Flowers are widely used in modern civilization. They are regularly used in rituals such as weddings and funerals and other special occasions such as birthdays, Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, and holidays.
Receiving flowers after a musical performance shows your gratitude to the performers for all their hard work and dedication to their art.
Giving Flowers After A Musical Performance
What Types of Flowers Are Best?
Choose sturdy flowers such as long-stemmed roses, carnations, irises, orchids, and lilies. Flowers have a long history, meaning, and symbolism, so you’ll need to pick the right color and type of flower as a gift after a performance.
Let’s look at the options below to avoid an awkward situation.
Roses are the traditional choice of flowers to give after a musical performance. Ballet has the most elaborate traditions of flower-giving after a performance. Adoring fans would shower the dancers with rose petals or even toss entire bouquets on the stage.
Today stage managers will make sure to have a bouquet or single rose for each of the leading dancers. It is also typical to have flowers for the conductor and choreographer.
Let’s look at the options if you would like to present a performer with flowers at the end of a musical performance below.
Symbolism and Meaning of Flowers
While most people know the habit of gifting flowers for various occasions, only some know that some flowers have unique significance. We’ve compiled a short guide to help you make the best choice when you want to present flowers at the end of a musical performance.
Roses, as mentioned above, are the traditional choice. Red roses are standard, but a bouquet with colors wouldn’t go astray.
Yellow roses symbolize friendship, so this is a good choice if you are personally acquainted with the performer or musician. Pink roses indicate deep gratitude for outstanding performance.
Carnations are resilient and long-lasting flowers and the perfect gift to performers of all kinds—the flowers represent pride and admiration. There are many colors to choose from: pink carnations will show your gratitude, while white stands for luck and purity.
Light red carnations indicate your admiration, and dark red ones show your affection and love.
Besides roses for a ballerina, irises are a fantastic gift after a performance. Irises are gifted because they convey courage, admiration, hope, and faith in the performer. They are available in many colors, but for post-musical performance, purple irises will show your admiration.
Orchids are available in almost every color imaginable. Shades of red, lavender, and pink, as well as white, are the most common colors you’re likely to encounter at the florist. Orchids can convey many meanings, including beauty, strength, and love.
They are also used to represent femininity, so it is perhaps best to avoid sending or giving them to a male performer. We recommend sending a potted orchid before opening night or delivering it to the performer after a performance.
Lilies are a bit of a gray area in the flower world—they are sometimes associated with funerals. Still, they are also frequently used in bridal bouquets. Talk about an all-rounder flower! Lilies come in various colors—pink, yellow, red, and orange- representing creativity and ambition.
Stargazer lilies are excellent for performers because they symbolize hope and dreams.
Flower Customs around the World
Each country has its etiquette and meaning attached to flowers. It is always good to check the customs and traditions in a different country before giving flowers because you may need to send the right message.
While yellow flowers may represent friendship in most cases, it is not advisable in Eastern Europe because yellow symbolizes betrayal.
In Japan and China, it is advisable not to give lilies and white or yellow chrysanthemums as gifts after a musical performance because these flowers are associated with death and funerals.
Although chrysanthemums are associated with perfection and the sun in Japan, white chrysanthemums are associated with death and mourning. They are often used as grave decorations in both Japan and Western Europe.
What to Avoid
Below are some general pointers to avoid an awkward situation with the performers and some flower courtesy tips.
- Long-stemmed roses should have their thorns removed to avoid getting caught on clothing, outfits, and costumes and scratching or cutting the performer.
- Avoid flowers with sharply cut stems, or make sure they are not exposed.
- Follow our color guidelines to avoid upsetting a performer or creating an unintended message. Flowers of different colors have different meanings, be sure to look up the importance of the flower and color before you give them as a gift.
- Never give flowers before a performance—it is considered bad luck. There are many theater superstitions as well: giving flowers before the performance invites unluckiness, tempts fate, and can invite lower energy and, thus, a bad performance in the theater.
- Flowers are given after the performance during the curtain call.
- You can send a potted flowering plant or a bouquet before opening night to the theater, which will be placed in the performer’s dressing room.
- Try to select fragrant flowers that do not have an overpowering scent—a subtle smell is worth much more than flowers that will send the performer into a sneezing frenzy.
- Check with the theater whether they allow flowers after a performance to avoid an awkward situation.
- Don’t revive the now-abandoned tradition of stealing flowers from a graveyard to give to the director and the leading female performer on closing night. It symbolized the ‘death’ of the performance. Additionally, it was also a slap in the face of theaters where performers were not always compensated fairly or regularly.
Conclusion
Giving flowers at the end of a musical performance shows your gratitude and well-wishes after an outstanding performance. Always ensure you know what the flowers and their color mean before you give them or send them as a gift to avoid awkward situations.
Carnations are an excellent choice for male or female performers. You can also have cut flowers or a potted flowering plant delivered after a musical performance to show your gratitude.