Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Cheap Manzanita Branches

Cheap Manzanita Branches... pretty much don't exist. Manzanita Branches, in addition to having a great form and being very strong, are also exceptionally voluminous. This one factor alone accounts for the majority of the cost of Manzanita Branches. Shipping companies don't care if that huge box holds popcorn, decorative branches a chair or crumpled hundred dollar bills - they are going to charge for the volume regardless of what's inside. Whether you are having Manzanita Branches shipped directly to you, or are picking them up from a local source, most of what you are paying for is the transportation cost.

Keeping Costs Down With Manzanita Branches

If you are set on using Manzanita, stick with sizes that can be shipped via UPS or FedEx. You'll get the least expensive cost-per-branch with our FedEx-able Project Grade styles (up to the 36-42" size):

http://www.nettletonhollow.com/manzanita-sb-project.html
http://www.nettletonhollow.com/manzanita-nat-project.html

If you just need a few, go for the styles we ship from NYC:

http://www.nettletonhollow.com/manzanita-branches-sandblasted.html
http://www.nettletonhollow.com/manzanita-branches-natural.html

Unless you have a huge event or budget, you definitely should avoid the sizes that have to go via basic freight, which are very expensive on a cost-per-branch basis unless you are ordering multiple cases.

The only circumstance where Manzanita Branches are the only option is if you are hanging VERY heavy objects, such as hundreds of lead crystals, like in this classic "Crystal Tree" from Brides.com:


If you can afford all of those crystals though, you probably aren't too concerned with keeping your costs down!

Popular Manzanita Branch Uses, and Alternatives

Card Trees (and Other Displays Involving Light Objects). One of the most popular uses for Manzanita Branches is creating "card trees" (aka "wedding card trees," "wish trees," etc.). Here are some pictures from Style Me Pretty of place card trees made out of Natural Manzanita Branches (click through for more details and instructions):


Although Manzanita Branches look fantastic for card trees, pretty much any branch will work for this type of display, or any other display involving particularly light objects such as flowers, fake birds or butterflies, etc. We created a few versions of card trees using different types of branches in the past. Here's a card tree we created with Natural Birch Branches (click here for the related post):


And here's a card tree created with Brown Kuwa branches (click here for the related post):



Using pretty much any other branch, you can create a gorgeous and functional card tree at a fraction of the cost it would be if you used Manzanita Branches.

Hanging Votives. Branches and candles look great together, and of course Manzanita Branches are a popular choice for this. One fantastic alternative for displays involving hanging votives or other moderately heavy items is Mitsumata (click here for the related post):



The alternatives above are mostly in the 3-4' range. If you are looking for taller displays, definitely check out our Project Grade items. Two great tall alternatives in particular are Natural Redshank and Sandblasted Redshank

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have you had any success hanging votives with birch branches? I see pictures online sometimes, but then other people have said that they aren't strong enough. Do they have to be dried? Fresh? thanks!

Justin said...

The Natural Birch Branches (and the other styles of birch branches) are indeed a bit too light to hang votives on, and the fine branches would make excellent tinder, which definitely isn't a good thing when open flames are involved!

danya said...

this was very helpful! thank you!