Week 3

The RNC is finally here: A nonstop week of flowers, government security, and no sleep!

Sunday:

The Huffington Post Party is today and I’m so excited! This will be my first install with Botanica. We loaded up all the trucks and headed over to AJA, (the venue for the party). It was amazing to see how much the nightclub had already changed with the news walls and carpeting. By the time we arrived all the furniture and tables were there waiting for us to place our arrangements on. I helped to load the arrangements in and carry all the pots of pentas we were going to use for the outside planters. Unloading and installing all the small pots kept everyone pretty busy. I loved seeing the end result in the venue. The flowers really helped to make the finishing touches and complete the feeling of a spa.

Here are some pictures from the venue:

Monday:

The first day of installs started today and everyone got into the studio bright and early at 5:00 am. We loaded up the trucks and headed out for installs around town and the Convention Center. Eric and I went to Clearwater Beach to drop off dining and cocktail table arrangements.  We then drove to a hotel to drop off a couple of arrangements for a hotel guest.

Clearwater Beach Location: 

Eric and I made it back to the studio and everyone was busy designing for more events going on Tuesday. I was able to help with some of the arrangements. We used some beautiful blue hydrangeas, roses, and some hypericum berries. We made about seventeen of the arrangements and packed them up and got them ready to go out for installs the next day.

Here they are:

Tuesday:

I came in the studio around 9 and processed even more flowers that came in that morning. All the flowers were arranged in a line and tagged for each event. All the buckets of flowers really filled up the studio, but it smelled amazing! 

Processing flowers:

After tackling that job I went in the back and helped Eric paint some white boxes for another event. More tables had been added and the budget adjusted which meant more white boxes.

Here’s a picture of some of them drying:

About when I thought I would spend all day covered in paint and filling buckets I got to go with Athena to drop off the blue hydrangea arrangements we made the day before. It was really fun seeing where they were being used. It’s amazing how much flowers can change the environment and feel of a space. One of the reasons I love this job!

Right in the middle of all the tables:

We were on the news again tonight! Here is the clip of the team working away for the RNC. http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/19401543/2012/08/28/business-is-blooming-for-rnc-florists

Wednesday:

 Today was definitely my favorite day of the week. I was able to go the Tampa Bay Times Forum where all of the main RNC events were happening. Tiffany, Lorraine and I had to go to the forum to replace some dahlias in the senate cloakroom. Just to get to the Forum was one big job! We had to make it though a couple checkpoints before you could even see the building. I’ve never seen so many forms of police and government officials in my life. 

Once we made it through security we were escorted by police to the Forum. We all felt like celebrities with the police blocking traffic just for us! Finding the senate cloakrooms was a little more difficult than we had expected since it was on the other side of the building. But we eventually found the room and replaced some of the flowers that had wilted in the past couple of days.

Senate Cloakroom:

After we were finished replacing flowers we headed back down to our car and made it about halfway though security when we got a call from Ian to turn around and head back to the forum. After a little bit of maneuvering back through security gates we met Ian and the rest of the team in the RNC walkway. The walkway connected the forum and the convention center together. When we got to the walkway it was lit with red, white and blue IKEA lamps with a lot of draping all the way down….let’s just say it needed some help. 

Here is what we started with:

We took some measurements and then headed back to the studio to get started on the floral designs for the walkway. It was about 3:00 when we got back to the studio and made over 30 arrangements. We made them in hanging planters so that we could hang them from the walkway ceiling. We packed the trucks and headed back to the forum around 5:00. We were on a tight schedule to get the arrangements up and ready to go before Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan went down the walkway later that night.

Once we made it through the checkpoint security again we started unloading the arrangements, ficus trees and couches for the walkway. We took the hanging planters and hung them upside down from the ceiling to create a long dramatic effect down the hallway. We also took some of the white boxes we had been painting earlier and placed fig trees down the hall on the sides of the aisles in-between the TV’s. Overall it took us about three and a half hours to get everything installed and cleaned up.

It was a great experience being able to participate. It was helpful to see how Ian and his designers deal with large last minute projects.  I loved watching people come into the walkway and see their faces change once they noticed the difference in the walkway.

This was the end result:

Thursday:

Things were a lot calmer in the studio today. All of the arrangements that were made had been delivered to all of our events and parties for the RNC. We did get some more flowers in today though so I got to process more flowers! Most of them will be used for a wedding we have scheduled for this weekend.

Some smaller arrangements for various tables needed to be made for the wedding so I used some celiosia, African sunset, roses and hypericum berries for these arrangements.

Overall this week was really crazy but I loved it! Its weeks like this where I learn the most. Having so many skilled and experienced designers gave me the chance to watch and learn their design methods. I saw so many things that made me realize areas that I need to improve on and how much more I have to learn! Luckily I’m here in a job where I can do exactly that. So as much as it might surprise people I can't wait for another crazy week like this.

Inside the Forum: 

A little arrangement I made from leftover flowers: