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New year compositions in Paris: fir for the school Christmas break
Paris's Christmas school holidays, zone C, span both 25 December and 1 January, so new year compositions in Paris chosen for the break stand through both dates. The useful question is not which looks prettiest but which job it needs to do: fir handed over in person, or fir set down once and left where it stands.
Fir to hand over in Paris: a gold box, a bag, a bouquet or a basket
Fir arrives wrapped for a visit in several shapes. A gold box of noble fir is carried the way any gift is carried, and a floral bag of fir has handles, so it is carried like a parcel rather than something that takes both hands. A hand-tied bouquet of fir and berries works the way a flower bouquet does, held by the stems, and a basket stands on its own base without a vase, so it can be set straight down at the door.
Which of the four suits a visit depends on who is meeting the fir at the other end, not on what is tucked inside it. A box or a bag suits someone with a journey still ahead of them, a bouquet suits a short call, and a basket suits a home where it gets put down once and stays. Whether the recipient is checking into a hotel or the order is being placed from another country, the same points about address and timing apply; they're covered under hotel guests, senders abroad and keeping flowers in a heated flat.
Some fir is bought to remain exactly where it's put: a low centrepiece for a dining table or a sideboard, a wreath for a door or a wall. Others take the shape of a tree built from bare Danish fir branches, or a small red fir tree for a shelf or a hallway. None of these move again once they arrive.
Noble fir holds its needles better than most Christmas tree species, so one piece can meet both holidays. Where a centrepiece is built in soaked floral foam, the foam wants watering every day, a light stream over the whole exposed surface, and the piece should never be tipped to check it. Keep it away from radiators and direct sun; more on keeping flowers in a heated flat.
Bento cakes and gift sets, for when fir is only half the present
A bento cake is a small cake, about the size of a palm, in its own cardboard box, with a short greeting written in cream for whoever it's for. Ordered alongside a fir piece, it turns one delivery into two gifts.
A cream cake shouldn't sit at room temperature for more than two hours; it goes somewhere cold as soon as it's unpacked. Where fir alone feels like half a present, New Year gifts add something to open beside it.
New Year corporate gifts in Paris: one order, invoiced to the company
Companies send fir to staff and to the people they work with: one order can carry several presents to several addresses, with delivery charged for each address.
An invoice can be made out to the company and paid by bank transfer, with the paperwork a finance team needs sent on request. For anyone ordering through the season regularly, that can be set up as a standing agreement rather than requested afresh each time. Corporate gifts for the New Year cover exactly this: one order, several recipients.
Each composition is put together to order, and a photo goes to whoever placed it before the courier leaves. Most orders reach their address the same day they're placed; the exact window for a given piece shows on its own page, and the delivery zones and timing page covers new year compositions delivery in Paris for each district.
For a visit, New Year bouquets are handed over in person, and a New Year basket stands without a vase. For a table that won't move again, tabletop arrangements are built to stay put from one holiday to the next. Something to open alongside the fir sits under New Year gifts.