I purchased these for my wedding flowers. They came in protective wrapping, with the stems curved up and held in place with a zip tie. The stems were much too long for a bouquet, so I cut them. I used regular scissors, but would suggest using a wire cutter for safety and ease. Once I cut them, I used a blow dryer, as suggested, to fluff them - which worked. There were a few anomalies on the flowers (the peonies each had little plastic white buds in the center, perhaps to look like a stamen? and See full review