Wedding Flowers - from a happy couple: Sarah & Joseph

I just wanted to let you know that whenever anyone asked me where I got my roses I told them rose source! I am very glad that I took the "risk" of ordering them with you! I will continue to recommend you to anyone that is looking into buying online!

Thank you again!

Sincerely,

Sarah & Joseph

Another Happy Customer´s Testimonial

I would like thank you for all of your efficient customer service, prompt delivery & absolutely Gorgeous Quality Roses! They arrived without a hitch as you had promised by Wednesday with FedEx. It took no time at all to process the 100 roses as your company had stripped away most of the thorns. We did not have enough refrigerated space to store them, so I had to place the buckets of flowers on my lanai where it was cool. To my complete amazement & joy, not one of the roses had blown by Saturday but rather had opened to perfection! Excellent Quality Roses!!
My niece requested that I arrange for all of her wedding flowers, secure I was up to the task as I had worked for a few years at a floral shop after retiring from a career in medicine. They had a beautiful church wedding & Renaissance style reception outdoors. Her grandmother in Minnesota graced us by shipping to us the most beautiful extra large dried hydrangeas, vines of dried bittersweet, orange & white pumpkins to work with as our base. As we reside in Florida our yards were filled with a bounty of greenery like ferns, ivy, berry vines, African iris leaves, etc that I used to add to the vase arrangements. The vibrant Mariana roses set off the hydrangeas, ivy & greenery and matched perfectly with the orange berries used in arrangements and the orange pumpkins that were displayed. Also the Mariana’s & green swatch of hydrangea looked stylish with the copper wire I had chosen to wrap all of the groomsmen & fathers boutonnieres with.
Your follow up efficiency & phone call letting me know my order request for the very fragrant Arianna roses were able to be filled & getting my order processed to satisfaction was greatly appreciated. I arranged a dozen of the wonderfully fragrant Arianna roses inside a very large dried green hydrangea for the bridal bouquet and added a dozen silk rose buds with Swarovski crystals centered in them to add a little bling! It was very easy to secure the stems with silk ribbon & pearl pins as all the stems were very straight, unlike some roses I have worked with in the past. The bride was delighted with it! By the way, it also dried beautifully. I was able to preserve it for her several days after the wedding and your roses remain as beautiful as her wedding day with of course some discoloration from the preservative. The rest of the roses were used in combination for all of the 5 bridesmaid’s bouquets, church isles & reception flowers along with the dried hydrangea & ivy streamers. Again your roses held up perfectly, even made up days in advance and placed in water tubes. I am attaching some photos of your Wonderful Roses!!
Carla, I commend you for all of your excellent customer service and RoseSource.com quality products that helped me take pride in my labor of love on a budget. I received many compliments which I must pass on to you & RoseSource.com for providing me with such a quality product to work with. I have recommended RoseSource.com to family & friends and of course will return myself when the need for flowers in bulk arises again.

Sincerely,

Darlene
Lady Leopard Designs
Ocala, FL

Valentine's Day: A History in Flowers

As a holiday recognized by couples and singles throughout the world, Valentine's Day has many different meanings to a variety of people. Valentine’s Day was originally named for Saint Valentine, a Roman Priest who defied Emperor Claudius II's decree that his soldiers could not marry thus making them better solders. Valentine preformed secret marriages, none-the-less, and was imprisoned for his treason. There he is said to have fallen in love with the jailer’s daughter, and he wrote her many love notes signed “Your Valentine”, hence the popular endearment known today.
As far as the actual day picked to celebrate the Valentine's Day Holiday, this has several origins. One explanation is that the Christian Church picked February 14th as a direct jab towards the pagan holiday of Lupercalia which celebrates the welcoming of spring. There was a Fertility Festival and a ritual where all the single woman of the village put their names into a hat and the bachelors of the village had to fish out one name per man. These names would be drawn together for the year in a courting ritual to try and make a love match. These couples, if they worked out, were also said to be more fertile together. The celebration of Lupercalia is what makes flowers an acceptable and cherished gift by many men and women today.
During the season there were many different varieties of flowers to choose from as a compliment to a Valentine's Day love note. Mostly, these include a variety of roses. Roses are an overarching symbol of affection and each color represents a different spectrum and stepping stone in a blossoming relationship. Given as a gift in celebration of a fertile year, both physically and emotionally, the rose connects back to Lupercalia in its different forms of expression. Just as the couples of the Lupercalia love match were getting to know one another during the blooming season, so can modern day couples get to know one another by showing their ever-growing affection through an assortment of rose choices.
This Valentine's Day don't just visit a Hallmark store and grab a trite card, learn from the fertile past and truly celebrate the bond you have with each other. By taking the time to both research and handpick through an assortment of different rose colors and varieties all with special meanings, you will show your loved one the devotion and time honored classiness that Roman's expressed in years past.
Visit the RoseSource.com Rose Gallery to see our wide selection of rose colors and varieties.

RoseSource.com: MOVING FORWARD WITH OUR SUPPORT TO THE COMMUNITY

Since our first visit to the Taxoalo community, RoseSource.com has seen and felt the issues of the people. We have decided to address their problems the best way we know how and to the best of our capabilities. Our visits have accumulated into a deeper understanding of the communities needs, which we've taken to the outlaying communities by seeking the support of the people in Quito as well as other organizations so they may better understand this issue. At RoseSource.com we are committed to continue educating communities and obtaining the support needed to improve the living conditions of this community in Ecuador. Which is why during the holiday season, when caring and giving are most important, we propose to help those in need. By buying from RoseSource.com you will be acknowledging and helping the people in Taxoalo.

For every flower you buy during the Valentine's Day Season of 2009, RoseSource.com will donate US$ 0.02 cents to the Taxoalo community. We are seeking the support from our American customers and friends, we repeat, per each stem bought for St. Valentine’s Day at RoseSource.com, by typing in the code RS-TAXOALO with your order before signing out, RoseSource.com will donate funds to the Taxoalo community. Our purpose in donating is to create a fund to help improve the school’s sanitary infrastructure and to start a development project aimed to achieve the community’s self-sustainability. Every flower bought can bring us closer to our ultimate goal of helping these people. We’ve already received an immediate, from the heart response from a young Ecuadorian couple, Santiago Chacon and his wife. Every year they donate gifts and candies to the boys and girls of the poorest rural areas of Ecuador.

On Sunday, December 14, 2008, thanks to their support, we were able to deliver 550 gifts consisting of bags of treats, blankets and food to the children of Taxoalo and the surrounding communities.

Let's not let our efforts and the compassion derived from our actions, stop this New Year. Take the time to donate and help with RoseSource.com, you won't regret it.

RoseSource.com… Getting involved with the community in Ecuador

Her name is Noemí, she is 20 years old and she is from Taxoaló, an indigenous community settled at the Western Andes in Ecuador, close to the town of Sigchos at 3 hours from the capital city Quito.

She is the oldest of 8 kids and her parents just became 45 years old. She left her town when she was 12 years seeking for better days in the big city unfortunately her first experience was not a good one, victim of abuse and mistreated for over 5 years.

At the age of 17 she decided to change her life. I believe fate brought her into my house looking for a job, eager to move forward and achieve her goals. Since that very moment, both my family and I have supported her to study and obtain her diploma as a dressmaker.

The day of her graduation we were invited over to her house, a humble place to celebrate along with her family and neighbors, her important achievement… to finish school and become the first one in her family to have access to the “opportunities” offered by the Western world.

What a wonderful trip… for three hours we were surrounded by the most amazing landscapes of the Ecuadorian Andes, breathtaking canyons and rivers, green mountains where the farmers work the land. When I arrived along with my wife and my two little kids we were overwhelmed by the extreme poverty Noemi’s family live in as well as all the members of the community and the region.

RoseSource.com deeply concerned with this reality in Ecuador, decided to bring the Christmas Spirit and happiness especially to the kids of the area… toys, candies and clothing were handed out among the farmers and their families.

We want to continue and commit our efforts and those of our customers to promote development programs as well as to generate opportunities aiming to improve Noemi’s family living conditions as well as the community’s.

This is our first approach to this community, we will keep you updated of our progress and in due time we would ask our customers for their support to this noble cause. You can never start to imagine how hard their life is… LET’S HELP THEM!!!!!!

Rafael Pacheco

President

RoseSource.com

For more pictures please go to this link.

Frequent Asked Questions

How to choose what flowers to use?

Flowers should be picked according to your wedding colors, but it does not necessarily mean that you have to match the flowers' color to the dresses.

Flowers should be complimentary and contrast nicely.

Which flowers go with certain themes?

Most flowers can be use with multiple themes; a theme is often communicated by what surrounds your flowers - linens, containers, etc. - rather than by the flowers themselves.

Are flowers available seasonally or year-round?

Currently, seasonality is less of an issue since flowers are grown all over the world. Roses are available year-round. Once you have made your selection, ask our experts if seasonality would be an issue for your flowers.

How is the delivery process?

Being a Farm-direct company, once you place your order our farms start working on it and the flowers are transported by FedEx from Ecuador directly to your door, avoiding changes in the flowers' temperature and assuring the freshness and quality of our flowers.

What should I do when the flowers arrive?

As soon as you get the flowers, cut the stems at an angle and place them in lukewarm water and add flower food. Let them settle and re-hydrate for at least 8 hours before you start working on your arrangements. Place them in a cool place (i.e laundry room or basement) and away from direct sunlight.

Do-it-Yourself

Have you ever dreamed of a wedding surrounded with thousands of flowers? Well, it has never been easier; all you need is a little imagination and our astonishing farm direct flowers… I am talking about do-it-yourself arrangements.

The first step is to choose the wedding colors this will help you find the flowers that will coordinate and complement your wedding attire.

Useful Hint: Always choose flowers in various sizes and shapes. You want shapes that are different yet still complement each other.
This same principle applies to color. A simple round bouquet can be used for a bridal bouquet or a bridesmaid bouquet.

Choose larger flowers for your bouquet like roses, lilies and carnations. Make sure you order plenty; you can always use the extra flowers for corsages, the toss away bouquet, boutonnieres, etc. Make sure to include greenery and fillers not only are they part of your bouquet’s background but also they come handy to fill in the gaps and your bouquet will appear full.

Always have plenty of ribbon, lace or beads as well as a hot glue gun and/or glue sticks to attach the ribbons and floral wire. You will need a bouquet holder for each bouquet you will make, as well as a stand to place your bouquet while you are arranging the flowers.

First place your bouquet holder in the stand. Place the flowers against the holder and visualize how you want to put the flowers. Place the flowers next to each other and see how they look together. Start cutting your flower stems off the bushes. Start at six inches. It is better to cut them too long than too short.

Now proceed to place four of the main flowers you have chosen for your bouquet, place them along the outer edges of the holder, also place the greenery behind each of these flowers (like a cross shape), take one large flower and place it in the middle of the holder, right in the center.

Now you can decide which flowers to use next. Keep using your main flowers and arrange them around the center into a square, they should form an angle toward the four cross flowers and a bit below the center flower. It should look like a three- layered bouquet. Keep filling around the layers by placing them on top of the first four flowers of the cross. Cut them a little shorter and make sure they are not covering the first layer. You can also add ribbon or beads around the holder.

These simple steps on how to make your own bouquets and floral arrangements will save you money on your wedding. It just take the right flowers and your imagination…