Recently, I had the privilege of partnering with Porta Nova, using their luxury red rose, Red Naomi to bring to life an interactive, passionate Valentine's Day window. The task demanded that I enhance awareness towards Red Naomi roses as we gear up to Valentine's season, interactive window was aimed towards attracting passers-by, with an intent to encourage them to purchase saleable pieces, pre-designed for them.
This design showcases the luxurious touch of the Red Naomi, a justification of high prices experienced by clients, and a showcase of the value thereof. Bonus tip, I will also shed light on Dragobete, a day of love exclusive to Romanians.
Beautiful Window Display Designs With Porta Nova Red Naomi
Primarily, the goal was to attract passers-by, to take a moment and enjoy a picture opportunity in front of the flower shop display. Drawing inspiration from the month of love, I created love hearts out of Cornus ‘Alba Sibirica’, decorated with beautiful Porta Nova Red Naomi roses.
Preferably, I considered having a large range of decorations celebrating love in different dimensions for all kinds of budgets. Should our clients fall in love at first sight with some display decorations, they should also be able to buy them. I accepted the challenge made by Porta Nova with open arms because these gorgeous roses with velvety petals are the manifest of pure love, and I had to come up with something to complement them. My first thought was to create four 3D hearts – the largest one measuring 150 cm, the middle one 100 cm, and two small ones measuring 45 cm.
The hearts were structured on a metal frame made of a 6 mm concrete iron bar. I kicked off by fastening chicken wire on the structure, after which I tied the cornus branches with necklaces. I used 1,450 cornus and 300 Porta Nova Red Naomi Supra and Unica roses for this display.
I imagined a set up in front of the large 150 cm heart with a table and two chairs where people can sit and take photos. Nice romantic scenery where everyone is invited to take pictures that they can then tag Floraria Anthurium and Porta Nova when posting on social media. Around the table will be an arrangement in the shape of a circle representing eternity. In the center of the table is a 3D heart made of roses. Both designs are inspired by eternal love.
A Little Garden of Rose Red Naomi
To highlight the entrance to the flower shop, I thought of a 'little garden' of rose Red Naomi, decorated with hearts of binding wire, wool, and hypericum that can be sold individually. For these, I used 16 cm high test tubes, and for the roses to hydrate sufficiently, I cut them shorter to about 20 cm. The tubes must be checked daily and filled with water as needed.
Among the roses, I used moss and other decorations. With the main goal being to attract customers and up sales, I made various arrangements of Red Naomi roses and placed them inside the window display. One great thing about this display is that it can still be used next year because of how nicely the Cornus branches dry.
Valentine's Day & Dragobete Celebrations in Romania
Romanians are lucky enough to celebrate love twice in the same month. These days are Valentine’s Day celebrated on February 14th and Dragobete which is the traditional Romanian lovers’ day marked on February 24th. In Romania Dragobete and Valentine’s Day had to learn to co-exist. Some people celebrate Dragobete others Valentine’s Day. The main difference is the fact that Dragobete is also celebrated by single people. February is indeed the 'Month of Love'.
I know you are wondering, what exactly is the Dragobete? In Romanian mythology, Dragobete was a young god, the patron saint of love, often associated with Roman mythology’s Cupid and Greek mythology’s Eros. He was known not to interfere in the affairs of humans but was instead famous for reminding people to never stop celebrating love. Dragobete was half human (son of Dochia) half angel, beautiful and immortal. His image is associated with the arrival of spring.
He is the saint patron of birds, and the holiday is linked to the rebirth of nature. Local boys can be seen wearing special clothing while offering little flower bouquets to girls, plus a kiss. At night, they used to make bonfires and sit around them and chat until morning.
It was a great honor to bring the interactive Valentine's Day window, using the exquisite red roses, Porta Nova Red Naomi. As we gear up to the month of love, it is imperative to express and show love to those we value, through the power of flowers we can communicate our deepest sentiments and passion.
The Video Tutorial
Do watch my 1-minute tutorial YouTube video as well, in which I fast-forward create my heart of roses.
Happy Valentine's Day and celebrate it with a bouquet of Rose Red Naomi!
Photos and video by @Claudia Tararache.