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New Year compositions in London: fir for home, visits and City desks
New Year compositions in London go to three kinds of address: a friend's door, a table at home and an office desk in a tower in the City or Canary Wharf. Someone brings fir when visiting friends, someone else stands it on the Christmas table, and a company sends it to every desk in one order.
Noble fir and berries to carry on a December visit
A visit calls for a format the guest can hold: a bouquet of fir, fir tucked into a bag, or a box. A basket suits anyone who wants flowers sitting alongside the fir rather than instead of it.
Most of these visits happen in the weeks before Christmas, since 25 December is London's main winter celebration. For Russian-speaking friends, fir is more likely to be for New Year on 31 December.
The fir itself is noble fir: blue-green needles that hold on better than many other kinds.
The red berries are winterberry, and they stay red right through winter. Swallowed, they bring on nausea, so where there are small children or a cat in the house, it pays to set the arrangement up out of reach.
A centrepiece for London's Christmas table
A centrepiece or a small tree built from fir branches does not leave with the guest. It goes on the Christmas table and stays there through the holidays, from the first visit to the last.
Noble fir branches are stiff enough to hold their shape and their needles well, though a few will still drop onto the table over the days it stands there.
Where the fir sits in floral foam, water it daily across the whole surface, and keep it away from radiators. From October to April, heating can make London flats dry, which is worth bearing in mind wherever a London flat in radiator season holds any cut greenery.
For the table itself, tabletop arrangements are built to stand through the season rather than be carried anywhere.
One order for a team in the City or Canary Wharf
One order can cover several addresses at once, a gift for each desk in a team spread across a tower in the City or Canary Wharf, with delivery worked out separately for each address.
An office delivery needs the company name and the floor. Where the building runs a pass system, the gift goes through reception instead, and whoever sent it is told who accepted it.
Companies are invoiced to the business, with paperwork available on request, and a regular order can be set up on a standing agreement rather than booked fresh each time.
Alongside the fir, a bento cake with a short message piped in cream makes a gift for a desk or a small team on its own. The florist sends a photo before the courier sets off, and most orders reach their address the same day they are placed, with the exact timing shown on the product page. Deliveries across the centre are free, and other areas are set out under delivery across London.
Look at New Year corporate gifts for the office order itself, or New Year gifts for something to send alongside the fir.
To start, pick a table piece for home, a bouquet for a visit, or the corporate section for a whole team.