Twenty years ago, while travelling to exotic locales, Davida Vineberg saw beautiful flowers that had been preserved for future enjoyment. She was so mesmerized by these bouquets that she can’t recall whether it was India or Australia where she first saw them.
Fast forward to 2020 when Davida’s career was disrupted by the pandemic. With time on her hands, she reflected on those beautiful flowers she’d seen so many years ago and got busy researching the art and science of floral restoration and conservation.
Inspired by the Portuguese term for hummingbirds, “beija flor” (the kisser of flowers), she named her new Leaside business Beija Flor.
Her showroom, workshop and staging space are compact. Every inch is put to good use with flowers, supplies and equipment, large to tiny, seemingly in a state of suspended animation. A tour could take five minutes or, for a curious, floral-smitten visitor, hours.
The complex, often arduous process of flower restoration, reassembly and housing is a blend of art, science, and in Davida’s words “MacGyvering solutions to a host of challenges.” [Note: MacGyvering is named after Angus MacGyver, protagonist of the U.S. television series MacGyver (1985-92), known for regularly improvising solutions.]
Whether for a bouquet or single flower, Davida’s process takes many steps and weeks to complete. The bouquet is photographed and carefully taken apart with stems and flowers separated. Each flower is then freeze-dried in the dehydrator to remove moisture, sealed to maintain the shape, repaired if there are any imperfections, and colour is retouched. The flowers are then placed in the staging area ready for bouquet rebuilding and finally mounted and securely fastened to the display case.
Davida highlighted that “during the flowers’ freeze-drying step, a daily visit to the workshop is required for 12 consecutive days to adjust the commercial dehydrator’s temperature. No weekends off.”
She refers to the machine as ‘the beast’ and added, “The machine is a must-have to succeed at my craft. It’s as big as a stacked washer-dryer and took months to source and secure.”
She admits, there were many growing pains. “After getting set up and months of practice and refinements, just days before my first client was bringing in her bouquet, the beast’s pump failed! After an unsuccessful attempt by an electrician, who threw up his arms, I scrambled and in the nick of time found a qualified repairperson.”
Davida delights in bringing joy to clients when they see the results of their floral transformation. In addition to bridal bouquets, floral preservation is treasured for milestone birthdays, graduations and memorials. Many of her clients are the relatives of brides, graduates and the couples themselves who appreciate these unique gifts. “A recent client requested that a treasured piece of vintage family jewelry be included in the shadowbox,” she said. “Another had kept her bridal bouquet in the freezer for three years and was thrilled when I was able to restore and reassemble her keepsake,” though she advises clients to call her before their big event so she can begin the bouquet’s conservation process within days.
Each display case housing the conserved bouquets is handmade by a local artisan with the colour, style, wood, and dovetailed corners all customized. A truly Canadian-made one-of-a-kind artwork. For examples of Beija Flor’s bouquets: www.beijaflorbouquets.com/gallery.
