Over the past two weeks we’ve been participating in a flower movement that’s sweeping the globe… The Lonely Bouquet
The Lonely Bouquet is the brainchild of Emily from Fleuropean. She picks garden flowers/forages from nature, arranges the flowers in a recycled glass jar, attaches a “take me” tag, and leaves them around for unexpecting passersby. This year she designated June 30th as (inter)National Lonely Bouquet Day so others around the globe could partake in the fun.
So, when the Chapel Designers heard about Emily’s mission via Botanical Brouhaha we immediately jumped onboard! Check out the end of this post for links to the other Chapel Designers journeys with The Lonely Bouquet.
All of the images in this blog post are bouquets I left around southern Wisconsin to brighten someones day. We left flowers on a bench on Main Street in Pardeeville, on a pile of softener salt at a gas station in Westport and a recycling container on the capitol square in Madison. The printed tags read “Take Me! Adopt me, please! I’m all alone and looking for a new home… perhaps I can live with you or a loved one?”
During this whole process I realized a few things. First, it was absolutely astounding to me the number of people who walked right past a gorgeous bouquet of flowers and didn’t even notice! It made me realize that far too often we’re absorbed in our own world and don’t take time to appreciate the beauty around us. Second, it shocked me how many people who DID notice it, took the time to read the tag, then didn’t take it home! One lady even snapped a photo then walked away! I was talking to a friend about it. Her thought was that people are just skeptical of all things “free”. The idea that people think that way made me more sad than people not even noticing.
Every bouquet we left out eventually did find a home. The little “Take Me” tag also says “Tell our flower friends where we ended up!” along with The Lonely Bouquet facebook page and our email address. We heard back from two people who adopted our bouquets.
Chrissy let us know that she found the bouquet below and gave it a good home (with an adorable pup!).
Sandra (pictured below) was nice enough to foster this bouquet for a bit until she passed it on to a server at The Old Fashioned, downtown Madison. Another person spreading the love! That’s the spirit!
This was such a rewarding experience. I encourage you to try it!
And, as promised, go check out what some of the other Chapel Designers did with their Lonely Bouquets!
