Branching Out...

Times are tough - and one must "branch out" and use their resources to continue to create fabulous events with much less budget. One way to do that is to get creative with your florals. Manzanita and Birch branches are a high-impact, low-cost solution for today's event budgets.

Branches can be used for all types of events. We've been seeing branches as wedding centerpieces for years, but branches can do much more than be a decorative accent. Branches can be an interactive element such as a wishing tree or serve as logistical help in the form of a place card holder. These recent trends has been spotted being used as:

• a check-in table at a Chicago financial firm's holiday party. Each guest found their name on a personalized luggage tag hanging from a manzanita tree.
• at a outdoor art festival, attendees could write a wish on a piece of paper and tie it to a branch.
• at the Absolut Mango launch party in Chicago, orange ribbons and fake dollar bills hung from a money tree to represent prosperity.
• at a company showcase event, guests could write comments on paper tags and hang them on a tree. {Source: BizBash Chicago; May/June 2009}

{Photo Credits - top: rentalstore.com; Vintage Design Company; Michele Rago. bottom - Flowers R Us; Vintage Design Company}