The Diversity of Shapes and Colors in the Decorative Flowers Manufactured by “Paper Lux” Company

Iurie Cojuhari heard the idea of creating paper flowers from his niece, who lives in Germany. “It's in fashion and in great request”, she said. Thereby, the entrepreneur started his business a year ago.

It’s a salvation

The head of the family business “Paper Lux”, Iurie Cojuhari was always capable to work with papers. He worked as professional painter and drawing teacher. But he also became interested in paper articles, in 1980, after graduating Chisinau's Pedagogical University.

The paper can be transformed in many beautiful things, like packaging tubes or bags. They have a constant demand during winter holidays. For example, companies and organizations order invitations, menus, packages and even albums. But after the holidays, the stability ends as well, and the orders come once in a couple of weeks. The salvation came from paper flowers.

“I checked online. Nobody in Moldova makes such offers”, Iurie Cojuhari says. But how they are done?

These flowers are used to decorate offices and for several celebrations and events. The closest company that offers special trainings is situated in Moscow. A two-days lessons cost 500 euros. Other serious courses online are also for a fee. The free ones are very superficial and for amateurs. But Iurie Cojuhari worked with paper during all his life. “We thought over the question together with my wife”, the master says. “And in a week we created our first flower.” This is how the flowers of the small company “Paper Lux” blossomed.

Four companies from Chisinau, along with “Paper Lux”, are producing today decorative flowers for celebrations and events. “I know them all and maintain close relations with some of them”, Iurie Cojuhari mentions. “We are not rivals. There are more than 100 weddings happening each weekend in Chisinau. I cannot serve all of them. In this case, it's better for a couple of companies to work. This is how the service becomes known and we gain some profit.”

Different paper flowers

The master explained, the Chisinau Company “Le pompon décor” uses corrugated paper. The flowers, indeed, look like pompons, are very beautiful, childish and coquettish, at the same time. They are cheap but can resist only one event.

“Paper Lux” produces flowers of a more usual raw material – colored cardboards. This material is durable, but also more expensive. The flower, made of these cardboards, is used for 5-6 times. Sometimes they are bought as a permanent interior decoration for restaurant halls.

The simple panels, decorated with paper flowers, are installed in the restaurant zones, where all events are held. In the middle of the panel the company's logo, the names of the birthday person or of the bride and the groom are applied. Flowerbeds surround them. For christenings and children birthdays, the clients order different types of flowers. For boys those are usually “cold” and the flowers have blue, sky blue, and dark green colors. For girls, the warm colors are ordered. Sometimes the original orders appear. For example, an entrepreneur once asked the panel to be decorated with petals of $100 bills.

Birthdays and weddings

Decorating the events with flower panels is a relatively stable business. It has some ascending points in autumn time, when a lot of weddings happen in Moldova. During Easter holidays there are no weddings. Still, “nobody canceled birthdays”, Iurie Cojuhari explains. “There are always orders, thanks to them.”

The “flower” fashion has overstepped the limits of the capital, as over half of the orders come from the regions. Those are not only for festivities. A dentist from Cimislia asked a panel with yellow flowers to decorate his reception. He thought it would be better for the patients to observe it, than to watch TV.

One customer bought for his wife paper flowers for the bedroom. Even though they are made of paper, the decoration lasts for a long time. It's forbidden to wash them, as they are of cardboard. Still, the dust can be easily removed with a vacuum cleaner.

There are no identical flowers

A panel can include a few dozens of flowers. The small 15-cm diameter flowers need half an hour to be made. To produce the bigger ones, Iurie spends hour and a half. Once, he received an order for a big 2-meter long flower. It required serious work: the master used 46 large sheets of decorative cardboard only for petals.

Each flower is unique. “When we started this business, I made over one hundred colored samples, according to some sketches. I thought this was the moment, when my work will start. But they were never sold. I have plans to organize some trainings of paper flower manufacturing, where I will use those samples. The flowers made according to sketches are lifeless. I never draw my product before making it – the ideas come within the creative process. The flowers differ one from another. Once, I tried to repeat my best examples. Still, it never happened, as there is always a unique flower I make in the end.”