A floral installation that takes guests' breath away in five seconds takes our team three days to deliver. Here is the real 72-hour timeline behind a large-scale gala installation — the part nobody sees, and the part that determines whether the flowers look flawless at showtime.
T-minus 72 hours: sourcing locks in
Three days out, the stems we reserved at the Dutch and Ecuadorian auctions are cut, graded, and packed cold. For a 500-person gala we are typically moving several thousand stems, every one of which has to arrive within a tight quality band. Sourcing is committed weeks earlier; this is the moment it becomes physical.
T-minus 48 hours: the cold chain race
Flowers are air-freighted into Dubai and clear customs. The clock is now the enemy. From the aircraft to our cold room, every minute at ambient temperature costs vase life. Stems go straight into conditioning — cut, hydrated, and held at temperature to recover from the journey.
T-minus 24 hours: conditioning and prep
- Every stem is recut and placed in treated water to drink overnight.
- Mechanics — frames, foam, armatures — are pre-built so install day is purely floral.
- The team dry-runs the design, checking colour balance and volume against the plan.
Install day: hours, not days, on site
On site, speed and sequencing are everything. Structural greenery and the most durable flowers go in first; the delicate, heat-sensitive blooms go in last, as close to doors-open as the schedule allows. For outdoor or partially-cooled venues, this sequencing is the difference between lush and limp.
Guests see five minutes of magic. We see a 72-hour relay where the baton is the cold chain — and dropping it is not an option.
Why volume buying makes it possible
None of this works without reliable access to volume. Buying direct from the auctions, controlling our own cold chain, and warehousing in Dubai is what lets us guarantee thousands of consistent stems on a fixed date. For planners, that reliability is the whole point — the creative vision is only as good as the supply chain behind it.
Planning a large installation? Bring us in early. The sooner we lock sourcing, the bolder the design we can promise.