Materials guide

Fresh vs faux florals: which one should you use?

Use fresh where cameras get within six feet and the event is under 24 hours. Use high-grade faux for multi-day holds, outdoor heat, high ceilings and anything reusable. On a single event faux costs 20 to 35 percent less than fresh; across three uses of the same piece, 60 to 75 percent less.

How long must it look perfect?

Under 24 hours indoors, fresh is safe and it is the better-looking answer. Past 48 hours, fresh needs hydration mechanics, a refresh crew, or both — and at that point the cost of keeping it alive usually exceeds the cost of specifying long-life material for the mass of the piece.

How close will cameras and guests get?

Six feet is the honest line. Inside it, fresh reads visibly better — translucency in a petal is not something faux reproduces. Beyond it, and in every photograph taken past that distance, high-grade faux is indistinguishable. Ceilings, upper wall runs and stage framing are almost always beyond six feet.

Where in the world is it?

A Miami rooftop in July is 90°F with direct sun. Hydrangea will collapse in under three hours out there; orchid, anthurium and protea hold. Conditioned ballroom, no problem. Unconditioned warehouse in August, treat it as outdoor.

Will it be used again?

This is the question that changes the arithmetic completely. A wall used three times amortizes a faux build down to roughly a quarter of the fresh cost per event. If you run a recurring activation, a seasonal storefront or a monthly program, reuse is where the budget is actually won.

Is faux always cheaper than fresh?

Not on day one. On a single event a high-grade faux build runs about 20 to 35 percent less than the fresh version of the same design. The real saving arrives on reuse: across three uses of the same piece, faux lands 60 to 75 percent below buying fresh three times.

Will guests notice the difference?

Inside about six feet, yes — fresh wins on translucency, movement and scent, and no amount of money closes that gap. Beyond six feet, and in photographs, high-grade faux is effectively indistinguishable. That distance rule is how we decide where to spend.

How long do fresh florals hold in Miami?

Indoors and conditioned, 24 to 36 hours reliably. Outdoors in July at 90°F with direct sun, delicate stems like hydrangea can collapse in under three hours, while orchid, anthurium and protea hold through the day. Outdoor daytime installs are where we push hardest toward faux or a hybrid.

What is preserved, and where does it fit?

Preserved florals are real stems stabilized so they hold their form for months without water. They cost more per stem than faux but read as real up close, which makes them the right answer for permanent lobby and retail installations where guests pass within arm's reach every day.

Do you build hybrids?

Most of our best-performing installations are hybrids. The structure and the mass of the piece are built in long-life material so it holds, and fresh florals are placed where people actually get close — entry thresholds, bar faces, table level. You pay for freshness where it is seen and not where it is not.

What happens to the flowers afterwards?

Fresh work is composted or, when the timing allows, re-homed after strike. Faux and preserved structures come back to the Kendall workshop, get stripped and restocked, and are rebuilt into the next piece — which is exactly why the third use of a build costs so much less than the first.