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48 February | 2023 Business to transport low compote-style arrangements," says Weisberg. " is keeps them snug and secure, and they can be offl oaded easily from the truck into the venue." Jenny Tobin, owner of Jenny Tobin Florist in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England, is an award- winning wedding and event fl orist who also designs fl orals for television and fi lm productions, including Oscar-winning fi lms such as e Favourite and Fantastic Beasts. Tobin prefers to use buckets to secure all her fl owers when transporting onto a set. She says fl orists need to learn layering for any truck. "I generally 'bungee' the buckets to prevent them falling forward or backward during transport," she says. "If the large arrangements are secured, then the smaller ones also remain safe." Because wedding arches are the rage, many fl orists are now building these installations prior to the big days. Asking venues for permission to create them in advance saves lots of transportation headaches. en you can just take extra fl owers in a bucket and add them at the event. ANTICIPATE THE RULES OF THE VENUE While working in Washington, D.C., Andrew omas learned that historical buildings have very strict rules about carts. For example, while working at the Andrew Mellon Building, a landmark structure on Embassy Row, he had to carry all of the fl owers because the wheels of the carts could impact the marble fl oors. is taught him to have more manpower on hand to help transport the fl owers in case such a situation arises again. WEATHER CAN FOIL BEST-LAID PLANS Wind and rain are not a fl orist's friend. Such weather requires more eff ort by fl orists to secure the fl owers in boxes or buckets and, perhaps, covering them with tissue paper. Because some fl owers, such as Ranunculus and sweet-peas, are so fragile, instead of transporting them in an arrangement, transport them in buckets and add to the arrangements on site. It's what one fl orist describes as an "insurance plan." WATER PROBLEMS Because watering fl ower arrangements at an event is often problematic, Holly Heider Chapple, co-owner of Holly Heider Chapple Flowers and Hope Flower Farm, both in Loudoun County, Va., invented plastic grid armatures— e Pillow and e Egg—that enable fl orists to easily remove an arrangement from a container, fi ll the container with water and then slip the arrangement back into the container. "Water spills out of vessels using a pin frog or chicken wire," she says. "Before, you had to worry about working around the chicken wire and cluster of stems to refi ll a container with water." Chapple notes that many of her friends and colleagues are also using her armatures for installations, such as on arbors and all on walls, with Command™-brand hooks, for suspended designs." e issue of water resonates with many fl orists who want to be more sustainable, some of who encourage fl orists not to be scared of little water. " Yes, fl oral foam is easier to transport because there is less water sloshing around," says Becky Feasby, owner of Prairie Girl Flowers in Calgary, Alta., Canada. "But at what cost? Water spillage is a far less signifi cant problem than microplastic pollution." "Packing a vehicle for an event is an art," adds TJ McGrath, owner of TJ McGrath Design in Plainfi eld, N.J. "For me, it's more about maximizing space than worrying about a little water spillage." Effi ciently packing a van defi nitely creates opportunities and choices. And Michael Grim points out that "a drop of water on a petal can be quite beautiful. Many times, we mist bouquets, which also helps keeps them fresh."

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