Wedding reception flowers from a featured High Profile wedding in 2013 (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Cary Jenkins) Guest table centerpieces Beautiful floral arrangements can set the scene and mood for any event, from soft romantic rose bouquets at weddings to over-the-top centerpieces with an explosion of colorful flowers at galas. But what happens when an event is canceled or, in this case, when practically a whole social season is canceled? Several Little Rock florists and their clients decided to share the joy that flowers can bring. "We order flowers for weddings and events weeks in advance to allow them to ship both domestic and internationally. Once we claim so many cuts at the farm it is difficult to cancel them," says Tanarah Haynie, owner of Tanarah Luxe Florals. "A lot of our events — going into the pandemic — made decisions in the 11th hour due to the information given by the CDC. I have never experienced anything like this in my 20 years of business — so to say we were all just ‘playing it by ear’ was the honest truth." Catherine Brewington, marketing director with Tipton and Hurst, says they had already ordered flowers for several weddings, the Evolve Gala, Little Rock Go Red for Women Luncheon and the Arkansas State Gymnastics Championships. "We gave customers the option to either get a refund or allocate the deposit to their new event dates. So far, we have issued more than 300 refunds." "Covid-19 has been extremely stressful for our customers," Brewington says, "particularly for those with upcoming spring weddings and other large-scale events. They shouldn’t have to pay for flowers they aren’t able to use. As studies show — and we know firsthand — flowers help alleviate people’s anxiety and improve their moods. We wanted to use our abundance of flowers […]