We’re now in the heart of winter — but that doesn’t mean that flowers are far from our thoughts! To celebrate the month of February and give back to our customers 416-Florist is launching another free flower giveaway contest!

This month we’d like to know which flowers make you think about love. February may be a cold 28 days but it’s also the month that gives us Valentine’s Day and one of the best excuses to celebrate a holiday with flowers! Join our Facebook group and leave a comment that describes the blossoms that come to your mind when you think about love. Whether it’s an old classic like roses or something completely unique to you we want to know!

To enter the monthly contest, join our Facebook page (click the link on the left or search for 416-Florist.com from your profile) and leave us a message. Just stop by the 416-Florist Facebook group and tell us which flowers make you think about love to enter!

CONTEST RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Contest begins at 12:00 AM EST on February 1st, 2011 and ends at 11:59 PM EST on February 28, 2011.
1. 416-Florist.com’s Free Flowers For You Contest is open to legal residents of Canada aged eighteen (18) years old or older. Participation constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and decisions made by 416-Florist.com, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Free Flowers For You Contest. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.
2. How to Enter: Visit 416-Florist.com’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Toronto/416-Floristcom/178650247930 to enter. Join our group and post a comment on the wall telling us what you did this summer. Only one (1) entry per person. All entries become the property of 416-Florist.com and will not be acknowledged or returned.
3. One (1) winner will be randomly selected from all eligible entries on March 1, 2011 to receive an arrangement from 416-Florist.com valued at $75. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.
4. Notification of the winner will be via private message through Facebook. The winner will have five (5) days to claim the Prize. The prize is non-transferable, non-negotiable and not redeemable for cash, credit or merchandise. No substitutions or cash redemption of the Prize is permitted. Additional restrictions may apply. If the prize is not claimed within five (5) days, it will be forfeited and another entrant will be drawn.
5. Acceptance of prize constitutes permission for Sponsor and its designees to use each winner’s name, city, state, likeness, voice and biographical information for purposes of advertising, promotion and publicity in any and all media, now or hereafter devised without limitation and without additional notification or permission or compensation, unless prohibited by law. All information collected will be treated in a manner consistent with Sponsor’s privacy policy and the consent given at time of entry.
6. The winner’s name will be posted on the following owned by 416-Florist.com: blog, Twitter, Facebook Page. Last name will be emitted for privacy of winner and Last Initial will be used instead.

Now we’ll see how a beloved holiday flower came to be associated with Valentine’s as the celebration grew to become the event we recognize today.

Valentine’s Day Symbols

As St. Valentine’s Day became an increasingly popular holiday throughout Europe and the New World, commercial opportunities began to arise. Starting in the late 18th century and hitting its stride in the 19th, Valentine’s cards, flowers and candy became common holiday gifts.

One of the largest markets was in greeting cards. The greeting card industry became one of the most profitable sectors of Valentine’s related business and, its use of roses as a central image involved with love became intimiately connected with common holiday symbols. The poetry that was often made a central aspect of these cards was largely responsible for how modern thoughts regarding the holiday came about and, in this, we can see how heavily involved roses have always been.

Roses and Love

As we described before, roses have always been associated with the emotion of love in many Western cultural traditions. This type of symbolism continued forward as Valentine’s became a profitable holiday that embedded itself in annual celebrations. As far back as Edmund Spenser’s epic poem The Faerie Queene (published in 1590), roses have been mentioned in connection with the burgeoning holiday.

A 1784 collection of nursery rhymes (Gammer Gurton’s Garland) contained the archetypal Valentine’s Day love poem (one that should sound familiar to many readers) and uses the rose as a central image:

The rose is red, the violet’s blue
The honey’s sweet, and so are you
Thou are my love and I am thine
I drew thee to my Valentine
The lot was cast and then I drew
And Fortune said it shou’d be you.

This poem encapsulates the intimate connection between roses, Valentine’s Day and love — a connection that continues to exist today.

Here are a few essential points to keep in mind as you choose sympathy or funeral flowers.

Sending Your Sympathy Flowers

Sympathy flowers are almost always an appropriate gift but it’s a good idea to consider the background and personal wishes of the recipient before going forward with your order (for example, if recipients are Jewish and observe shiva, it is improper to send flowers during this time of grief — choose a fruit basket instead). Once you’re sure that the family or loved ones of the departed would appreciate them, ask where flowers are most needed. Recipients may wish to make use of them for viewings or the funeral service itself while others would rather receive flowers at home to liven their house during a time of sadness.

Funeral flowers should be coordinated with the other blossoms being used at the ceremony while those being sent to a home can be picked on knowledge of the recipient’s personal taste.

Sympathy Flower Customs

A few customs are important to keep in mind as well. For instance, if you plan to send sympathy flowers to the recipient’s home, avoid purchasing sprays or wreaths. These are more typically used in funeral services and viewings and will look out of context in a house. There are no strict social rules to follow when sending sympathy flowers to a house, however. Feel free to exercise your own creativity (and knowledge of the deceased or his or her loved ones) in order to make your arrangement special.

Sympathy notes or cards are customary and, even if they’re short, are sure to be appreciated. Take the time to write out your thoughts and send a message along with your flowers.

The Birth of Valentine’s Day

To understand how the rose became so important it’s necessary to first look at the birth of Valentine’s Day.

Saint Valentine’s Day came about in remembrance of two Christian saints (Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni) and of religious martyrs in general (as they were commonly named Valentine). In the 14th century, romantic connotations started to become associated with the traditional February 14th celebration of Saint Valentine’s Day, the Catholic church removed the official recognition of Valentine’s Feast Day and the religious aspect of the holiday was lost entirely in favour of a focus on the universal emotion of love.

The Rose Reemerges as the Symbol of Love

As more time passed St. Valentine was romanticized and, in many ways, condensed into a single figure. The new legend that was attributed to him was that he was a saint, executed after refusing the Roman Emperor Claudius II’s decree that young men remain single (in order to become better soldiers). This version of St. Valentine would secretly marry lovers and, in an unverified (but popular) version of the tale, also wrote the first “Valentine card” to his sweetheart on the night before his death sentence.

This growing mythology would eventually create an entire industry centred on a version of a version of a version of various Christian martyrs, leading to what has now become a secular holiday focused on the celebration of love.

In our last look at the history of roses and Valentine’s Day we’ll trace the final part of the story, showing how the myth of St. Valentine grew into the modern holiday we celebrate today — and why roses are such an important part of it.

Your wedding flowers are important, however, and, fortunately, there are many different ways to help you in saving money on your floral arrangements and decorations without having to downsize their role.

Prioritize Your Spending

We all want to have beautiful flowers used in every aspect of our weddings but, with a little careful planning and creativity, money can be saved by prioritizing how your flowers are applied across the event. For example, the bridal bouquet, centrepieces and the ceremony backdrop are all aspects of the wedding that are memorable (and heavily photographed) — put your favourite flowers and designs in these areas and cut back on others to stretch your budget further.

Another great way to get the most out of your spending is to prioritize based on location. If you’re planning on having an outdoor event, save money by making use of the natural landscape in your event. Not only is this a budget-friendly option but it also makes for an aesthetically pleasing set-up that takes advantage of nature’s beauty. You can also save even more money by buying your wedding flowers entirely from a single supplier rather than a number of different shops.

Look at Alternatives

Alternative flower styles help to lower costs without sacrificing the aesthetics that you’ve decided upon. There are many ways to substitute more expensive blossoms for ones that look just as good but for a lower price point. Try using long, single stem flowers like orchids, calla lilies or roses for your bouquets and coursages for, what ends up being, a unique and beautiful look. Centrepieces can also be made cheaper with arrangements that call for only one or two flowers garnished with synthetic materials (baskets, ceramics, rocks, etc.) or non-blooming plants (twigs, leaves, needles, etc.).

By keeping these tips in mind it’s possible to have a great looking wedding while staying within your budget.

Now we’ll see how this culturally significant blossom began to take on the place of the holiday flower that most commonly represents love at Valentine’s Day.

Roses in Early Christianity

Early Christians saw a mirror of the five wounds of Christ suffered before his execution in the five petals of the rose but their leaders were afraid to take the rose as a symbol because it was of such importance to the Roman culture that persecuted them. Nonetheless, early Christian martyrs began to be symbolized by the rose — its red colour matching their blood. Throughout this period of time roses also began to be associated with the Virgin Mary and, ultimately, an unofficial symbol of the Christian faith for many worshippers.

Roses Across Europe

Even after the fall of the Roman Empire the importance of roses continued to resonant across Europe. England’s (and, later, the United States’) national flower is the rose, rose windows (made up of five segments to echo a rose) formed the basis of many Gothic Era building designs and the red rose came to be a symbol of socialism (and social democracy) throughout almost every nation in Europe following the Second World War. Echoing its roots in Christian tradition, the celebration of St. George’s Day in Catalonia sees people exchanging red roses as gifts that symbolize friendship or love.

Although they were always guaranteed a place in popular culture due to their importance to Christianity and Classical Greek and Roman traditions, roses really began to rise in popularity throughout the 1800s. The British Empire’s presence in China gave Western Europe access to perpetually blooming roses hybridized and enjoyed in the East.

Their growing commercial success in 19th century Europe will show how roses came to be so closely related to Valentine’s Day when we continue in the following part.

Read on to learn about the symbolism attached to roses and their early importance to the Western cultures that invented Valentine’s Day.

Roses and Symbolism

Throughout human history the rose has had a powerful meaning to different cultures and nationalities. Many languages (Greek, Spanish, Italian, Polish and others) even use the equivalent of the word “rose” to mean red or pink — typical rose colours. Ancient cultures like the Egyptians considered the rose to be a sacred flower to Isis and was given a high degree of reverence because of this.

In tracing their connection to Valentine’s Day, however, we have to go back to the Western cultures that gave birth to the holiday itself, seeing how roses eventually became such an important symbol of love.

Roses in Western Culture

In the ancient Western tradition roses have always been of immense importance, signifying love and beauty to so many cultures that the flower itself became an important part of religion and myth. Roses were considered sacred to the Greeks and early Romans. Aphrodite and Venus held the rose as a blessed flower and, as they was the Grecian goddesses of love, its connection to the most intimate human emotion can be seen as existing for quite a long time. The Romans also saw the rose as an emotionally resonant blossom. When secret or confidential issues were being discussed in a building a rose would be placed outside the door to show others that the matter at hand was serious and not to be disturbed.

As the West began to adopt Christianity, the rose continued to be an important object. Folk traditions and Classical interpretations of the rose would maintain relevance to the Romans and the lands that they touched as their empire expanded. Next time we’ll see how this happened.

Here are a few tips on how to effectively use wedding flowers in the decor of your event.

Wedding Flower Placement

Placing wedding flowers throughout a reception hall is an aspect of the art of floral arrangement in itself and, because of this, it’s important to pay attention to doing it right. Unifying the style of flowers used as decoration with corsages and ceremony accessories makes the entire celebration tie together properly. Ensure that you use complementary colours or tones and styles that don’t clash unnecessarily with each other as well.

Flowers are appropriate almost everywhere as long as they are tastefully placed and don’t crowd other design elements. Use beautiful blossoms as centrepieces (in vases or arranged in other decorative holders), along the trim of chairs and even with wedding favours. Try accenting the use of any flowers with lace or ribbon in order to fully bring out their designs in order to fully complete the effect.

Wedding Flower Choices

Almost any type of flower is appropriate for your wedding, as long as it matches the rest of your decor. It’s important to embrace the season of the event and pick from flowers that are naturally in bloom during its time of year however. Not only does this help tie the outside world in with the hall itself but it also helps to avoid wilting and keep costs lower.

As long as the colour of your flowers matches the overall motif of the non-organic decorations and wedding party’s outfits it’s hard to go wrong. Keep these tips in mind as you plan your wedding’s flower placement and know that your celebration is sure to look great.

With December and the holidays all wrapped up, it’s time to embrace the new year and usher in 2011′s first monthly giveaway from 416-Florist!

This January we’d like to know what flowers you think make the best match with winter. Stop by our Facebook page and leave us a comment that describes which blooms you enjoy most in the cold snowy months. Whether it’s a comforting flower that you love to keep indoors while it’s cold outside or a less traditional choice that captures the icey majesty of the winter, tell us!

To enter the monthly contest, join our Facebook page (click the link on the left or search for 416-Florist.com from your profile) and leave us a message. Simply tell us your favourite winter-themed flower(s) and be entered into the monthly contest.

CONTEST RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Contest begins at 12:00 AM EST on January 1st, 2011 and ends at 11:59 PM EST on January 31, 2011.
1. 416-Florist.com’s Free Flowers For You Contest is open to legal residents of Canada aged eighteen (18) years old or older. Participation constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and decisions made by 416-Florist.com, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Free Flowers For You Contest. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.
2. How to Enter: Visit 416-Florist.com’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Toronto/416-Floristcom/178650247930 to enter. Join our group and post a comment on the wall telling us what you did this summer. Only one (1) entry per person. All entries become the property of 416-Florist.com and will not be acknowledged or returned.
3. One (1) winner will be randomly selected from all eligible entries on Feburary 1, 2011 to receive an arrangement from 416-Florist.com valued at $75. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.
4. Notification of the winner will be via private message through Facebook. The winner will have five (5) days to claim the Prize. The prize is non-transferable, non-negotiable and not redeemable for cash, credit or merchandise. No substitutions or cash redemption of the Prize is permitted. Additional restrictions may apply. If the prize is not claimed within five (5) days, it will be forfeited and another entrant will be drawn.
5. Acceptance of prize constitutes permission for Sponsor and its designees to use each winner’s name, city, state, likeness, voice and biographical information for purposes of advertising, promotion and publicity in any and all media, now or hereafter devised without limitation and without additional notification or permission or compensation, unless prohibited by law. All information collected will be treated in a manner consistent with Sponsor’s privacy policy and the consent given at time of entry.
6. The winner’s name will be posted on the following owned by 416-Florist.com: blog, Twitter, Facebook Page. Last name will be emitted for privacy of winner and Last Initial will be used instead.

A gorgeous handtied bouquet of a dozen lush red roses – what more would a romantic want? Complete with greenery to show off the fabulous red.

And even better, we’ve dropped the price of this by 20%, which means you don’t pay $49.99. This month, you pay only $39.99!

This special won’t last, so take advantage of it asap.

The Gentle Thoughts funeral flower arrangement is a stunning sympathy standing spray featuring a beautiful selection of fresh carnations, mums and roses accented by greenery. Don’t forget to add your personalized message for free!

On special this month for only $79.99, from the original price of $99.99. You save 20%!

Looking for something that’s already in a container? The Simply Roses flower arrangement is perfect for any recipient who doesn’t have time to scramble for a vase. Artfully arranged in a funky shallow vase, it’s a living art piece that makes a wonderful decorative item for any occasion.

Originally $59.99, we’ve reduced the price by 23% for deliveries in the GTA, making it $45.99!

Now this one’s for those who appreciate the exotic.

Blazing Beauty Bouquet is a treat for anyone who appreciates the unique allure of anthuriums. Decorated with yellow gerbera daisies and greenery, Blazing Beauty Bouquet comes in a complimentary vase, making it easy to give as a housewarming gift or to the host of a dinner party. It’s a real stunner!

On sale for $53.99, 23% off the regular price of $69.99.

For a complete list of Special Pricing on flowers and plants.