### Bouquets in kraft paper in Bali: the wrap is a structure A sheet of brown paper looks like the cheapest thing in the workshop. It is also the packaging that shows a florist's hands most plainly, because it holds no shape of its own and every fold in it was put there on purpose. Watch someone build one and the sequence never changes. #### How the collar is made The stems are tied first, in a spiral, and the binding point is set before any paper comes near them. Only then do the sheets go on, one at a time, each rotated slightly against the one beneath it, so the finished collar has depth instead of a single flat edge. Every sheet gets a crease near the binding point. That crease is what makes the paper stand up and hold its angle instead of flopping outward under its own weight. It is also the reason a hand wrapped bouquet keeps its shape on a three hour drive to a villa, while a rolled cone gives up in the first ten minutes. The last decision is how high the paper rises above the flowers. About a hand's width reads as a frame. Much more than that and the bouquet becomes a parcel with something growing out of it, which is the commonest fault in a rushed wrap anywhere. Humidity changes the folding here. Air stays damp all year, kraft draws moisture out of it and softens, so the sheets go on tighter and the crease sits closer to the tie than it would in a dry climate. Worth checking before the courier leaves: - Creases running cleanly from the tie outward, with no crushed bunching at the bottom. - No dark water marks wicking up the paper from inside. - Stems ending in a sleeve or a wet wrap rather than sitting damp against bare kraft. - The bouquet standing on its own stem ends without leaning, which also tells you the tie is at the right height. #### Getting it to the address dry Between November and March the rain arrives on its own schedule, so we send an extra outer layer with every kraft bouquet and the courier removes it at the door. Nothing about that is careless, and it is the only reliable way to hand over dry paper in the wet months. Seminyak, Canggu and Sanur sit in a 90 to 150 minute window. Uluwatu, Tabanan and remote villas take 3 to 4 hours, which is exactly where the outer layer earns its place, since the longer the drive the more moisture the paper has time to absorb. Kuta, Legian, Berawa, Jimbaran, Nusa Dua and Ubud fall between the two depending on the address. Above 30 °C we move to firm wrapping and pack a cooling element. Kraft handles that better than film does, because it breathes and does not collect condensation on the inside. Imported roses at 60 to 90 cm sit in a kraft collar comfortably, while Ecuadorian stems at up to 120 cm need the paper to rise higher or the proportion breaks. Macrophylla hydrangea picks up the undertone of warm kraft and reads pinker than it does on grey. We work 9 AM to 10 PM, orders start at 650000 IDR, and payment goes through QRIS, GoPay, OVO, DANA or cash to the courier. > "One sharp fold across the front and the bouquet is no longer new. That is the whole reason we carry a second layer through the wet season." > JFLOO florist Unwrap it fully at home rather than trimming the bottom of the paper and dropping the whole thing into a vase. Kraft draws water up the inside of the container and starts breaking down against the stems within a day or two, and the bouquets that last longest are the ones somebody opened in the first few minutes.