A graduation bouquet is not really about the flowers. It is about the photograph, the one that ends up framed on a parent's shelf for the next twenty years. That changes how you should choose it.
Convocation season in Montreal runs from late May through June, across McGill, Concordia, Université de Montréal, UQAM, HEC and Polytechnique, plus the CEGEPs and high schools. It is one of our favourite stretches of the year, and here is what it has taught us.
Choose for the camera, not the room
Graduates wear black. Almost every photograph will be a black gown, a face, and whatever you handed them thirty seconds earlier. That is a strong background, and it guides the colours beautifully.
| Photographs beautifully | White, cream, sunny yellow, coral, bright pink, peach. Anything pale reads clearly against black and lifts the face. |
| Disappears | Deep burgundy, dark purple, navy tones. They go quiet against a black gown and fade in indoor light. |
| Worth asking for | A few stems in the school's colour, tucked into a mostly pale bouquet. McGill red in a white arrangement is the classic version. Write the colour in the order notes and we work it in. |
Size it to be carried
The graduate will hold this bouquet for an hour, in a crowd, while hugging people and posing. A large arrangement becomes a burden by the third photograph.
Send a bouquet they can hold in one arm, wrapped rather than in a vase. If you want to make a bigger gesture, do it in two parts: something carryable at the ceremony, and something larger waiting at home or at the restaurant afterwards.
A detail worth stealing
A father came in last June for his daughter graduating from McGill. We built a bouquet of white blooms and tucked in a few McGill-red roses. He told us afterwards that it was the red ones she noticed, and the ones that made the photograph hers rather than generic.
What is in season in late May and June
Convocation falls in one of the best floral windows of the Montreal year, which works in your favour.
- Peonies arrive from Quebec growers in early June and last about three weeks. If the date falls in that window, they are the most beautiful thing we can put in your hands.
- Roses in white, cream or peach are available all season and hold up through a long day of being carried.
- Calla lilies photograph exceptionally well. Their shape reads clearly even in a crowded frame.
- Hydrangeas look magnificent but drink heavily and wilt out of water. Beautiful for the table at home, less so for a three-hour ceremony.
Practical timing
Choose the delivery date at checkout. Late May and June are the busiest floral weeks of the Montreal year, and having your date in hand lets us plan the flowers around it. If the convocation date is known in March, place the order in March.
Decide between delivery and hand-off. Most people collect the bouquet themselves and present it in person, which is the better moment. Delivery makes more sense for the celebration afterwards, or when you cannot attend.
Keep it out of the car. A June afternoon in a parked car will tire a bouquet in under an hour. If you are collecting in the morning for an afternoon ceremony, keep it indoors and in water until you leave.
What about the flowers afterwards?
A graduation bouquet has an afterlife that most gifts do not. Roses and craspedia both dry beautifully: hang them upside down in a dark, dry, airy place for two to three weeks, and a few stems of the bouquet become a keepsake.
If you want it to survive the week first, our guide to cut flower care covers the first ten minutes, which matter more than everything after.
Order for convocation
It all happens in the order: choose the bouquet, pick the delivery date, and name the school and its colours in the order notes. We build it here on the morning it goes out. If there is something particular you would like, write to us through our contact page and we will do our best.
Discover our graduation bouquets, our congratulations collection and our roses, each arranged by hand in our workshop on the day it is delivered, in Montreal, Laval and on the South Shore.
