Christening in Rome

Christening in Rome: soft-coloured flowers for the family and the table

If the christening in Rome continues at a restaurant afterwards, the delivery time is agreed with the manager in advance, so the bouquet arrives right for the moment — the dessert or the toast. The section leans toward lavender, pink and pale blue, so the choice here usually comes down to shape and to how long the flowers will last once everyone gets home.

Christening flowers: soft colours and stems that last

Lavender runs through most of the section: lavender spray roses, the peony-shaped Peony Lavender Roses, the bouquet Lavender Smoothie and Blue Field pick up the same cool tone, and the rose-and-dianthus bouquet Blash softens it with pink.

Some of these flowers are simply built to outlast the party. Dianthus, mixed alstroemeria and pink chrysanthemums usually hold in a vase for two to three weeks, while roses manage closer to a week, sometimes stretching to ten days with fresh water and a trim. On a chrysanthemum the leaves tend to yellow before the flower does; pull them off and the bloom carries on unaffected.

One thing worth knowing if a guest is coming from France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Poland, Hungary or Croatia: in those countries a large chrysanthemum is a funeral flower, kept well away from celebrations. Anyone travelling from one of them will likely feel more at ease with roses or dianthus in the bouquet than with a chrysanthemum-heavy one.

A box changes the routine at home. The 25 Mixed Roses in a Box arrive with their stems already set in floral foam, so no vase is needed. Just water the foam daily with a thin stream over its whole surface, and never tip the box on its side.

A hand-tied bouquet, if the florist has gathered the stems into a spiral, will stand on a table on its own: the stems all meet at one point roughly a palm's width below the flower heads, which is what keeps it upright without help.

For a fuller, more generous shape, 51 Jumilia in Airy Wrapping and 51 Matiola in Jute both come as bigger bunches. Jumilia opens into blooms up to seven centimetres across, white at the base and edged in pink, while stock, the linear flower in Matiola in Jute, gives the whole arrangement its height and its outline.

Christening flowers delivery: timing, card and extras

Ordering christening flowers delivery in Rome for a set date and time works in any zone, and the earlier the order goes in, the more slots there still are to choose from.

Before the courier leaves, a photo of the finished bouquet goes to the sender, and any change is made at that point. If one of the flowers named above is out of reach that week, the florist swaps it for something close in tone and price, and the swap shows in the photo. A card with a short text is included free, and a balloon, sweets, a soft toy or a vase can be added to the order as a gift to go with the bouquet.

Payment is by Visa or Mastercard, and the total shown in the cart is final. Delivery in the centre is free, and the exact timing for any bouquet is shown on its own page rather than promised in the text; the full delivery terms cover every zone.

A first order is easiest to start from the palette: pale single-variety bouquets keep the choice to one flower, while boxed arrangements suit a table that will stay set for the rest of the day. Either way, the delivery time and the card text can still be settled with the florist before the courier leaves.