Michael Aram Gift FAQs: What 7 Years of Buying Vases, Frames & Christmas Gifts Taught Me

People ask me a lot about Michael Aram. I've been ordering this brand's pieces for corporate clients since 2017—vases, ornaments, photo frames, candles, you name it. I've also made the mistakes: a $3,200 order that almost missed a client's holiday deadline, a vase that leaked water onto a walnut console, and a Christmas order that went out late in 2020 because I trusted the December timeline.

The questions below are the ones I get asked most, answered the way I wish someone had answered them in my first year. If you're buying Michael Aram as a gift, for a client, or just for your own table—start here.

• How do I get peonies to bloom in a Michael Aram gardenia vase?
• When should I order Michael Aram Christmas items?
• Are Michael Aram picture frames worth the price for corporate gifts?
• Do Michael Aram candles hold up in shipping?
• How can I tell authentic Michael Aram from a lookalike?
• Do I have to pay full retail for Michael Aram corporate orders?
• What's on your pre-order checklist?

1. How do I get peonies to bloom in a Michael Aram gardenia vase?

The flowers are straightforward; the vase isn't. That's the part I got backwards.

Buy peonies at the 'marshmallow stage'—buds that are soft when you squeeze them gently. Cut the stems at a 45° angle, strip any leaves that would sit below the waterline, and put them in lukewarm water so the buds open. Add flower food. Change the water every two days and re-cut the stems, and you'll usually get a good week out of them. Tight buds can be coaxed along with warmer water, but it shortens the overall vase life, so time it to your event.

Now the vase part. The gardenia vase is a metal piece, and metal vases aren't automatically watertight. In 2022, I put a fresh arrangement into one, and by morning there was a small puddle on a client's walnut console. I'd assumed 'vase' meant waterproof. It doesn't always. Test any metal vase with water overnight before you use it for a real arrangement. When I'm unsure, I drop a low-profile glass insert inside. You won't see it, and it will save you from a very awkward phone call. (Should mention: the gardenia vase is best with shorter stems—peonies fit nicely—since tall arrangements can tip.)

2. When should I order Michael Aram Christmas items for corporate gifts?

Earlier than feels natural. In 2020, I told a client, "We'll order in November," like I was shopping for a dinner party. By November, most of the ornaments in their approved deck were sold out. The re-selection, re-approval, and re-ordering cost us three weeks—and December shipped late.

Now the holiday collection goes on my calendar months before. The line has landed in late summer in the years I've been buying it. I build selections in August, get client sign-off by early September, and place the order before the end of September. The buffer matters because items sell out or get discontinued mid-season. If I remember correctly, the 2024 collection was already thinning by late October for a few best-selling ornaments. Most corporate gift buyers I know now treat holiday ordering as a late-summer task. It's a change from the retail December rhythm, but it's how the industry works now.

Ornaments and Christmas pieces usually run $50–$150 each (based on typical retail listings, January 2025—verify current pricing). Worth planning around. But the real cost of waiting isn't the product price—it's the substitution scramble at the end.

3. Are Michael Aram picture frames worth the price for corporate gifts?

For the right client, yes—if you want a keepsake rather than a trinket. Most Michael Aram frames fall in the $100–$300 range at retail (based on typical listings, January 2025; verify current pricing). They're heavy, well-finished, and they read as a deliberate gift. That's what you're paying for.

But here's where I stumbled: I assumed a frame called an 8x10 would fit an 8x10 print. Not always. The actual photo opening can be smaller when a mat is involved, and the listing description won't save you if you only read the headline dimensions. I once ordered twenty frames and discovered after delivery that the client's standard 5x7 prints needed trimming to fit. Reprints plus cutting plus a three-day delay. All because I skipped the 'mat opening' line and stopped at 'frame size.'

Read the fine print. For a large order, order one sample first and test with the actual print. Samples feel like an unnecessary expense until they save you from printing forty wrong photos.

4. Do Michael Aram candles hold up in shipping?

Mostly, yes—the containers are the sturdy part. I've sent dozens without a single cracked holder. The wax is the weak point, at temperatures we don't usually think about.

In July 2022, I shipped a batch of candles without factoring in the heat inside a delivery truck. Two arrived soft and deformed, with wax pooled in the boxes. It wasn't the product's fault; it was mine. Most wax blends start softening around 120°F, and summer trucks can hit that easily. We now schedule candle gifts for cooler months, or spend a couple of dollars per unit on thermal wraps when heat is a risk.

If you're ordering candles as corporate gifts, the rest is easy: they arrive nicely packaged, they don't need sizing, and they work for almost any recipient. Just respect the temperature.

5. How can I tell authentic Michael Aram from a lookalike?

I'll be blunt: this is both easier and harder than it used to be. Easier because the brand's authorized retailer list is public. Harder because replicas have gotten better in the last five years. I've seen imitation Christmas ornaments that looked nearly identical in a photo.

The reliable shortcuts: buy from an authorized source—michaelaram.com or a retailer explicitly listed as authorized. Check the product and collection names carefully; some marketplaces list 'inspired' or 'style' items that deliberately blur the line. Authentic pieces usually carry a maker's mark on the underside, often a Michael Aram signature or stamp depending on the collection. And the weight tells you things photos can't: genuine pieces tend to have more heft and sharper definition in the finish.

In 2023, I ordered 'Michael Aram style' ornaments from a discount supplier at half the price, assuming the savings were real. A client unpacked one and said, "This feels light." That was a $450 mistake plus the embarrassment of a moment no one forgot. Now I don't gamble on client gifts. If you can't verify the source, skip it.

6. Do I have to pay full retail for Michael Aram corporate orders?

Short answer: not always. Long answer: it depends on how you buy, and it's worth one email to find out.

Michael Aram is a designer brand with wholesale and trade programs. Qualifying businesses—interior designers, event firms, corporate buyers—can sometimes access trade pricing, and that changes the math on a bulk order. The thresholds and specifics change, and I'm not on their sales team, so take details with a grain of salt. What I know for sure: I placed my first several orders at full retail without ever asking. When I finally asked whether we could qualify for better pricing, the answer wasn't no.

I get why people skip this step. You're busy, the client needs a quote today, and retail feels like the default. But the discount, if you qualify, goes straight to your margin or your client's budget. The question costs two minutes: "We're placing a corporate order—do you offer trade or volume pricing?" Put another way: the worst they can say is no.

7. What's on your pre-order checklist?

After the mistakes above, I made a list. It's not brilliant—it's mostly 'read the product page properly'—but it has caught 47 potential errors in the last 18 months, which is 47 phone calls I didn't have to make.

• Confirm the exact item number, collection name, and dimensions from the product page. Screenshot it.
• For frames: check the photo opening or mat opening, not the frame size.
• For vases: test watertightness with water overnight; add a glass insert if there's any doubt.
• For candles: check the season and transit temperatures.
• For authenticity: authorized seller, known collection, maker's mark.
• For budgets: ask about trade or corporate pricing before you quote the client.
• For timelines: get sign-off in writing, with a cutoff date for changes.

There's something satisfying about catching a problem before the client does. Most of these checks take less than ten minutes. In 2017, I would have told you I was too busy for checklists. After a $3,200 order that nearly fell apart, I learned that checking the details is the job—the rest is just admin.