The Gift Exchange

The giving of flowers has been a unique tradition that started to become commonly practiced hundreds of years ago. During the Victorian Era, a time when people typically didn’t believe in expressing their emotions, the language of flowers (floriography) and the meaning behind which flowers they sent became a new form of expression. Soon, many factors went into giving meaning to the gift. Color, size, condition, and pairing one flower with another could alter that meaning altogether. Even the way the flowers were presented and received meant something very specific, down to which hand was used to do the giving. These meanings ranged anywhere from hateful tactics, to a show of love and devotion without ever having to say a word.

Over time, giving flowers has become quite common, but the language of each flower given has slowly disappeared. Giving flowers has now typically become something thoughtful given from the heart- no matter which flowers are used in the arrangements.

The meanings of individual flowers can be very interesting though. For example, one of GiftTree’s fall floral arrangements, Fall’s Finest Bouquet, includes chrysanthemums, roses, carnations, and alstromeria.

CHRYSANTHEMUM: Cheerfulness
ROSE: Love, passion
CARNATION, RED: Admiration
ALSTROMERIA: Wealth

It turns out that the symbolism behind the bouquet is truly as beautiful as it looks. This seems to be the perfect gift to express a deep desire and love that you have for someone.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.