Easter moves. Some years it falls in late March with snow still on the ground, other years in mid-April with the first tulips already up on Mount Royal. In Montreal that difference is the whole mood of the weekend, and it should change what you send.
Either way, Easter falls in the gentlest floral window of the year, when the colours soften and the first spring stems arrive.
What we work with at Easter
- Tulips. The most Easter flower there is, in every colour. They keep growing in the vase and lean toward the light, which is normal. Cold water, and no direct sun.
- Ranunculus, when we can find beautiful ones. Layered petals, soft colours, and a steadier vase life than tulips.
- Calla lilies. Sculptural and calm, and they photograph beautifully on a set table. A good choice when you want spring without pastel.
- Spray roses, branched and carrying several blooms on one stem. They open in sequence, so the arrangement keeps changing through the long weekend.
- Lisianthus, for the softness of a garden bouquet without the fragility.
For the brunch table
Easter is a table holiday, and the table has its rules.
Keep it low. Under about twenty-five centimetres, so people can see one another. A tall arrangement on a long family table means half the room talking around it. Our low centrepieces are built to that height already.
Keep it unscented. Fragrance and food share a table badly. Scent belongs in the hallway, not beside the meal. Write “for the table” in the order notes and we keep it clean.
Choose stems that hold. An Easter table is often set the evening before and photographed the following afternoon. Ranunculus, tulips and calla lilies all look as good on Sunday as they did on Saturday night.
Pastels are the convention, and they work: blush, butter yellow, soft lavender, mint. But a table of bright coral and hot pink is a perfectly good decision if the family is loud, and it photographs better.
If you are the guest
Send it in a vase. Your host is cooking for twelve and does not have a free hand, let alone a spare vase. A wrapped bouquet handed over at the door becomes a small problem rather than a gift.
Better still, choose the day before as your delivery date. It arrives when the house is calm, it is already arranged when the guests appear, and your host gets to enjoy it rather than deal with it.
Easter and Passover often overlap
In Montreal the two frequently fall within days of each other, and plenty of families mark both. If you are sending to a Seder rather than an Easter brunch, the considerations differ: low arrangements again, but delivered before the holiday begins, and in a vase with the water full.
Our guide to Passover flowers covers that side of the week.
Around the long weekend
Good Friday and Easter Monday change everyone's schedule, including ours and including office buildings. If you are sending anywhere other than a home, make sure someone will be there to receive it.
Choosing a delivery date by the Wednesday is wise. Spring flowers are abundant, so this is not about scarcity. It is about a weekend when half the city is on the road.
For Easter
It all happens in the order: choose the arrangement, pick the delivery date, and say in the notes whether it is for a table or for a host. We compose it accordingly, in a vase, ready to be set down.
Discover our Easter collection, our spring flowers and our low centrepieces, each arranged by hand in our workshop on the day it is delivered, in Montreal, Laval and on the South Shore.
