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Graduation in Dublin: a bouquet for the leaver, a corsage for the debs
For a school leaver, graduation in Dublin comes in two parts: the Leaving Cert results, published in August, and the debs, the leavers' ball that city schools hold from September to early November. A corsage or buttonhole is for that one evening and comes from the date; a bouquet from the family is a separate gift, chosen for its own moment.
Corsage from the date, bouquet from the family
The debs has been a fixture of Irish school life since the early 1970s, and the custom that goes with it is simple: the date gives the girl a corsage for her wrist and the boy a buttonhole for his lapel. The date brings both, so a bouquet from parents, godparents or friends sits alongside the custom rather than replacing it.
Rural schools tend to hold their debs in August, soon after the results come out, while city schools, Dublin's among them, stretch the season from September into early November. That gap is why a Dublin debs bouquet is really an autumn order, chosen weeks after the results themselves.
For results day, graduation in Dublin usually means a bouquet left at home rather than carried anywhere, so how long it holds matters more than how big it looks. Jumilia suits this: its bud opens up to seven centimetres across, white at the base and pink along the edge, and with fresh water and a cool spot it can hold for close to a fortnight. The 51 Jumilia in Airy Wrapping is built around exactly that flower.
The 25 Mixed Roses in a Box stands on the table as it is, with no vase needed, which suits a kitchen or hallway on a busy results morning. Roses last around a week in a vase. However it travels, how a bouquet copes with a wet Dublin doorstep is worth a thought before the order goes in.
An autumn debs, long after the peonies
In the Netherlands, France and Britain peonies are cut from late April to June, so the European season is long over by an autumn debs. The shape survives even when the flower itself has gone: peony-shaped roses, most often English varieties bred by David Austin, open into the same dense, many-petalled head.
In lavender, that shape is what the 15 Peony Lavender Roses are built on, and a bunch of them reads as a finished bouquet without any peonies at all. Lilies take a different route round the same problem, since they are grown under glass and cut all year, which makes a single-flower bouquet of lilies a safe choice for a debs date set months ahead. Most of them reach Ireland through the Netherlands, the route that keeps cut flowers coming regardless of season.
A small bouquet beside a long debs dress
Lily pollen is the one thing to plan around next to a pale or dark debs dress, since it leaves a stain that is genuinely hard to lift. Once the bloom is fully open, the anthers can be snipped off before the pollen drops, and if a little has already landed on fabric, it comes off by lifting it with sticky tape rather than brushing or rubbing it in.
Size matters too, next to a long dress: a smaller bouquet of lavender spray roses sits comfortably in one hand or in the crook of an elbow, where a large armful would compete with the outfit for attention. A card written in your own words comes free with the order, and balloons and gifts in the cart can be added to the same order.
Graduation flower delivery in Dublin is free within the city centre, and every bouquet is photographed before the courier sets off. Each bouquet's page shows when it can be delivered, and the delivery page covers zones and the rest of the detail. To start choosing, lavender and peony-shaped roses suit the debs evening, a box of roses for the table suits results morning at home, and a single-flower lily bouquet covers a date fixed well in advance.