The Flower Blog

With prom season in full swing at Gillespie Florists, we are enjoying the challenge of making captivating corsages to match individual taste and style.   This year has seen a dramatic shift to wonderful frothy colors of champagne and shrimp with overlays of lace.  This particular design appeals to the hopeless romantic wanting to capture the updated vintage look featuring a myriad of pastel and the ever popular nude palette.

On trend right now also is the large chunky style bracelets.  We have an exciting selection of styles and colors featuring silver metallic, crystals, pearls, and even full rhinestone cuffs.  Each a wonderful keepsake to wear again and again.

Another exciting trend this year is the addition of sheer illusion.  Normally used in costuming, this wonderful beige stretchy fabric allows you to have cut out detailing without showing actual skin.  If you are the dramatic Fashionista, you can make a statement and still be demure.  If you are more the Goddess type, then consider something very unique as this "Goddess Tiara".

This beautiful head piece features a rhinestone tiara as the base with dainty wax flowers woven in. It's natural soft greenery gives an ethereal effect and is finished with iridescent green leaves.

Not quite like you? Then how about Legendary "Elfin".  You can define your look by wearing your flowers in unexpected places such as a necklace or flower ring.  Here we have the newest trend for prom in a hand tooled wire necklace called "Frozen".  It features unexpected blooms of Larkspur woven into 6 and 24 gage silver tone wire with iridescent strands and faux crystal stones. Each necklace is a one of a kind work of art!

Nothing quite like having magic at your fingertips with this beautiful flower ring called "Sugar Sugar".  Here we have a delicate pink spray rose with an adjustable ring band and adorned with wax flowers and a rhinestone spray.

Everyone loves the natural Bohemian-Island girl look so why not wear a stunning headband that balances perfectly with a strapless gown.  This beautiful piece is called "Bohemian Head Band” features a stunning green Dendrobium Orchid with a purple crystal dragonfly pin atop a silver braided headband.  It is finished with blue accents and iridescent hanging bead strands.
Ok, still not you?  Then how about all the Prom Rebels out there!  Push the fluff and bling aside and lets get creative.  
Here we have designed something perfectly different for you called "Grim".  It features chains, raw zipper edges, skulls, feathers and black ribbons. Blood red roses sets it aflame with individuality.  We have many different types of fabric ribbons, lace, plaid, cording, buttons and charms to create that personalized, exclusively unique design.  Steampunk?  Rebel?  Alternative?  We’ve got you covered!  

 
We have expert designers and staff on hand to help you create whatever you're dreaming of and possibly something you haven’t thought of yet!  So whatever style you are, whatever color of the rainbow you need, whatever design of wristlets, body or accessory flowers you have in mind, come on in and let us show you how it's done!

Gillespie Florists Prom King & Queen Contest 2014!

Post a snapshot of you and another person wearing flowers from Gillespie Florists on our Facebook Page, Twitter or Instagram and get the chance to be crowned the Gillespie Florists Prom King & Queen!

Here's how it Works:

·   Take a snapshot of you and your date wearing Gillespie's Flowers.

·   Post it on our Wall or use #GFPROM2014 - make sure it’s a public post!

·   Tag your self in the photo as well as anyone else in the picture.

·   We'll put it in our "Prom King & Queen Contest Album 2014".

·   Ask your friends/family to "Like" your photo or post positive comments on your photo once it has been added to the Prom King & Queen album.

·   One week after the end of Prom Season, we will tally up the "Likes" and Comments and whoever has the most wins!

What do you get if you win?

The Queen will be crowned with a tiara and flowers and

both King and Queen will be awarded a $25.00 Gift Card to Gillespie Florists!

And don't forget, Bragging Rights!

Contest ends May 27th, 2014. Winners will be announced on Facebook May 30th!

Here's the Link to our Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gillespie-Florists/196410082316

Twitter:    @gillespiefloris

Instagram:    gillespieflorists

The past couple of years I have been blogging about ‘Glee’ Prom and have received positive feedback. So here’s the scoop on what flowers our favorite characters wore to ‘Glee’ Prom 2013! First and foremost, I noticed there were way more characters on ‘Glee’ wearing prom flowers this season compared to past seasons; which as a florist, makes me very happy!

BrundleProm?

The theme for the 2013 ‘Glee’ Prom was BrundleProm? It was either BrundleProm or simply Junior/Senior Prom, which is a disappointment when looking back at past Prom themes. Unlike previous years, there was not a great variety in the types of flowers worn to the prom. The characters wore mostly carnations and roses on the inexpensive throw away elastic wristlets.  I did notice however, one or two of the main characters did wear keepsake bracelets!

Most Memorable Corsage

The most memorable corsage was Tina's; mostly because it was one of the few corsages in the entire show that looked like any care was put into putting it together.  This corsage outshone all the others with red sweetheart roses, black ribbon, white pearl beads, green leaves and a keepsake charcoal gray wristlet!

Since Tina was crowned queen of the BrundleProm, it’s not a surprise they put extra effort into having her wear a pretty corsage. Of coirse, it is unfortunate red slushy got dumped all over Tina while being crowned but her true friends took care of her, got her cleaned up so she could enjoy the rest of her prom as queen!

Favorite Corsage… or Not!

I  didn’t have a favorite corsage this year. There was much left to be desired when it came to the corsages worn by the lead characters. In previous seasons, they always had nice corsages which were different from everyone elses and even had some creativity put into them! This year, however, everyone was wearing one of two flower types: Carnations or Roses. Many corsages had inexpensive satin ribbon, elastic wristlets, and green leaves; making the final effect oversized and sloppy.

With that said, I LOVED the fact that almost every single person in the cast was wearing prom flowers! Even all the extras were wearing prom flowers! They had a scene where some of the Glee Club members were performing on stage and the crowd of high schoolers were jumping and dancing and you could see the corsages bouncing around on their wrists!  For that reason, Glee producers; you are forgiven for not putting more thought into your leads’ prom flowers!

Boutonnieres

Have you noticed they use the same boutonniere holder every year? (I’m probably the only person who notices but I’m just glad they are showing a holder at all.)  I believe Blaine was wearing it this year, a metal boutonniere holder with a carnation.  I’m kind of tired of seeing the same boutonniere holder every year, but admit they serve a great purpose.

Boutonniere holders are a lot easier to use than the traditional “pin-on” because you don’t get poked with a straight pin!

Past that, there’s not a lot to say about the boutonnieres of the BrundleProm. It was nice to see more guys wearing flowers this year!

Once Last Thing...

I don’t know if you noticed but they were using a hardy mum as part of the decor for the photo area. Did you know Hardy mums are only available in the Fall?  Now, it could be said that they were using a “Florist Mum” (a non-hardy mum grown in greenhouses year round), but the mum shown is way too big to be one of those. Which leads me to something that's been bugging me and if you follow Glee closely, it should bug you too! If you don’t, let me explain....

Last season ended mid-school year and this season picked back up after school winter break. For the show Glee, prom is taking place in early to mid spring, NOT the fall.  The reason why this bugs me is because at the end of last season and the beginning of this season, the show didn’t explain that they were splitting the school year up and making two seasons out of one school year. So, as I’m trying to piece this together, they show contradicting things like the hardy mum at prom!

All in all, I really enjoyed seeing all those Prom Flowers on one of my favorite shows.

In Indianapolis, our Prom season is a long way off but it’s never too early to think about what flowers will make your perfect prom! If you are a GleeK like me and want ‘Glee’ Prom flowers to accent your style, click below!

A couple years ago, we at Gillespie Florists thought it would be fun to have a Prom King & Queen Contest and have been having it every year since! Prom customers only needed to post their picture on our Facebook Fan Page wearing our flowers! We then asked our Facebook fans to "Like" their favorite picture or make a positive comment about it to determine the winner. We had several people enter but there can be only one winner!

And the Winner is...

Miranda wore a three-sweetheart rose corsage similar to the one pictured here. Miranda’s was yellow, black & silver and looked great with Darrien's matching sweetheart rose boutonniere!

As a Thank You to everyone who entered the contest, we want to offer you a free Sunshine Bouquet! Just stop in the store any time, give us your name and we will give you your Sunshine!

Those Contestants are:


Cole & Morgan
Nick Fallen Adams

Thanks again to everyone who entered the contest! Until next year!

Every year I do a blog on the flowers of the Glee Prom but there is usually a prom on Glee by now. Vampire Diaries however has had a Prom this year with a great scene showing off some different Prom flower options!

If you do not watch Vampire Diaries, let me give you the 411 on what’s going on in this episode. The series follows the life of Elena, who falls in love with a 150+ year-old vampire named Stefan. Their relationship becomes increasingly complicated as Stefan's vicious older brother Damon Salvatore returns and eventually falls in love with Elena as well. The series is set in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia and includes other supernatural beings such as werewolves, witches, ghosts, and hybrids. Through a complicated series of events Elena is turned into a vampire and because of the death of her brother Jeremy, she “turns off” her emotions. In this episode, Stefan and Damon are convinced they can get Elena to turn on her emotions by taking her to Prom and reminding her of all of the good times in her life and showing her how many people still love and care about her. 

Since Stefan and Damon are over a hundred years old, it’s not surprising they take part in the time-honored tradition in bringing their prom date flowers (even though they are taking the same girl). Stefan gives Elena a hand tied bouquet (a.k.a. nosegay) of gerbera daisies and green roses. Even though her emotions are turned off, she does accept the bouquet. I think that is very telling of Elena true feelings toward Stefan because when Damon tries to give Elena a white rose with pink ribbon corsage; she tries to refuse it and not wear it. Of course if you know Damon, he won’t take “No” for an answer and with his super Vampire skills; he grabs Elena’s wrist and straps that corsage on her like her life depends on it! Elena does show up to prom with Damon’s corsage on and doesn’t have Stefan’s bouquet so, we could say that is very telling as well. But I’m on team Stefan so I am choosing to read more into Elena accepting the flowers from Stefan.

 
Pictured here is a three sweetheart rose corsage, that would be perfect for Elena to have worn in this episode! I don’t have a picture that looks like her corsage but hers had sweetheart roses and a keepsake bracelet so, I thought this one would be a good fit. By the way, I think it is great we are seeing keepsake bracelets on television! This corsage is called Angelina and includes pink sweetheart roses, white accent flower and pink bracelet.

Later in the show I noticed the character Matt had on a single white rose boutonniere. I wonder who got that for him? The witch Bonnie? The vampire Caroline? Or did he get one for himself? I’m just glad he was wearing one because I noticed Elena didn’t care enough to get her dates a boutonniere.  The Focus boutonniere is similar to the one Matt is wearing with it’s white rose and accent flower. I think it would have looked better on Matt because of the boutonniere holder it is in. Boutonniere holders are easier to use than pin-on ones and they have a cleaner look.

I love the centerpieces for the tables! They were fresh flowers with a lighted lamp in the center. I like how they combined two things people like to have in the center of the table and combined it instead of choosing one or the other. The bouquets included white lilies, purple stock, burgundy carnations, white buttons and accent flowers. A lot of schools choose not to have fresh flower centerpieces at their proms but we have a local high school that still does it and the kids love it! They keep the cost down by bring us their own containers and many times bring in items for us to include. This year they brought us party masks to include in the bouquet.

Caroline, vampire and friend to Elena, left the Prom early because she was upset that she couldn’t spend her senior prom with her werewolf/vampire hybrid boyfriend, Tyler. She came home to set up for a party she was having later that night and there was Tyler waiting for her with a hand tied bouquet of flowers. This bouquet included lavender daisies, cushion pompons, alstroemeria lilies and solidego. It was very pretty and very sweet of him to bring.

Hopefully there won’t be vampires at your prom but there should be flowers! Go to our website to view our entire selection but clicking below!

Check out our latest video on Prom flowers below! 

Vampire Dairies airs on the CW network on Thursday nights. Make sure to catch the next episode or watch an episode on thier website now by CLICKING HERE! 

All images of Vampire Diaries are owned by the CW Network. 

We have had a couple of weekends of smaller proms and there are some definite favorites from our new 2013 Prom Flower Collection! Listed below is the top five!

 5.  Whether you are an Avon Orioles fan or just wearing black and gold, this corsage will make a big and flashy statement. The Oriole wrist corsage is created with Mokara orchids painted gold, black ribbon, thin gold ribbon, gold bead sprays, black leaves and a keepsake black bead and rhinestone bracelet! Item#13PN01          $48.95

4.  The Venetian corsage has warm, rich colors and textures! The Venetian wrist corsage is intricately designed with peach roses, mini lotus pods with glitter, bead sprays, cream and gold ribbon, green bead sprays, cream and pink accent flowers and a keepsake pink/clear crystal beaded bracelet with rhinestones!  Item# 13PN22                  $65.95

3.  Who says you have to wear a corsage?  This year we worked hard to create new designs to meet every girl’s style! The Black Magic Scepter is not a wrist corsage but is intended to take the place of it. Be the Queen of the Prom with Black Magic Scepter! This scepter is created with white posy callas, white tea roses, black glitter ribbon, white beads, silver wire and iridescent bead strands!   Item # 13PN48                  $69.95

2.  Here’s another alternative to the traditional wrist corsage! White Hot is a corsage like design of flowers we created to be added to a customer’s prom shoes. White Hot includes, three white tea roses, three glittered scabiosa pods, pink sequin accents and pink rhinestones. We create this with ribbons so you can easily attach the flowers to your shoe or bring in your shoes and we can do it for you!  Item# 13PN09                  $39.95 

1.  Our designers want to create prom flowers that match each girl's individual style and this corsage is the epitome of that! The Grim wrist corsage is shockingly repellent and inspires horror to any who look upon it! This corsage includes blood red roses, skull charms, black feathers, black ribbon, silver chain, glitter, other grisly accents and a keepsake bracelet! If we can create a corsage like this just imagine what we can come up with for your individual style! Item# 13PN26                  $74.95

We are happy to make changes to the color of flowers and other accessories in your prom flowers to suit your needs!

After our prom season is over, I will post another blog letting you know our overall Top Five Best Sellers! 

Shop our new line of Prom Flowers by clicking below!

Want to see some more of our favorite designs for 2013? Check out this video below!

Last year, We at Gillespie Florists thought it would be fun to have a Prom King & Queen Contest! So, We held it again this year and it was a hit! Prom customers only needed to post their picture on our Facebook Fan Page wearing our flowers! We then asked our Facebook fans to "Like" their favorite picture or make a positive comment about it to determine the winner. We had several people enter but there can be only one winner!

And the Winner is...

The Results are in! Our Prom King & Queen for 2012 is....

Kelli Huffman & Tim Oconnor!

Kelli  & Tim each get a $25.00 gift card to Gillespie Florists and Kelli will be crowned with a tiara and flowers!

They had a whopping 68 "Likes" and comments on their photo! Congratulations!!

Kelli wore a three-sweetheart rose corsage similar to the one pictured here. Leah's was pink, black & silver and looked great with Tim's matching sweetheart rose boutonniere!


As a Thank You to everyone who entered the contest, we want to offer you a free Sunshine Bouquet! Just stop in the store any time, give us your name and we will give you your Sunshine!

Those Contestants are:

Meredith Warbinton & Quinn
MacKenzie McKnight and Christian Ewoldt
Allyssa Ashcraft & Sergey Dawson
Madison Raine Fines & her date
Brenda Danielle & Nick
Taylor Purcell & her date
Hannah Todd and her date
Carly Thomas & her date
Holly Wood & Griffin Goldman
Debbie Trowbridge
Glenda Pierce Sluss

Thanks again to everyone who entered the contest! Until next year!

Last year, I blogged about the 2011 ‘Glee’ Prom and had positive feedback so, here’s the scoop on what flowers our favorite characters wore to ‘Glee’ Prom 2012!  First and foremost, I noticed that there more characters on ‘Glee’ wearing Prom flowers this season compared to season. As a florist, that makes me very happy!

No Dino Flowers!

The theme for the 2012 ‘Glee’ Prom was Prom-asaurus.  Although there weren’t any flowers from the Jurassic era, there was plenty of variety in the types of flowers worn to the prom. Like last year, the characters wore carnations, roses and orchids. However, this year, daisies made an appearance and so did keepsake bracelets!

Most Memorable Corsage

The most memorable corsage in my opinion, was Rachel's because of the story behind it. Rachel, Blaine and Kurt decide to have an Anti-Prom party. Because Finn was nominated for Prom King, he felt obligated to attend prom. After a surprise from Quinn, Finn decided to ditch Prom to be with his girl! He gallantly showed up to Anti-Prom and talked everyone into going with him! Before leaving for Prom he gives Rachel a corsage. She wore orchids again this year but with a twist- light pink dendrobium (which was a great accent color for her dress). Her corsage looked similar to the one pictured here, including the keepsake bracelet.

Favorite Corsage

I absolutely loved Quinn’s corsage! In my opinion, her corsage way way too big last year (it engulfed her hand)! This year, her corsage was the perfect size and beautiful! Her corsage was placed on a keepsake bracelet that sparkled and shined.  The corsage had perfectly matching lavender ribbon, white accents and white roses(I think). It’s hard to tell what the exact flowers are when these girls are dancing all over the screen! Quinn’s corsage was similar to the one pictured here.

Boutonnieres

I did not care for Kurt’s Boutonniere. It was too simple for my taste-just a tiny pin-on mini-carnation. It’s not that Kurt has to have some humongous boutonniere but I certainly expected more style for him! Though I liked Blaine’s boutonniere, I was surprised by it, too. He had on a large white carnation with a metal boutonniere holder, which is very cool and the style you would expect to see this season.  However, if you look at episode from last year, he wore almost the exact same boutonniere. The only difference was that the carnation in the holder was pink instead of white. I was expecting a little more pizazz from them both! Blaine’s Boutonniere was similar to the one on the right.

Principal Figgins’ Boutonniere was a pleasant surprise! He wore a daisy boutonniere similar to the one pictured here. Daisies are becoming a more popular Prom flower choice. We design with daisies frequently in corsages and boutonnieres here at Gillespie’s. Principal Figgins pulled off his look with style and looked very comfortable in it!

In Indianapolis, our Prom season is coming to a close with only two weekends left.

 If you are a GleeK like me and want ‘Glee’ Prom flowers to accent your style, click below!

Glowing Prom Flowers? Is this for real? Yes, it is! We excited to introduce Galassia Flowers Fluorescence corsages into our prom collection!  This product enhances the natural beauty of flowers, and takes flower color to a new level by giving them a spectacular glow!

For their beauty to be revealed, they need ultra-violet (UV) light supplied by custom-designed illumination device and a specially formulated solution applied directly to the flowers.  These unique devices are imported from Adelaide, Australia- a city with a strong reputation in plant science research and development.  We are honored to be one of the few florists in the United States that can provide this product to our customers!  As a matter of fact, we learned about this product from networking with a florist in Las Vegas, Nevada.  

Galassia Corsage - Lights on in lighted room!

How does it work?
First, we create a one of our signature corsages and design it on the Galassia bracelet with the lighted device attached. Next, we spray Galassia special formulation of fluorescence on the entire corsage. Then, when the big night arrives, the corsage is worn on the wrist, complete with an adjustable band.  The device has a convenient on/off switch so you can decide when to light up the room! 

Galassia Corsage - Lights on in dark room! 

The product works best in a dark room and produces a “black light” effect. The battery life is 6-8 hours but the formulation can last for months!The photos above are showing the same corsage in a lighted room and in a darkened room. Wow! What an amazing difference!

If you want the Galassia Flowers Fluorescence on your corsage, Contact us at 317.273.1100 or use our convenient Contact us form!

Check out this video of our glowing prom corsage in action!

My Top Five Prom Corsages

We have had two weekends of Proms and are coming up on three more! I get asked all the time what is my favorite prom corsage. I don’t have just one favorite because Gillespie’s has so many! But I think I can narrow it down to five.

5. Pink Ice

This corsage has a unique bracelet that has rhinestones cascading down the hand! To help hold the rhinestones in place is a small adjustable ring that goes on your middle finger. We added light pink sweetheart roses, sheer metallic silver ribbon, metallic silver leaves and rhinestone sprays.

4.  Couture

Couture is a breath-taker! This prom corsage has a rhinestone “belt” bracelet with white Mini Callas, sweetheart roses, sheer silver ribbon, strands of rhinestones, rhinestone sprays, diamond like pins, glass & rhinestone picks, black lazer leaves and black feathers! We could not have fit anything more into this wrist corsage is we tried!

2. Pandora

This was my absolute favorite corsage last year and for good reason! This corsage has the perfect combination of colors and offers diversity with its accents. I have tons of girls model their corsage after this one! Pandora is designed on a rhinestone and silver flash bracelet, has orange sweetheart roses, feathers, purple flash ribbon, green ribbon, lazer leaves and spiraled wire.

1. Sugar Skulls

Prom is about dressing up in your dream dress, getting your dream date and dancing the night away! Every girl wants their prom dress to match their style! Sugar Skulls is the embodiment of that! We want customers know we can tailor our corsages to them! Sugar Skulls is created on a black bracelet with a vintage feel and has lavender sweetheart roses, statice, lazer leaves, black feathers, rhinestones,  black beads, black flash ribbon and skull accents.

Create a Prom corsage that matches your personal style! Click below to start now!