Sending Smiles ~

Ok, now how fun is purple? It's not for everyone and most people you ask will tell you they either love purple or hate it but no one can say that it does not make a strong statement. I remember thinking how daring my sister in law was being when she picked purple as her wedding color over 15 years ago!! Love it or hate it you have to give the color purple it's due. It's dramatic!! These bouquets were created for our bride Julie's brides maids. Deep purple lisianthus, along with purple hydrangea and roses were slightly accented with lime green berries!   This bouquet was created for our bride Andria and was quite striking for her wedding ceremony at Grounds for Sculpture. There was no way this bouquet did not stand out among the garden setting! This hand tied bouquet of purple and cream colored roses along with blue hydrangea was simple and sweet for this brides outdoor ceremony. The collar of variegated greens softened the look and gave them that "fresh pic...

Well, it's official. I will be serving on the Advisory Committee for Floral Management Magazine. Floral Management is a fantastic trade publication that has been my "bible" over the years and is created by the Society of American Florists, of which I am a member. In case you did not know, SAF is the only national trade association that represents all segments of the U.S. floral industry. Our 15,000 members are the industry's top retailers, growers, wholesalers, importers, manufacturers, suppliers, educators, students and allied organizations. SAF is the face and voice of a strong, unified floral industry! I'm so honored not only to be a member of SAF but to be asked to serve as an Advisor to a publication that I admire....well,  let's just say 2010 is starting off on a wonderful note for me!! Thanks SAF for everything you do for Florists and I promise to "advise" to best of my ability!! For more information on this wonderful trade organization vis...

Nobody knows better than a bride how expensive having a wedding can be. That's why I often suggest to my couples that renting items is far more price effective than buying them. The picture to the left is perfect example of pieces that are really worth renting. The matching pedestals and urns really make the look. Each piece rents for only $25 each. Can you imagine having the same flowers presented in a basic container? I'm sure you agree they just would not have the same effect. Another item that I highly recommend you rent instead of purchase yourself are large glass vases. These pictured here are over 28" inches tall and are very sturdy. My advise if you do buy your own glass to use as centerpieces is to make sure that they are extremely thick glass. I learned that lesson the hard way many years ago. I had a bride who had purchases these very nice cylinder vases. She wanted me to fill them with polished river stones, water and lots of sunflowers. Thank goodness we d...

It's that time of year again where brides call and come in to talk about their wedding flowers. I thought I'd post a quick guideline of items to bring to your floral appointment. An organized bride who has given some thought to her floral desires before coming in will have a much more productive meeting than one who has not taken the time to give it some thought! Item #1 - Bring a list of the florals that you will need. Nothing is worse than a bride who answers the question "how many brides maids do you have?" by counting them on her fingers! Item #2 - Pictures of both bridal gown and brides maids dresses. The more we can get a feel for your style, the better. Items #3 - Floral inspiration pictures. This is really a must. Collect pictures of flowers that show your style. A picture is truly worth a thousand words and most brides do not know the name of many flowers. What better way to show the texture, color, style and size of each flower element than...

There are three main things you may not know about me. Number 1, I'm extremely goal oriented. Number 2, I'm competitive but not with others and Number 3, I love working. Ok, let's take these one at a time to get to why I'm writing this blog. What does it mean to be goal oriented? To me, it's having purpose, knowing where you want to go and taking the steps to get there. It can be as simple as "I want to leave work, go home and get some laundry done". By the time I get home, I might not feel like doing it but I know it was my goal to do it and sometimes you have to do things you don't feel like doing. Anyone that knows me, knows that once I set a goal, I'm very hard to derail from getting whatever it is done and accomplished. Sometimes the goals are long term and sometimes short term but they are there and I could not live without them! The next one, I'm competitive, but not with others. I've never liked being in situations where someone...

I've always said I'm not much for the color red. I don't drive a red car, I don't wear red lipstick, I don't have a red couch but I have to say when it comes to dramatic wedding colors - red really delivers! What's more striking and romantic than an all red bridal bouquet? If you are trying to be soft and romantic, red is not the color for you but if you want to scream, look at me, red really makes the point. This bouquet was one of my favorite red bouquets that we have done over the last few months. Berries, velvety roses, mini callas, sweetheart roses and scabiosa pods really give both drama and texture. A small red rose accented with other elements from the wedding compliment this grooms rich red tie. A pop of color is always wonderful on a black tux but few colors have the drama of red! These red and cream floral displays create a gorgeous back drop to this huge mirror at the Nassau Inn. This New Years eve wedding decor really complimented what was go...