Funktionart, Shop 16b Cloisters Arcade, 200 St.Georges Terrace, Perth, Western Australia 6000 t: 9322 1799 e: funktionart@funktionart.com
Valentine's Day is just around the corner and this year it falls on a Sunday. Funktionart Florist Perth will be making deliveries all over Perth on the day, but it is important to place your order early so as to avoid disappointment.
You can order a number ways - one is to go through our online store where you can order any of our great products including flower arrangements, roses, handmade soaps, scented soy wax candles, teddy bears and chocolates. If you prefer to talk to a florist about your needs then call us on (08) 9322 1799.
We also have some special Valentine's Day packages available - our Valentine?s Flyer can be downloaded here.
Every florist will tell you that their briskest trade is on and around 14 February. So, what has the martyrdom of a 3rd century Roman priest to do with romantic love and why do we celebrate his death with the gift of flowers and chocolates? The answer is a combination of chance events.
The most commonly believed story is that of a Roman priest called Valentine who secretly married soldiers to their sweet-hearts against the will of the emperor. He was subsequently put to death, but no before he wrote a note to his own sweet-heart signed ?you Valentine?. This story, while romantic, is undoubtedly apocryphal, but there may be a kernel of truth.
The Catholic Church recognises numerous martyrs called Valentine. Under 14 February a saint named Valentine is listed as martyred in Africa. By coincidence the Ancient Romans celebrated a fertility festival known as Lupercalia between 13 and 15 February. It is quite likely that in an effort to Christianise Lupercalia the Church set a commemorative feast on that date - the feast of St.Valentine.
However, while fertility and Valentine were now linked there appears to be no reference to romantic love or sentiment until the 14th Century when Geoffrey Chaucer, in a Parlement of Foules:
'For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.
What is certain, given the time of year that birds in the Northern Hemisphere mate, is that Chaucer wasn't referring to our Valentine, however, it seems to have stuck. Valentine's Day is mentioned by Charles d'Orléans in a letter sent from the Tower of London in 1415 and by Shakespeare in Hamlet in 1600.
By the late 18th Century the practice of sending a Valentine among the more leisurely classes was well established and by the mid-19th Century the first mass produced paper Valentines were being made.
The modern popularity of Valentine's Day has seen estimates of 1 billion Valentines sent each year world-wide and, since the mid-20th Century the gift of flowers, chocolates and cards between lovers.
1 January - Happy New Year from the staff Perth Florist Funktionart
We say it every year, but hasn't this year flown by. This is only our first full calendar year in business and it has been frantic. We have met some lovely people and had some interesting functions and lovely weddings to provide flowers and decorations for.
Christmas is approaching fast and I know that if you are anything like me you have been too busy to get to the shops so far. It is fortunate that you are here on the Funktionart web site, because we have gifts and hampers to suit every taste and every budget. Have a look at our teddies, soy wax candles and hand made soaps. These make great stocking stuffers and can even be part of a custom basket.
Like our beautiful flowers all gifts can be delivered to any suburb in Perth.
We have just started stocking Soy Wax candles. These beautifully scented candles available in Coconut Lime, Vanilla, White Tea, French Pear and Fig Melon are made from a renewable resource and unlike paraffin candles can be cleaned up with soap and water. Check them out here.
The advantages of soy candles from the manufacturers web site:
We have some new products in store that we are sure you are going to love. We have some of the most adorable soft toys and a new range of hand made soaps. The soft toys start at just $12 for the cutest teddy bear you have ever seen and the soaps, including fragrances like frangipani are $3 per bar.
We have also added our Christmas Hampers to our front page. Our Christmas catalogue can be downloaded in pdf format. It contains gift baskets for every budget and every taste. Ideal as a gift for family, friends, colleagues or clients to spread some festive cheer!
A couple of months ago we ran a small promotion - free chocolates to customers who mentioned our website. Well for the month of November we are giving away chocolates again. Just mention our web page and particularly the blog. Oh, and don't forget Christmas is just around the corner and we will our festive catalogue on our website soon, full of Christmas flowers and tasty gourmet hampers.
At Funktionart Florist Perth we put a great deal of time, care and attention into arranging your flowers. As you know we only use the freshest flowers and we have a range of floral designs. Our experienced florists can help you choose the perfect flowers for any occasion. Did you know that flowers and colours have particular meanings? Listed below are a few examples of the meaning of flowers:
The meaning behind colour
The meaning behind flowers
Sometimes you want a flower arrangement that is really unique, something that is truly creative. While we put a lot of care and attention into each of our arrangements we have added something to our online store called Florist's Choice. By choosing this option you are allowing our florists to make maxiumum use of their creative skills and select flowers that are perfectly suited to your needs. Naturally, like all of our products, we offer flower delivery throughout Perth and the suburbs. Surprise your loved ones with something truly unique from a Perth florist with a difference.
Even though we promise the freshest flowers in the Perth CBD how you care for your floral gift will effect the amount of time your blooms last for. Below are some tips to get keep your fresh flowers alive longer:
The best way to ensure that your flowers last is to buy them from a specialist florist - and where better than Perth's freshest florist...Funktionart.
With the wind and rain we have been having it the last couple of days it may seem a little premature to be thinking about summer, let alone Christmas, but it is just around the corner, relatively speaking.
It is never too early to start thinking about gifts and Funktionart has a large selection to choose from. For example Mor beauty products, glassware, candles and gifts for children. Hampers are always a favourite at Christmas and we have a great range to choose from. These make great gifts for friends and clients. All of our hampers and gift baskets can be delivered in Perth, around Australia or Internationally. We are able to customise our hampers so they are guaranteed to delight.
I suppose it is true of every aspect of modern life, but being a generalist is so much better than a specialist. Take this website for example. Sure, floristry is a skill, but running a business is a whole lot more than arranging flowers. Putting aside the other aspects of running a business having the skills to build and develop a website is certainly handy. I like the challenge and the mental exercise, although all too often it seems to be a repetitive task when it is one aspect of each page that requires tweaking. I guess I should learn php so that I can create dynamic content. Now that would be a great skill set florist and php programmer.
Putting all that aside, regular visitors to Funktionart's Perth online flower store, will notice that the size selection for our products has disappeared and been replaced with a 'from' price and a button. This button will take you to our web store. We wanted a tighter integration without losing the feel of the web site. We hope you like it. Oh, and we have added support for payments through Pay Pal. Credit Card processing is coming soon.
I won't deny that I a fan of Twitter. Recently it has been hard to escape in the media what with certain celebrities aleging that they have received death threats and its role in the suppressed uprising in Iran. I've been using it for over a year now since before most people had heard of it. I tend to be an early adopter. For those not in the know the idea is that you create account and then 'follow' other people. Each post to Twitter has to be less than 140 characters - it originally had symbiosis with mobile phones. The idea being that you could tweet something like 'I am at Exomod Mount Lawley having coffee' and all of your Twitter friends could meet you there. It expanded its scope rather and now people have staggering numbers of followers, often people they have never met. It is a lot of fun - like a conversation between thousands of people you drift in and out of. Normally when you are meant to be doing something worthwhile. But what has this got to do with Florists?
Well, first of all, if you are using Twitter then you can follow Funktionart. Secondly, like all Internet technologies, business like to try to use it to make money. This is all well and good, but I am not convinced that Twitter is what some businesses think it is. People like to follow celebrities or their friends. They are not likely to follow you just because you are an entrepreneur and follow them. Nobody likes spam follows. Certainly, some people see their number of followers as a social status metric, but if all your followers are spammers it seems a bit sad. Lastly, unless your are part of the conversation then your aren't even relevant, if all you do is spam adverts for your business then nobody will read your tweets anyway.
So, why are Funktionart on Twitter? Like I mentioned above I love Twitter, so it made sense that we should be there just to be part of it. We also thought it might be a good way to communicate special offers and useful advice to our customers. It is also another way of maintaining our relationships. I guess also there was a bit of advertising in there too - we do want to be the best known florist in Perth, after all. There are a lot of florists on Twitter, but I think that we are the florist in Perth who uses it. Send us a tweet and say hello!
Our new online flower store is now live and we are accepting online orders for delivery in Perth. Payment is currently only via bank deposit, but we will be adding other payment methods, including credit card payments very soon. There are many products available on the store, but if you can't find exactly what you are looking for then contact us.
Despite Perth's inclement weather today, September 1st marks the beginning of spring. Modern plant raising methods and imports mean that it is possible to get virtually all varieties of flowers year round, but spring in Western Australia means the beginning of our glorious wild flower season. While true wild flowers may not be picked this is a great time of year to fill your home with an arrangement of Australian natives. Contact us today for more information.
Our new web store is nearly up and running. We have been working on it solidly all week adding products and tweaking the design. It isn't available for orders yet as we need to implement the payment portal, but when it is we hope that our customers will enjoy ordering flowers online and having them delivered in Perth.
Floristry can be a difficult business. We sell a product with a limited shelf life. At Funktionart we insist on the freshest flowers which means that unlike other florists we don't keep flowers in the fridge for weeks before selling them. Judging stock levels day to day can be tricky. Floristry is also very competitive, particularly in Perth.
In the Perth CBD alone there are at least 10 florists all competing for the same market. We all have our regular clients, but the competition for new business means that a strong online presence is necessary. You can be the best florist in the world, but unless people know where you are you won't sell flowers. It is very frustrating to see companies from the Eastern States with web sites pretending to be in Perth taking business from local florists. It isn't just other florists who we must compete against, either.
All supermarkets and most delis sell flowers too. Frequently their flowers are cheaper than those you would buy from a florist. They can sell these so cheaply because often the flowers are at the end of their life and the wholesalers want to move them before they die. Flowers from a florist who uses fresh flowers will always last longer. And to make sure they last ask the florist to guarantee that the flowers will last for at least a week. If they can't go somewhere else.
I'll admit that they aren't really new products since we have been selling them since we opened, but they are new to the website. If you look under our births section you will see our nappy cake and a product called Baby's Garden.
Nappy cakes are available in two or three tiers and in addition to the nappies there are a few little baby gifts like booties and blankets. Baby's Garden is a delicate floral arrangement with some baby gifts like cream and baby powder, beautifully presented in a box.
Both of these are available now in our shop or for delivery. Like all of our floral products these can be customised to make them the perfect gift.
This time of year is great for orchids and we have been selling a lot. These delicate looking, colourful flowers are beautiful in pots as well as arrangements so you get the best of both worlds. We can get deliver orchids anywhere in Perth and they are sure to delight the recipient. Here are a few handy hints for caring for orchids
This time of year is great for orchids and we have been selling a lot. These delicate looking, colourful flowers are beautiful in pots as well as arrangements so you get the best of both worlds. We can get deliver orchids anywhere in Perth and they are sure to delight the recipient. Here are a few handy hints for caring for orchids
Source: Beautiful Orchids