Flowers With Feeling: On Location

Ride along with Chicago florist Flowers With Feeling, Inc. as they design and execute floral and décor services for weddings and events at some of Chicago’s best known venues including the Chicago Yacht Club, Saint Josephat Church, the Palmer House Hilton, Wyndham Hotel Chicago and Café Brauer in Chicago’s near north Lincoln Park neighborhood.  Featured wedding and event decor locations also include the Donald E. Stevens Convention Center, Drake Hotel Chicago, Chicago Hilton and Towers and Westin Chicago River North.  Subscribe to the Flowers With Feeling blog by email or in reader (RSS feed) for future editions of “on location videos”, Chicago floral, wedding and event décor features, ideas and trends. 

 

Green Events Chicago: Recycled Glass

With the emergence of all things green, some are left to wonder how to incorporate eco-consciousness into the fabric of their lives.  For many, the decision to make eco-friendly choices is directly affected by the effort necessary to make a contribution.  In a result oriented society, some find it difficult to make decisions which, by themselves, seem insignificant.  Weddings and events offer the ideal opportunity make a contribution with minimal effort.  In the special event / wedding design industry, this budding concept has been widely embraced. 

With nearly 2.3 million weddings projected nationwide in 2007, many small contributions can clearly make a significant impact.  One popular choice being made by Chicago brides is the use of recycled glass vases.  Recycled glass vases, often used for centerpieces and wedding reception décor, are widely available in hundreds of forms, shapes and colors to accommodate a wide range of style and budget needs.  Recycled glass bowls, bottles or platters paired with seasonal organic, hand picked or locally grown floral can add the perfect finishing touch to any holiday table.  Growers of organic and transitional organic flowers, once overshadowed by the more abundant organic produce growers, now make available an ever expanding selection of “green” botanicals to complete your eco-friendly design without compromising style.  From Roses to Calla Lilies, rustic to formal, eco-friendly floral selections are more readily available than ever.

Recycled glass vases can be recycled an infinite number of times without loss of quality, require considerably less energy to process and conserve natural resources.  Recycling a single glass vase saves enough energy to operate a television for 90 minutes.  To put this in perspective, if each 2007 wedding chooses to recycle just one vase, enough energy would be saved to operate a single television continuously for nearly 400 years. 

Whether planning an elaborate wedding or simply sending a floral arrangement to someone special, making eco-friendly choices is easier than you might think. 

For more information on recycled glass vases and organic flowers for your next event call Flowers with Feeling at 312-829-1141 or visit them online at http://www.flowerswithfeeling.com/.

What are organic flowers? (click here)

 

Press Release: Chicago Shop Gets Camera Ready

Flowers With Feeling, Inc. Chicago featured in Floral Management Magazine, A Society of American Florists publication (author: Mary Westbrook):

“Customers who visit Flowers With Feeling’s website, www.flowerswithfeeling.com, get to see more than run-of-the-mill bouquets and contact information.  For more than a year, owners Jeff and Tammy Warden have been turning to video to promote their Chicago store, a move that has helped them better educate their customers, improve their search engine results and have a little fun.

‘The intention we had was to do videos periodicly-to choose an event, wedding, and to show it from start to finish,’ Jeff says.  “It’s a promotional tool and it has broad wide reach and broad interest.’

After they shoot a video, the couple uploads the file to a third party host, such as Yahho Video ( http://www.video.search.yahoo.com) or Revver, and imbeds the file in their site after “tagging” the video with pertinent key words such as “Chicago”, “wedding” or “centerpieces.”  To reach a wider audience, they also post the videos to http://www.YouTube.com.  

‘When people find our videos online, it’s a way us to introduce them to our shop,” Jeff explains.  ‘Our physical location is off the beaten path.  Through the videos, we’re trying to generate cyber foot traffic.  We want people to press their noses to our window, virtual and otherwise.’

So far the Wardens have created three videos, including a behind-the-scenes look at a wedding at the Drake Hotel.  In the future, they would like to post videos weekly, on a wide range of topics.

People tell us they like them, and every time we post a video our web site traffic goes up.”   

-View Flowers with Feeling videos here.
-View original article here.
-View Flowers With Feeling photo gallery here.

 

Chicago Green Events: Organic Flowers

 by Jeff Warden: Flowers With Feeling, Inc. Chicago

In an increasingly eco-conscious society, special events are following suit by going green.  In contrast to many overtly themed events, green theme events can be somewhat more subtle but no less engaging for partygoers.  Green events are more about creating a socially conscious undertone, a common thread that begins with the invitations and ends with the parting favor.  Read Sara Snow’s post “After the Green Wedding” for an excellent example.  One increasingly popular component to Chicago area “green events” is organic or transitional organic Veriflora certified floral products. 

Most associate “organic’ with food products, but many flower farms are transitioning to crop production practices that build soil fertility and control pests without the use of dangerous farm chemicals.  The approach, however, extends beyond the field including improved working conditions, storage, packaging and transportation techniques. 

The QAI Certification Program is designed to certify every step of the organic chain: from the land on which the product is grown; to the producers growing the product; to the post-harvest facilities preparing the product; to the processing and handling facilities transforming the product. This includes the use of sustainable farming techniques that rely on natural systems of production, pest management, and weed and fungal control, such as: cover cropping, composting, beneficial insect release, crop rotation, and prohibited use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). It also prohibits the use of toxic and persistent chemicals commonly found in industrial pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. The purpose of organic agriculture is to enrich the soil, minimize damage to ecosystems, conserve biodiversity, and maintain environmental quality.

Flowers With Feeling, Inc. offers the finest floral products sourced from growers that are committed to the highest social and environmental standards. Our certified floral selections are grown and harvested using practices that aim to improve the quality of farm working conditions, minimize damage to ecosystems, conserve biodiversity, and enhance environmental quality for future generations.

Ask your Flowers With Feeling representative for more information about “green event” ideas and product availability or visit us on the web at www.flowerswithfeeling.com. 

Related Articles:

Chicago Special Events: Going Green (http://flowerswithfeeling.wordpress.com/2007/03/29/chicago-special-events-going-green/)

Green Events Chicago: Soy Candles  (http://flowerswithfeeling.wordpress.com/2007/08/06/green-events-chicago-soy-candles/)

 

Lions Clubs International chooses Flowers With Feeling

Flowers with Feeling, Inc. is proud to have been selected to provide floral services for the 90th Annual Lions Clubs International Convention 2007 held at various locations throughout Chicago.  Since 1917, Lions Clubs International has fulfilled the needs of communities in need throughout the world.  For more information about Lions Clubs International visit www.lionsclubs.org.

Flowers With Feeling has provided floral and plant rental services to many of Chicago’s best known conventions groups since 1986.  Lions Clubs International Convention brought together 18,000 members for a week of meetings and events at locations throughout the city including McCormick Place, United Center, Sheraton Chicago Hotel, Oakbrook Bath and Tennis Club and Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.  Floral decor requirements ranged from casual to formal for groups of 70 to more than 1800 and incorporated a wide range of design styles, color pallettes and floral selections.  For more information about Flowers With Feeling convention services or to schedule an appointment, please visit www.flowerswithfeeling.com or call 312-829-1141.

 

Chicago Special Event Venue Spotlight: Shedd Aquarium

The John G. Shedd Aquarium Chicago is an extraordinarily unique venue which offers an engaging and inspirational atmosphere for private corporate and social events.  Dimly lit galleries feature rare and exotic aquatic species give the Shedd Aquarium a certain charm and character unlike any other Chicago special event venue.  The Caribbean Reef ,centrally located in the Grand Rotunda on the main floor, boasts a 360 degree view of an under-water reef community.  Typically the hub of many special events at the Shedd Aquarium, several galleries radiate from this center point and offer additional seating for larger events.  Each gallery presents a one of a kind dining experience enhanced by surrounding exhibits.   Buffet style service is common and allows guests to stroll and mingle among the exhibits.  The uniqueness and charm of this Chicago venue makes large scale events feel quaint and personal.  The aquarium can accommodate up to 1200 guests for a reception and 550 guests for a seated dinner in the Caribbean Reef Rotunda and adjoining galleries.In addition to the Grand Rotunda and surrounding galleries, the Shedd Aquarium offers the unique opportunity to hold your event on its outdoor terrace which offers breathtaking views of Chicago’s lakefront, Grant Park and Navy Pier.  For more information on the John G. Shedd Aquarium visit www.sheddaquarium.org.  For floral and event decor ideas, photos, videos and more visit www.flowerswithfeeling.com or call 312-829-1141 to schedule a free consultation. Whether planning a simple event, wedding, bar mitzvah or grand gala, or simply sending an arrangement (shop online) to someone special, Flowers With Feeling will strive to exceed expectations…Chicago’s full service florist since 1986.

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Chicago Special Events: Going Green

If you recently planned a wedding, bar/ bat mitzvah, gala or corporate event you have probably googled for ideas a time or two.  The internet age has made special event trend spotting and trend setting a fast paced fluid process.  What was once the trend of the year has become the trend of the moment.  Corporate party goers are looking for fresh engaging environments that transport them or envelope them with a feeling.  Party throwers, planners and florists like Flowers With Feeling, Inc. Chicago are faced with the challenge of keeping a watchful eye on the moving target that is the ‘latest thing’.

Social and corporate event clients alike are embracing the latest ‘latest thing’ , environmentally conscious flowers and decor.  This thing called green, however, is here to stay.  While the use of recycled paper invitations, e-vites, vintage wedding dresses versus new and recycled glass centerpiece containers are well known green options, flower growers from around the world are now establishing stringent guidelines and implementing practices that are both environmentally and socially responsible under the Veriflora certification.   Organically grown flowers are currently available from many local growers and farmers markets and are expected to be more widely available later this year.

Typically, theme events like bar-bat mitzvahs rely heavily on visual cues to invoke emotion and to convey the given theme concept.  When it comes to green events, less is more.  A recent example of a subtle eco-conscious bar mitzvah designed by Flowers With Feeling, Inc. in association with Chicago party planner Joyce Feuer, utilized reusable recycled glass vases, recycled paper invitations and featured pruned cherry blossom branch centerpieces,  reusable glass votives wrapped in green Magnolia leaves, river rocks and other locally grown replenishable natural elements (Location: Sofitel Chicago Water Tower).

Events of all types can incorporate this principal without compromising the overall vision.  Ask your florist or party planner about green decorating options.  For more information about green products and ideas for your next meeting or event contact Flowers With Feeling, Inc. Chicago (312-829-1141). 

Related Articles:

Green Events Chicago: Organic Flowers(http://flowerswithfeeling.wordpress.com/2007/08/07/chicago-green-events-organic-flowers/)

Green Events Chicago: Soy Candles (http://flowerswithfeeling.wordpress.com/2007/08/06/green-events-chicago-soy-candles/)

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Flowers With Feeling Chicago Launches New Website

Flowers with Feeling opens new location – online!  Flowers with Feeling has made it easier than ever to send flowers to your favorite people.  Simply log on to www.flowerswithfeeling.com for a secure, convenient online shopping experience.  Flowers with Feeling’s online store offers the same fresh unique arrangements Flowers with Feeling customers are accustom to while making it possible to order 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  

Flowers With Feeling has also added new features to assist you with your wedding or event planning process including videos, links, blog and useful event related tools like ring builder, limousine search and more.  Have a unique event related idea, design or concept ?  We encourage you to submit your event or design related video (link) to submit@flowerswithfeeling.com.  Upon approval, your video will be featured in the www.flowerswithfeeling.com video gallery (user submissions section).  For submission instructions click here.  Create, share..inspire. 

We cordially invite you to visit our new website, browse our new features and discover how easy it is to order imaginative bouquets for every occasion at www.flowerswithfeeling.com. 

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Wedding Ceremony: Drake Hotel Chicago

A serpentine runner recreates the feel of a garden-walk stroll. Two large floral displays mark the garden entrance and frame the path ahead. Lined with an assortment of green and floral bedding plants, this meandering path leads to a welcoming floral archway which punctuates the ceremony area. This wedding at the Drake Hotel Chicago was selected by NACE (National Association of Catering Executive) as wedding of the year. (www.flowerswithfeeling.com)View Flowers with Feeling Videos View Flowers With Feeling Photos

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Drake Hotel Reception

Originally used to create a floral garden archway during the ceremony, these large matching floral displays are repositioned to frame the newlyweds at their reception. The bride and groom are sure to be the center attention as they are seated at a half-moon sweetheart table highlighted with a single dramatic cascading design. (www.flowerswithfeeling.com)

View Flowers With Feeling Videos View Flowers With Feeling Photos

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