Flowers for holiday occasions

With the holiday season approaching it's good to be prepared for the upcoming rush of social gatherings. A store of knowledge about what to bring to situations makes those last-minute trips to the crowded stores just a little more bearable. Flowers make great presents for just about anyone, particularly hostess gifts. If you plan to attend a holiday party at someone else's home, a token of appreciation goes a long way in guaranteeing your invitation next year. When you choose flowers, knowing what they traditionally represent and being able to explain that helps your offering to seem that much more meaningful. Here's a quick guide to flowers for different occasions:

When to Bring Flowers

Taking flowers to a dinner party for the hostess always goes over well, but some say that a bottle of wine or box of chocolates is more appropriate. Choose flowers over wine if your hosts or the attendees are non-drinkers. Similarly, do not bring chocolates if your hostess has expressed a recent desire to lose weight or is actively dieting. If many people plan to attend the event you are going to, expect that others will bring more wine than your hosts will be able to serve you. If your hosts and/or the attendees have baked pies or cookies for dessert, chocolates will be unnecessary. Flowers, on the other hand, are never something to have too much of—a home can always display more flowers. When attending your significant other's family holiday party, you should bring flowers for your beloved and flowers for his or her mother. Also, if the holiday party doubles as a housewarming, consider bringing flowering plants that can be planted in the garden in springtime.

Flowers for the Hostess

It takes a lot of work to throw a good party, and certain flowers express your gratitude for the amount of effort that went into making your holiday gathering warm and cozy. After all, your host probably spent days cooking and cleaning before you showed up hungry and expecting to be served. White bellflowers, camellias and bluebells all express gratitude. Although tulips can mean love, they also represent fame. If your hostess is well-known for her gala events, tulips can send a fun and playful message about how everyone appreciates the event.

Flowers for the Beloved

With so many flowers that represent love, how do you decide which flowers suit your relationship the best? Why not hand-pick a bouquet l of all the flowers that express your feelings at the florist's shop? Roses are always a good place to start, as everyone knows that receiving roses signifies love from the giver. The color can also say a great deal, though, and your beloved will be thrilled when you explain what they all mean. Traditional red roses stand for love, pink for happiness and grace and orange for desire. A red rose paired with a white one means unity, and the pair is traditionally given on the advent of an engagement. Carnations also make their appearances in most bouquets. Reds signify admiration while whites symbolize pure love. For a newer relationship, purple lilacs express the joy of love's beginning. Flowers that promise faithfulness are baby's breath (in most bouquets anyway), daffodils, ivy and lemon blossoms. White chrysanthemums symbolize truth, and honesty is an important component of every new relationship.

Flowers for a New Home

Moving into a new home represents a scary leap into the future but one also worthy of celebration. Thankfully, flowers will help you express your feelings of well-wishing to the new homeowners. Apple blossoms signify hope for the future and good (or better) fortune ahead. Daisies represent innocence and youth while lilies (particularly white) stand for purity.
Flowers to Remember Those Absent
Holidays can be bittersweet when loved ones cannot be with us. To show your hostess that you are thinking of her child in the military, sick relative or recently departed friend or family, both zinnias and Gerber daisies symbolize thoughts of absent friends. Blue periwinkles mean friendship and could be interpreted as a way of showing solidarity with your hosts. White periwinkles signify pleasures of memory, which has sexual undertones but could also represent happy and platonic thoughts of the absent.

Flowers to Avoid

It's hard to imagine that something as beautiful as a flower might carry a negative meaning, but you wouldn't want to send the wrong message should your explanation of your flower choice miss its mark. To play it safe, you should avoid yellow flowers altogether. Although roses symbolize love, yellow ones can be interpreted as jealousy or the end of a relationship. Yellow carnations imply disdain for the receiver, and yellow chrysanthemums indicate your beloved has wronged you. Yellow lilies can symbolize happiness, but they can also suggest falsehood on either the giver or receiver's end. Marigolds can denote affection, but they more commonly stand for grief. Reserve pink carnations for Mother's Day or for the mother of your beloved if she is your hostess. Because red columbines indicate anxiety, do not present them as a hostess gift ever. Your hostess will be nervous enough without flower symbolism to make it worse. No matter what flowers you choose to bring to the dinner table, your hostess will most likely display them for all the guests to enjoy. Knowing your flower symbolism not only makes you appear a conscientious and appreciative guest but also works as a great conversation starter. Happy picking