Todich Floral Design Blog

Most of us can recognize the scent of a rose or a dandelion from afar. Science might have a hand in changing this fact. Shakespeare’s famous quote, “ That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” may not ring true for all time.

Researchers at the University of Florida, have found a way to chance the scent of a flower. The genes that control the chemicals that make up the scent of a flower have been isolated. This means that the different compounds of a flowers scent can be increased or decreased, making it possible to create different fragrances.

Flower breeders have mainly worked on changing the appearance of flowers, changing their size, colour and the length of the blooming period. Scent has not been addressed this closely.

Due to this breeding of larger, enduring and colourful flowers, it appears that unintentionally flowers with a weaker scent have been selected, and many flowers are losing the strength of their scent.

In the future it might be possible to choose flowers not only according to appearance, but in terms of scent as well. We might soon be bringing vanilla scented flowers! Or an entire wedding could be designed not only according to one colour scheme but its scent as well. If you are planning an event this is something you do not have to worry about, and Todich Floral Design, will make design and decoration all that much more simple.

Another interesting the research team made was that, flowers like petunias release their scent from their petals. The scent is only released once the petals have opened.

Studies are set to continue, in an effort to set the scents of flowers, without affecting the appearance of the flower.

Recently, the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, were given a bit more colour as they were decked with flowers. Millions of visitors showed up to admire the floral show.

This is the biggest floral show hosted in the city, and Nguyen Hue Boulevard is transformed into Flower Street for a week, gaining the admiration of many.

The inspiration for this year’s show was to capture the glow of sunset in the spring. This was meant to be a symbol of good wishes and luck in the new year. It was also a positive step into the Year of the Tiger, and precursor for the city developments to come.

Tigers made from various flower types decorated the city streets. Another important event is to take place this year, the nation’s capital, Thang Long – Ha Noi, is to celebrate its 1000^th anniversary.

The Lunar New Year, falls on the same day as Valentine’s Day, so there were enormous hearts made of flowers, to celebrate this occasion.

As the weather in this city is quite a few degrees warmer than what we are experiencing in the Western hemisphere, flowers had to be replaced frequently. Nearly 100 florists were taking care of the flowers at any given time.

Flower Street is a great delight for both foreigners and locals, as is any event filled with blooms, flowers always manage to leave a great impression on their beholders, as well as provide an upbeat atmosphere.

Though you may not have plans for giant chrysanthemum tigers to decorate your upcoming event, Todich Floral Design, can help you make your event leave a similar impression on your guests.

Featured in yesterday’s South London Press (Left - Right: Carol, Todd, Lesley, Kalina)

We’ve been nominated for the innovation award at this years Lambeth Business Awards! The innovation is based around a brand new wedding product we’ll be offering our lovely brides from late Feburary! It’s all very hush hush at the moment but as soon as we launch it we’ll promise to let you all know!

The award ceremony is taking place on the 23rd of February and we’re up against some great competition, including our sister brand Flowers24Hours.co.uk! Good luck to all participants on the evening and see you all there!

Watch the gig and their buttonholes from here!

Faith No More, the influential American band that broke up in 1998 are in Britain for their come back tour! The band that once featured the infamous Courtney Love as their star singer (until she was fired) have recruited Todich Floral Design’s services to accompany their gig tonight in the o2 Brixton Academy!

The platinum status band has asked us to create for them 5 special button holes to accompany their suits in tonight’s gig, which are being created by our head florist as we speak!

Their musical success in Faith No More stemmed their careers further into the musical business after their split in 1998- Mike Patton, lead singer, has been involved with the incredible vocals in one of my personal favourite bands, Lovage, as well as stepped in as lead vocalist for the Dillenger Escape Plan for recording of  ‘Irony is a Dead Scene’. His versatile singing voice has lead to critics calling him “one of the most talented singers in rock music.”

Billy Gould, bass player, has also been involved with many projects, including Fear and the Nervous System, which features Korn guitarist as well as the drummer from punk rock group Bad Religion.

Michael Bordin, the left handed drummer (who amazingly plays his ride cymbal on the left hand side with a right handed drum kit) has also been Ozzy Osbourne’s drummer, helping him re-record several albums. He also stepped in to substitute Korn’s beautiful David Silveria when he was injured.

Faith No More’s songs have lived on, despite their 11 year hiatus. Track “Midlife Crisis” is featured in both ‘Tony Hawk’s Underground’ and ‘Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’. “From Out of Nowhere” was featured in sporting games ‘Madden NFL 2005′ and ‘NFL 2005′ and ‘Epic’ is featured in the trailer for ‘Street Fighter IV’ as well as being the background song.

Todich Floral Design LTD has been selected as a finalist for the annual Florist of the Year Awards! And here’s why…

Based in a warehouse in Camberwell, we offer designs to our customers for an incredible value for money. Being based in a warehouse means we have incredibly low over-heads. While some companies may pay from £60,000 - £100,000 per year in rent, we pay significantly less. And our savings translate into your savings.

Our passion for floristry has allowed us to truly push forwards and become an appreciated part of the florist industry in London.

Flowers24Hours.co.uk (our gift and flower delivery service) is the company that paved the way for all UK based internet florists today as the first automated same-day flower delivery replicating an offline shop in an online environment. Company founder and florist Todd Todic discovered a massive gap in the market in 2001 and utilized new technology to aid his quest of supplying flowers to London. Promoting solely in our early stages through SEO marketing, we were quickly one of the top search results for a large variety of keywords.

The beauty of our service lies in the absolute efficiency of our service. Mr. Todic developed a hi-tech web-solution to resolve the error of human mistakes that can be made with vast paper based orders whilst tackling the emerging issue of carbon reductions. This solution extends into our delivery software which optimizes drivers’ routes for the day. This, alongside keeping our vans serviced to mint condition, allows us to reduce our carbon emissions significantly whilst keeping optimum efficiency. This software also extends to our customer service, where customers can track their orders online and see exactly when the driver delivers their item, and if it was left with a neighbour, which neighbour it was left with.

Whilst we were delivering many bouquets and vase arrangements as gifts, Todd realised that this website wasn’t generating enough interest for weddings, events and corporate flowers. This was due to the fact Flowers24Hours.co.uk didn’t match the target market of this audience. Mr. Todic then launched Todich Floral Design, a website designed to cater precisely for this audiences needs. Unlike Flowers24Hours.co.uk, it does not do same day or next day gifts for the general public, only events; weddings; restaurants; hotels and corporate. This allows us to cater for both markets separately and successfully. We now have an extensive range of corporate clients and provide flowers for weddings and events on a regular basis!

We provide a valuable and efficient service to our customers at a fantastic value for money. We target our audience carefully to ensure our channels of communication are comfortable for our separate target markets. We consider the environment fully and utilize technology aptly to aid us in our service.

It’s your perfect day and you want it to go well. How can you ensure your whole wedding is going to run smoothly from start to finish? OK - unfortunately, we can’t tell you that, but what we can tell you are some safe steps in ensuring the floristry side goes well.

Here is a handy list of how you can prepare for your wedding flowers to be perfect on the day.

1) Congratulations! As soon as you have secured a date for the wedding, call or email your selected florists and ensure the date is available. Tips on selecting a florist - firstly, make sure you have seen pictures of their previous weddings and other event work. It is good to gain confidence in a florist, which can also be done by asking what they have done previously - ask about what contracts they fulfill with hotels, offices and restaurants. Generally, if they can supply to a 5 star hotel on a contractual basis, you are safe to assume they can carry out your wedding to meet your precise requirements! Secondly, make sure your florist has experience dealing with your culture of wedding. In Britain, it is generally safe to assume your florist has handled Christian weddings before. But have they handled Persian or Chinese weddings? Best to ask (We have! Amongst several other cultures - Have a look here for our others). You don’t want to spend 3 hours explaining what the Sofreh Aghd is, only to find it’s done wrong!

2) Make sure what your florist charges is good value for money! Especially important in an economic downturn is knowing that your money is going the full mile. Not to blow our own horn here, but for example, we operate from a warehouse instead of a high-street shop. This means we’re not blasting thousands of pounds a year on rental fees - if we were, those fees would inevitably be passed onto you as the customer.

3) You’ll probably have your initial colour schemes in mind - discuss with your florist your chosen colour scheme and particular choice in flowers if you have a specific variety in mind - while most flowers are generally available all year round, it is important to consider the seasonality as this can raise the budget dearly if your selected flowers are out of season. If you’re not sure at all, contact your florist for some advice on the phone or arrange a face to face consultation.

4) Think carefully where you want flowers placed - besides the standard bridal bouquet and buttonholes, there are many aspects to consider - almost every surface can be decorated with flowers and it is up to you (with advice from your florist of course) where you want these to go. The possibilities are limitless - from table centre arrangements, candelabra’s and chair back bouquets, to buffet table displays’ and reception entrance decorations. You can even get everything from your dress and your shoes made in flowers! This is where your budget will start skyrocketing - stay safe and realistic with our guideline downloadable pricelist. It is also important to consider the size of each arrangement as it can vary massively in the minds of different people (for example, our picture at the top has two sizes of table arrangements and also two very different budgets!). Also consider the number of people attending - how many buttonholes and bridesmaids bouquets will you require and how many table arrangements and thank you bouquets will be required?

5) Contact your florist to let them know precisely what types of locations you want to fill (and make sure they can do it in the case of the dress and shoes made with flowers!). This is probably the best time to arrange a face to face meeting with your florist. Here, you can discuss your colour scheme, flower choice and types of floral decorations you require in further depth. The florist should then provide you with a comprehensive quotation. Once you’ve agreed to this you can relax! The florist will take it all from here and contact you if and when necessary.

Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the World’s Largest Flower Garden

Spring Tulips in bloom

This spectacular annual event was opened to the public by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands’ on the 19th March in Lisse, Holland. Keukenhof, known in Dutch as ‘Kitchen-Gardens‘, has been the world’s largest flower garden for the last 50 years running.

This year, Keukenhof is not only celebrating it’s own 60th anniversary, but also the 400th anniversary since English explorer, Henry Hudson, sailing under Dutch authority, landed on the ‘New World’, now known as Manhattan, which led to the founding of New Amsterdam (New York).

The floral tribute to the 400th anniversary is made of more than 53,000 tulips and has been designed to mimic the Statue of Liberty to celebrate ties between the Netherlands’ and the United States.

Hosted in a 77 acre park, an estimated 7,000,000 flower bulbs get planted annually for this two month attraction. Known most famously for its bright tulip displays which are best seen around mid-April, Keukenhof sees over 600 stunning varieties of this particular flower, amongst many others. The best time to visit is now, where you can see almost everything blooming in symphony.

In March, visitors can see the beginning of spring blooms with flowers such as crocus, daffodils and narcissi. By April, tulips begin to blossom and towards the end of April, hyacinths start emerging. Other displays include orchids, Japanese cherry trees, lilies, azaleas, rhododendrons and many more. Growers compete amongst themselves for the most imaginative display in the gardens.

Keukenhof is only 30 minutes away from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport by bus, so it is no surprise it attracts over 750,000 visitors a year, making it one of Holland’s top tourism attractions for many years. The serene flower garden first opened in 1949 when the mayor of Lisse decided to hold an event that enabled European flower growers to showcase their hybrids and boost the flower export industry, one of the most important exports to Holland.

If you’d like to attend Keukenhof, it is open until 21 May and there are still many events left this season, such as the ‘Biggest Lily show in the World’, Bird of prey displays, the flower parade, traditional costume festival and Orchid Weekend, which is the 8-10th of May or you can have a look at their brochure here.

Table arrangement used for the event

We’re very happy and honoured to have been given the chance to decorate a small royal event at end of July, a dinner at the Westbury Hotel, with Prince (and princess) Michael of Kent as guests of honour.

Our part of the job was to create a formal but private atmosphere, befitting the presence of such extinguished individuals. The event was decorated with table arrangements and standing arrangements in four niches.

This was a great experience, where our professional approach was shown in full light. We were very excited and nervous at the same time - expectations were high, but luckily our experience and expertise helped us hit the target dead center.

In case you haven’t been informed earlier, the Chelsea Flower Show is happening again. It was opened yesterday, 20 May, and will go on for four days, ending on 24 May. The event is taking place at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London SW3. It seems tickets have been sold out online, so you may have to chance it and try to get tickets at the venue. In any case, if you want a glimpse of what’s going on live, you can see that here (live web cams on the official site).

There are blogs for the Chelsea Flower Show here, but also photos and forums if you want to discuss.

Here’s just one photo of what can be seen at the show:

There is plenty of interesting content to enjoy at the show like changing climate studies and garden displays. You can find out plenty more on the official RHS Chelsea Flower Show site.

Private events are great occasions for strengthening bonds between friends, family, business partners, employees. This very broad category of events allows many different approaches in organising. Whichever way you choose to organise your private event, it’s good to have at least some idea as to what things you need to consider before you delve into the deal. Here are a few things we think are common for any kind of private event.

Pick a topic for the event

What’s the occasion? Are you celebrating someone or something or simply getting together for a good time? It’s good practice to give a private event specific meaning. For example, if you are organising a private event celebrating your parents 50th anniversary, than that should be the main topic, and the center of the event, at least for the first part of it (introductions, toasts, best wishes). After this, the event will take its own course, and transform into a more informal shape.

Make an invitation list

This may seem like an obvious thing to do, but it’s surprising how many times people neglect this very important part of organising a private event. Depending on the intended size of the event and the occasion, you may want to make a selection of guests you will invite to this particular event. If the private event has a more formal character, or it has a business dimension, than picking the right people to invite will help keep the focus on the goal of getting together in the first place.

Event location

What would be the best choice of location for the event? If you are considering your own space, make sure it can indeed accomodate the number of people you plan on inviting. Otherwise, a hired venue may be a better choice (many offer their clients exclusivity - for the right price of course). Make the location easy to get to (with proper instructions), and take into account whether you’d prefer low level exposure towards the public or no exposure at all.

Decorations

Even though you are organising a private event, there is no reason not to make it a bit festive by incorporating appropriate decorations. Floral decorations are always good, as they bring a little life to the space where the event is taking place. As these are details everyone will notice, we advise you hire a professional to do the job. Our services for private event decoration are always at your disposal.

Catering

Food and refreshments are going to be the “background support” for your private event. Make sure you serve food that’s appropriate and that the service is good. These may seem like less important things, but no one forgets a bad taste in their mouth. Probably the best thing is to hire a good catering service, so ask your friends and colleagues for advice.

Entertainment

Are you planning entertainment? Background music can be played from an appropriate sound system, but nothing beats live performance, so if you aim to have some relaxed fun, consider hiring a couple of musicians.

When you’ve covered everything in the planning process, then and only then send out invitations. The last thing you need is to invite everyone, and then run into problems that may not be surpassable at the time.

If you need advice or would like to find out how we can help you make your private event memorable, please don’t hesitate to contact us at any time.