The team from Smithers-Oasis wore bright orange t-shirts for Petal It Forward last year to attract attention in the streets of Kent, Ohio. SAF provides members with a T-shirt template atsafnow.tempurl.host/pif.
Sure, handing out flowers for Petal It Forward on Oct. 23 will definitely draw attention, and if you want to make the job easier for your happiness ambassadors, help them stand out with matching T-shirts — the brighter, the better!
Last year, the staff at Leona Sue’s Florist Inc. in Scott, Louisiana, not only wore T-shirts with the Petal It Forward logo on the front and the shop name on the back, they also parked their van (which is completely wrapped in flowers) on the corner and wrote #petalitforward on a chalkboard. To attract even more attention, the team sprinkled rose petals all around the chalkboard and sidewalks, said Annie Taylor, AIFD, CFD.
“I feel in our industry we must do all we can to promote flowers. Anything to make people experience the joy of flowers — giving and receiving is a win in my book,” said Taylor about the event.
Mike Whittle of K Mike Whittle Designs in Marietta, Georgia, said that wearing t-shirts with both K Mike Whittle Designs logo and Petal it Forward on them was one way they drew attention to hand out their 700 bouquets. In addition, they used a flower cart to hold all of the flower buckets, creating a colorful display in front of the Strand Theater in Marietta.
The Society of American Florists makes it easy to Petal It Forward on Oct. 23. Step-by-step advice and materials are available exclusively to members at safnow.org/pif. Consider getting team T-shirts printed in your shop’s signature color or a bright neon color with “#PETALITFORWARD “on the front and your shop logo, as well as get Petal It Forward flower cards or stickers printed. SAF provides members with a T-shirt template and a Flower Card Template.
SAF also provides advice for alerting the media, including a customizable media advisory, press release and talking points.
Renee Houston Zemanski is a contributing writer to the Society of American Florists.
