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Delphinium on cake???

post #1 of 6
3/22/12 at 11:34am
Thread Starter 
We have a wedding in April, and the bride wants delphinium on her cake. I spoke with her florist about the flowers for the cake, and I told her that delphinium is toxic and not safe to come in contact with food. This is based on my own research, and everything I have read about Delphinium says it is toxic. Well, the florist told me that she had never heard that and basically dismissed my concerns about it. She basically told me that I could bring stuff to wrap them or place under them to avoid contact with the cake if I was worried about it. In other words, she thinks I am wrong and doesn't want to do anything to prep the flowers herself.

So I guess my question is, if I bring floral tape to wrap the stems and maybe some plastic wrap to put under the flowers so there is no contact with cake, will that be sufficient?
Before you ask- I'm licensed, inspected, insured, and all that jazz.
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Before you ask- I'm licensed, inspected, insured, and all that jazz.
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post #2 of 6
3/22/12 at 11:50am
My question would be - have you discussed this with the bride?
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post #3 of 6
3/22/12 at 12:07pm
Do you serve your cakes yourself? I know one very busy cake designer in the San Diego area who would dismiss any conserns by sayin she always put extra icing where flowers go and makes sure that part is not served.
But I agree more along the lines w/you. Do what you can **with the brides understanding** that there could be a problem and her signing a statement to that I'd go ahead & use them w/lots of plastic wrap. If possible use straws(filled w/either wet cotton or frosting) or flower-water picks.
Lastly I want to say I have from time to time looked up different flowers (but can't remember if delphinium was on the list) and found many times one flower would be on the 'toxic' list then not on others. Just pointing out that many florists &/or so called experts don't agree on such things.
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post #4 of 6
3/22/12 at 12:25pm
I looked it up on a few sites and it says it is highly toxic and can cause slowing of the heart. I would talk with the bride and highly advise her that you would not put anyone at risk by putting those flowers on your cake. You will be responsible if someone gets ill from this and I wouldn't take the chance.
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post #5 of 6
3/22/12 at 12:27pm
I was curious so I looked it up in wikipedia - - -

"All parts of the plant contain an alkaloid, delphinine, so are very poisonous, causing vomiting when eaten, and death in larger amounts."

Granted, it wouldn't be eaten in large amounts. However, it apparently is VERY toxic and I for one wouldn't care to take responsibility for that. You might want to get your bride to reconsider and point out to her that her florist is a doof. icon_rolleyes.gif
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post #6 of 6
3/22/12 at 6:52pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks y'all. Yeah, I talked it over with my husband (he's my business partner) and we have decided to tell the bride we are not comfortable putting it on the cake. It's just not worth the risk that someone could get sick! We might also suggest silk delphiniums and see if that would be acceptable to her.

I really don't understand the florist's attitude with this though. I don't know if she felt like I was trying to tell her how to do her job or what, but she completely dismissed my concern. It's not like it's hard to find this information, I just googled it and clicked on several different links with the info, so I made sure it wasn't just one source saying it was toxic.

I get that it is not necessarily the florist's responsibility to know what is and isn't food safe, but since it IS my job, you would think she would have listened to me, or at least looked into it for herself. Oh well. icon_rolleyes.gif
Before you ask- I'm licensed, inspected, insured, and all that jazz.
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Before you ask- I'm licensed, inspected, insured, and all that jazz.
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