating flowers throughout our living space.
In fact, research from America’s leading universities has cemented the connection that flowers have both scientific and emotional powers. As early as 2000, Rutgers University found that flowers create instant delight and happiness, and increase enjoyment and life satisfaction. Most recently, a Harvard University study introduced small bouquets of flowers into people’s morning routines and discovered that respondents immediately perked up, much like they would with a morning vitamin.
“We need and deserve simple ways of creating homes where we feel happy and harmonious by disconnecting from the hectic pace of the world outside,” says Barrett. “Flowers are a wonderful way to ease the stress of everyday life and refocus our emotions more constructively.”
So that anyone can introduce a range of positive floral energies in the home, Barrett shares a simple, do-it-yourself guide to creating Vitamin F arrangements. Her seven soul-stimulating energies include gratitude, wellness, inspiration and motivation, love and romance, new beginnings, serenity, and prosperity. Her floral formula factors in color combination, shape and significance, vase style, placement in the home and flower variety.
Barrett’s Blueprints for Mood-Boosting Vitamin F
Gratitude: Reminds us to be grateful for the little blessings in life
Key Colors: A low, clustered arrangement in all shades of pink symbolizes opening the heart and making others more receptive to you.
Vase Style: A glass container of any size is fitting, as its transparency exhibits openness.
In the Home: To start and end the day counting your blessings, place this depiction of gratitude on a nightstand, dresser or in the kitchen.
Suggested Flower Options: Ranunculus, alstroemeria, tulips, spray roses
Wellness: Evokes balanced feelings of mind, body and spirit
Key Color: Yellow is the primary color for this emotional energy, as it represents the sun, life force and health. Supplement a big burst of blooms with greens, which induce nature’s healing energy, and white, which reflects serenity.
Vase Style: Choose an oval or round, terra-cotta, wood or bamboo container to replicate the Earth’s element, providing grounding and balance.
In the Home: Locate this energy in the living room or family room to enhance the space of relaxation, meditation and family connection.
Suggested Flower Options: Gerbera, carnations, solidago, hydrangea (white or green), callas, pompons, chrysanthemums
Inspiration and Motivation: Infuses the soul with rejuvenating energy
Key Color: Red epitomizes motivation, fame, courage and power. Design an up-shooting spray that also includes sensuous, rich orange and fuchsia, which suggest enthusiasm and exuberance.
Vase Style: A tall mirrored or shiny metal container of any kind will stoke inspiration. Mirrors boost positive energies and bring good luck, which will circulate through all endeavors.
In the Home: The home office is an ideal place to inject motivational energy — or the power of now. Anyone will feel encouraged to reach for the stars and live life to the fullest.
Suggested Flower Options: Roses, callas, Asiatic lilies, snapdragons, hypericum
New Beginnings: Welcomes change with open arms and mind
Key Color: Stimulate joy, enthusiasm and excitement with a simple arrangement featuring the color orange. Complement it with white — the color of purity and freshness — and green, characterizing new opportunity and growth.
Vase Style: A square, ceramic vase brings an earthy energy, proclaiming that while the sky’s the limit, it’s good to keep your feet firmly rooted on the ground.
In the Home: Put the spirit of new horizons on display on a mantle or coffee table, where it will instill faith, creativity and endless possibility.
Suggested Flower Options: Gerbera, carnations, Asiatic lilies, spray roses, alstroemeria
Prosperity: Stimulates action and indicates success and richness
Key Color: Let red or deep purple dominate this abundant arrangement, intimating accomplishment and wealth. Accent with shades of gold, the preeminent color for good health and fortune.
Vase Style: Select a metallic, perhaps golden container, representing a pot of gold.
In the Home: Give your home a boost by placing this inspirational bouquet where you welcome guests or potential buyers.
Suggested Flower Options: Lilies, roses, lisianthus, snapdragons
Serenity: Allows our minds to unwind and release tension, bringing a sense of calm to our lives
Key Color: Loosely arranged hues of blue, violet and lavender evoke serenity and will help clear the mind of stress. Blue represents the ocean and sky, while shades of purple invoke spiritual energy.
Vase Style: A cobalt blue glass vase represents inner wisdom and will help add balance. The blue is yin (soft, curving, cyclical) and the glass is yang (straight, shiny, linear) for a perfect equilibrium.
In the Home: Setting this in the entryway will set the tone for tranquility as you step inside your home from the chaotic world outside.
Suggested Flower Options: Hydrangea, delphinium, lisianthus, stock
Love and Romance: Sparks intimate connections and blossoming love
Key Color: A tight bunch of flowers flush with burgundy and red embodies feelings of passion and romance. Incorporating lush pinks and peaches will help invite love and inspire kindness.
Vase Style: A circular vase is the perfect shape for never-ending love.
In the Home: Spark feelings of adoration during a meal in the kitchen or dining room. As you nourish your body, you will be dually energized by love and encouraged to show your affection throughout the day and night. Flowers are a great addition to the bedroom too.
Suggested Flower Options: Stock, roses, alstroemeria
“We all strive to surround ourselves with positive energy, and nature is a powerful and proven tonic,” says Barrett. “Anyone can let Vitamin F fortify their home, whether it’s a refuge, haven, retreat or sanctuary.”
Wedding Flowers
Heritage House Florist have always been proud of the wedding flowers we design. We strive for perfection in the quality, color and overall design of each & every item in a wedding. Even down to the last corsage for Grandma & boutonnierre for Grandpa, perfection is achieved. Delivery is meticualous timed to perfection so that no bride is ever waiting for her flowers anywhere.
Visit our new and improved wedding selections at http://www.heritagehouseflorist.com/wedding/occasions/display
Downers Grove Florist-Same Great Flowers More Great Choices
Visit our newest additional website by Teleflora. More Great choices to order online or make your selection and call our shop.
www.downersgroveflowershop.com
800/968-0704
Christian Greeting Cards
When out shopping in Downers Grove and surrounding towns I could never find Christian Greeting cards so I contacted Hallmark and they had a beautiful line called DaySpring Christian Expressions. They’re in our store now.
DaySpring is a leading manufacturer and distributor of Christian greeting cards and other personal expression products and gifts.
DaySpring products are sold in Christian retailers, card and gift stores, and other outlets in the United States and 60 foreign countries.
In 1999, the company was acquired by Hallmark. DaySpring offers more than 7,000 products each year and touches more than 850 million people in a year.
The company has changed many times throughout the years, but the purpose and vision remains the same —to make Christ known.
Garden Angels make perfect gifts for Sympathy
Our newest addition to Heritage House Florist is our selection of Garden Angels, Crosses and Garden Plaques. These make perfect gifts for Sympathy. They can be sent along with a fresh arrangement or planter and we will deliver to the recipients home or to the Funeral Home with a card from you. We have a variety of sizes to suit any Garden or Entryway and your budget.
Beautiful Garden Angels for Sympathy
Free is Good
We all love Free Stuff and here are two special offers for this weekend at Heritage House Florist in Downtown Downers Grove.
1. Get a Free Green Plant with any in store purchase, while supplies last.
2. Buy Any 3 Hallmark Cards and get a Free 99 cent card.
Hope you can stop by and take advantage of these great specials!!
Wedding Traditions
Did you ever wonder how some of the traditional rituals associated with weddings and marriage had their beginnings? Some are based on romantic myth; some on religion; some on a time when marriage by capture was the mode of the day; and some, of course, on rather odd superstitions. Delve far and deep enough into our past and you find some interesting – and sometimes strange – historical twists and turns on the road of matrimony.
Throwing the Bridal Bouquet and the Bride’s Garter
On the bridal night in olden days guests would invade the bridal chamber, seize stockings and throw them backwards over their heads toward the bride and groom. The first female guest to hit the groom would be the next one to marry within a year, and the same applied for the first male to score with the bride’s stocking. In retrospect, tossing the bouquet and the garter certainly seems a much more civilized idea!
Sharing the Wedding Cake
When the bride cuts the first slice of cake and offers it to her groom, she is carrying out an early Roman ritual. In Ancient Rome, couples plighted their troth by sharing food. Indeed, sharing food as a symbol of sharing one’s life is practiced in many cultures.
Why Bridesmaids Are Dressed Alike
In more superstitious times, the bride and groom were surrounded by friends of similar ages dressed in similar attire, as a way of confusing evil demons. This way the demons could not find the real bride and groom and bring them bad luck. Today’s bridesmaids dress alike, as do the groomsmen, as it’s a way of confusing any who would wish the couple ill luck.
Wedding Bells and Honking Horns
Loud, honking horns escorting a newly married couple in a motorcade of friends and family may seem to be only high spirits and boisterous public congratulations. True, but its roots go deeper still. Older traditions were clanging bells and shooting guns, both methods of frightening away evil spirits.
Why Is It Called a Honeymoon?
An old Teutonic custom held that the bride and groom ran away together, found a secluded place and spent thirty days, “until the moon waned,” drinking hydromel. Hydromel was a fermented drink made with honey.
With this Ring…
Rings have been with us since time began, but how they became so intimately linked to engagement and marriage is another facet of man’s social history. Before the minting of coins as currency, gold rings were circulated for that purpose. When a man gave his bride a gold ring, it signified that he trusted her with his property. During Elizabethan times, the gimmal, a set of interlocking rings, was quite popular. One ring of the set would be worn by the intended bride, another by the groom-to-be, and a third by a witness. All three rings would be united on the bride’s finger at the marriage ceremony. Today the diamond solitaire, symbolic of wealth and undying love, is the popular choice for American engagements.
The Bride Wears Something Blue
Part of the old litany, “something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue,” which prescribes the talismans a bride should wear on her wedding day, was quite specific about the color blue. Wearing a snippet of blue ribbon, or some other bit of blue about her gown, denotes purity, fidelity and love. It was also the color associated with the Virgin Mary.
Rice and Other Fertility Symbols
Showering rice upon the departing, newly married couple is a tradition that seems to have begun in Victorian times. Flowers were sometimes thrown, as well as shoes (satin slippers) in an older custom, but the throwing of rice — long held as a symbol of fertility — made its appearance about 1870. Confetti, little paper cutouts of horseshoes, hearts, and other motifs, also became popular to toss at the new couple. Both the rice and the confetti, however, presented some concerns. Though eaten by birds, rice wasn’t a healthful item for them, and confetti presented difficulties in cleanup. Birdseed became the accepted substitution for rice, and fresh flower petals are often used. Blowing bubbles, instead of tossing tiny missiles, has become the modern send off for the bridal couple.
The Groom Must Not See His Bride
Tradition holds that the groom must not lay eyes on the bride the day of the ceremony until they meet at the altar. The superstition is that this can bring the couple bad luck, since they have glimpsed the future before it has happened.
Carrying the Bride Over the Threshold
When the groom carries the bride over the threshold, he is reenacting a very old tradition derived from many cultures, and one which can be traced to Roman times. This ritual was carried out to protect the bride from worrisome demons which might be lurking about the new home. If she were to trip entering the doorway, it would bring bad luck to the couple. This unhappy chance was avoided by carrying her through the doorway and over the threshold.
