Giving a Bouquet to a Chief Guest: A Practical Guide

When giving a bouquet to a chief guest, choose an arrangement that is easy to hold, present it with both hands and offer one short sentence of welcome or thanks. Agree the moment with the event organiser beforehand, then let the guest accept the flowers before moving into a photograph or the next part of the programme.

The best choice depends on the occasion, the guest’s preferences and what happens immediately after the presentation. A speaker who must return to a lectern needs somewhere to put the flowers; a guest leaving for a train needs something manageable to carry. If you are arranging the gesture from abroad for an event in Russia, make those practical details part of the order.

Choose flowers that suit the guest and the occasion

Begin with the purpose of the gesture: a welcome at an opening ceremony, thanks after a speech or recognition at an anniversary. For a formal business event, a balanced shape and a restrained colour palette are usually easy to fit into the setting. For an arts event or a personal celebration, a more expressive combination may suit the programme and the recipient better.

Ask the organiser whether the guest has known flower preferences, fragrance sensitivities or restrictions on accepting gifts. Strongly scented flowers can be distracting near a microphone, at a dining table or in a small meeting room. If you have no preference information, prioritise a comfortable size, secure construction and flowers whose scent will not dominate the space.

Avoid choosing solely by the guest’s gender or assigning a fixed message to every flower. Red roses can suggest romance, so a mixed arrangement or another colour may make a professional gesture clearer. In Russia, odd numbers of stems are customary for celebratory gifts when the stems are counted individually; even numbers are traditionally associated with mourning.

Get the size, shape and wrapping right

A chief guest should be able to accept the bouquet without needing to rearrange their notes, microphone and clothing. Choose a size that can rest comfortably in the crook of an arm and leaves the guest’s face visible in photographs. A very wide or tall arrangement may look impressive on its own but become awkward during a handshake or a crowded stage presentation.

Ask for the stems to be securely bound and the holding area to be comfortable, with thorns or rough foliage kept away from the hands. Wrapping should support the flowers without trailing ribbons that catch underfoot or a stiff collar that presses against the recipient’s face. If there is a temporary water pack, ask how to handle it so the presenter can avoid spills.

Consider the journey after the event as carefully as the stage appearance. A compact bouquet is easier to carry into a car or take through a busy venue. You can use the bouquets catalogue to identify a preferred style, then discuss its suitability for the handover. A photograph helps communicate colour and shape, but also explain how the guest will use and carry it.

Bouquets we can deliver

Bouquet of 1 yellow sunflowers

$13

Bouquet of 1 white lilies

$19

Bouquet of 1 pink lilies

$19

Bouquet of 3 gerberas mix

$21

Plan the presentation around the programme

Confirm whether the bouquet belongs at the welcome, after the chief guest’s address or at the closing thanks. There is no single correct moment for every ceremony: follow the host’s running order and avoid interrupting a speech. Choose one presenter and one person to keep the flowers ready, so several people do not step forward at once or leave the guest waiting.

Walk through the handover before guests arrive. Check the route to the presentation point, any steps and the position of the photographer. Keep the bouquet upright and accessible nearby, away from a doorway or a busy aisle. The presenter should know where to stand and which way to leave, especially if the guest will remain on stage for another part of the programme.

Arrange a place for the bouquet immediately afterwards, preferably with a named person responsible for taking it to water. Do not assume the guest can hold it through a speech, award presentation or meal. If several guests will receive flowers, check the names and order in advance, and keep each bouquet identifiable without making the recipient manage labels during the ceremony.

What to say and how to hand over the bouquet

Approach when the host invites you forward, face the guest and hold the bouquet with both hands around the bound stems. Keep the flower heads clear of their face and offer the holding area towards them. Pause while they take a secure grip before letting go. If a handshake is part of the greeting, allow time for it separately rather than trying to combine both movements.

For a welcome, you could say: “Welcome, Dr Patel. Please accept these flowers with our warm thanks for joining us today.” After a speech, try: “Thank you for sharing your time and insights with us. Please accept this bouquet as a token of our appreciation.” Use the guest’s confirmed name and title, and adapt the wording to the occasion without adding a lengthy introduction.

If you are introducing the presentation from the microphone, a clear line is enough: “May I invite our event coordinator to present a bouquet to our chief guest, Dr Patel.” Let the handover finish before starting the next announcement. For the photograph, stand beside the guest without blocking the flowers, then step away promptly so the programme can continue.

Arrange flowers for an event in Russia from abroad

We deliver flowers across Russia. When ordering for a ceremony, provide the city, venue address, event date, presentation time and a contact who can receive the bouquet. Tell us whether the flowers are for the chief guest and whether they need to be held before the handover. Through WhatsApp, a manager can help you choose a bouquet, agree the time, address and card text, and arrange a photo before delivery.

Pre-ordering is available 1–30 days ahead. In large cities, express delivery takes 1–2 hours after the order is confirmed; other options include an agreed time with a tolerance of plus or minus 30 minutes, or windows of 09–12, 12–15, 15–18 and 18–21. For a ceremony, allow time between receipt and presentation for venue access, checking the flowers and placing them in water.

City delivery costs 500 RUB; for remote districts and suburbs, the operator confirms the price when confirming the order. Online checkout uses CloudPayments: check the options displayed at checkout, as acceptance of every foreign card cannot be assumed. Review delivery and payment information while planning, and make sure the confirmed delivery arrangement fits the event schedule.

Identify the sender and keep the bouquet fresh

Delivery is anonymous by default: the courier does not name the sender. For an official presentation, use the free card to identify the organisation or host clearly. A suitable message is: “With thanks for joining us at our anniversary celebration. From the organising team.” Check names, titles and spelling before ordering; the card should make sense even when read after the guest has left the venue.

The courier calls the recipient about 15 minutes before arrival, so agree who will take that call during the event. If the recipient is absent, we agree a second delivery the same day or a handover to a neighbour or concierge with the sender’s consent. A missed delivery could disrupt a ceremony, so nominate an available recipient and explain the venue’s entrance arrangements beforehand.

For a conventional cut-stem bouquet, use a clean vase, remove leaves that would sit below the water and recut the stem ends with a clean, sharp tool. Add flower food according to its instructions if supplied, and keep the flowers away from direct sun, heaters and ripening fruit. Check the water daily and refresh it when cloudy. For flowers arranged in a water source, follow the care instructions supplied.