Homecoming Flowers-AG Style

(They say it’s important to know your audience. If you are a student , I say THANK YOU on behalf of your parents! We all appreciate that you are planning ahead and taking care of this on your own! I’m sorry for addressing this article to your parents instead but, honestly, most of your friends ask their parents to order their Homecoming Flowers. For real! The process is a bit different than when we were your age, so forgive me while I fill your parents in on the details.

While I have your attention, remind your date to order from us too so that you have a coordinated set from Andrew’s Garden!)

Summer finally felt like it arrived and now everyone is back in school already!! Adapting to new schedules, making lunches, attending curriculum night-there’s a lot going on. Especially if you have a new Freshman this fall, you’re undoubtedly overwhelmed with so many new things. The last thing you’re thinking about is Homecoming Flowers! Every year, someone asks me for a “how-to” guide for ordering homecoming flowers – especially for parents of our dear Freshman boys! It is a bit more complicated than when you & I were their age!

Take a deep breath. We are flower pros at Andrew’s Garden and we’ve got you! We have made thousands of corsages & boutonnières (literally!), and we’ve learned a lot along the way. Give us a few details and then trust us to make something really special. That’s why people keep coming back to Andrew’s Garden! Our Dance Flowers are gorgeous, artistic, & unique!

ORDER EARLY

Please alert your friends, especially those with Freshmen students. With hundreds of orders every weekend, we nearly always have to cut off orders at least a week and sometimes two weeks before each dance. For this Fall of 2022, the busiest Homecoming weekends will be September 23-24 and September 30-October 1. Dance flowers may seem small, but they take a lot of time to make-especially corsages. We don’t like turning anyone away, but quality is much more important than quantity to us at Andrew’s Garden. We will cut off orders at some point.

Plan ahead for the day of the dance too! Dance Flowers will be ready by NOON on the day of the dance.  If you must have them earlier than that, please order to pick up the day before the dance.  We hate to send you away in the morning if you arrive too early, but it is not likely that we will be able to find your order at 9am. It takes us several hours on the morning of each dance to organize (alphabetize!) all of the dance orders so that we can find yours. We also do a last minute quality check to make sure that all of the bouts have pins and the flowers still meet our standards.   

HOW TO ORDER

Generally, when attending Homecoming with a date in our area, it is customary for each student to order the flowers that their date will wear. So, if your son asked someone to go to the dance, you will be ordering the flowers that his date will wear. His date will order your son’s flowers. If your student is going with a group of friends without dates, then they generally order their own flowers if they wear them at all.

You can order over the phone or in the shop. When you call or stop in to order, we will start by asking you the questions below.

Do you need a Boutonnière or a Corsage? 

A Boutonnière is a small grouping of flowers tied with ribbon and worn on the lapel of a suit or tuxedo. A Wrist Corsage is a larger grouping of flowers and ribbon arranged on a bracelet. For Homecoming, young men usually wear Boutonnières and young women usually wear Wrist Corsages. (Local customs are different for Prom.)

Corsages and Boutonnières are available in Standard or Premium variations. The Premium version of each is simply an upgrade from Standard. They are both very beautiful, but if you’d like it to be a little larger or include succulents or some of our more expensive blooms, then we recommend an upgrade to Premium. 

Current Pricing

Standard Corsage  $45

Premium Corsage $65

Standard Boutonnière $20

Premium Boutonnière $25

If you are looking for something particularly unusual or extravagant, an upgrade from Premium would start at $85 for a Corsage or $35 for a Boutonnière. We would be happy to discuss with you.

What colors are they wearing?

Homecoming flowers are accessories and look best when they complement their dresses & suits. We will be glad to recommend colors! Avoid trying to match flower or ribbon colors to the color of a dress or tie. Remember, flowers are natural products and no two flowers are exactly the same and colors vary within a specific color tone. It is nearly impossible to match colors exactly and it usually leads to disappointment when you try. If a color is close, but not quite right, it can look really bad!

We recommend complementary colors instead. Trust us to recommend colors and then let the flower accessories do their thing! That’s why we ask about what they are wearing – so we can make recommendations. A mix of multiple shades or tones of a particular color works well because it adds texture and depth.

What color tones & color palette do you prefer for the flowers?

Our designers are so creative & artistic! One of the biggest reasons why our dance flowers are so popular is because they don’t look like all of the other flowers out there!

Our repeat customers will always tell you to order Designer’s Choice! What does that mean? The designer working on your items will use the information you have given us and choose from the best options on hand that day. Our favorites are always Designer’s Choice orders because we have the opportunity to let our talent shine!

We will ask you to choose a Color Tone and a Color Palette. Be flexible & think generally about color tones & color palettes like these examples:

Color Tones:

• Pastels/Muted Color Tones
• Bold/Saturated Color Tones
• Neutral Whites & Creams

Color Palettes:

• Peach
• Pinks & Lavenders
• Purple
• Oranges & Reds
• Yellow with Lavender accents

You get the idea, right?

One thing we will NOT ask you is what types of flowers do you want us to use.  There are a few reasons for that.  Just like everything else we do at Andrew’s Garden, every Corsage and Boutonniere is unique and custom-made. We are not a production line of homecoming flowers! We have flowers delivered nearly every day and we never know exactly what may be available or coming in on any specific day.  We only want the BEST flowers and we will not use any that do not meet our quality standards. 

If you are ordering a corsage, what type of bracelet would you prefer?

To make it easier this year, we have photos below! They are all subject to availability, but we are starting out the season well-stocked.  Any Classic Beaded Bracelet or Rhinestone Bracelet is included in the cost of the Corsage (Standard or Premium). If you prefer one of the Premium Duchess Bracelets, there will be a $6.00 upcharge.  

Rhinestone Bracelets

L-to-R: Irredescent, Rose Gold, Gold

Premium Duchess Bracelets

L-to-R: Ivory, Silver, Black

What is your son or daughter’s date’s name?

One of our favorite things to do is make both pieces in a set of dance flowers. That way, we know they work perfectly together! Some students choose to order the flowers as a set, but when they are being ordered separately, we ask for the first and last name of the date. (If you know the other parents, let them know you ordered from us so they can too.) Right before we start making the dance flowers, we sort through our orders and match up all of the coordinating sets so we can make them together! It’s another reason to get those orders in early!  It makes us sad when a date calls a little too late and we can’t make them together!

One IMPORTANT Caveat

Some customers want to order early when they don’t know all of these details yet. Every order must be paid-in-full to hold your place in line. If you want to order early and update later, we can start with a neutral order. That means your order will be for a Corsage or Boutonnière made with neutral White & Cream Tones, with an Ivory Pearl Bracelet, and neutral ribbon.

Here’s the important part – we need you to provide us with changes to your order TWO WEEKS prior to the dance. We order flowers about 2 weeks prior to the dance. If you call to make changes after that two-week mark, we cannot guarantee that we will have the right colors on hand. Additionally, once we start assembling Corsages & Boutonnieres for a particular dance, we cannot usually accept changes.

THAT’S IT!

So, that’s it! It’s really, quite simple. The most important things are to ORDER EARLY and concentrate on color tones & color palette rather than specific flowers or “matching” colors. Then, leave the rest to us!

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