Sending Smiles ~

My last blog talked about the importance of the Escort/Place Card table and that got me to thinking about the gift table. Is it worth decorating the gift table at your wedding or other event such as a shower or birthday party? My answer is a definite "Maybe"!! Is the table in an area that will be seen all night? Does it need a little something to help say "Here, Put your gifts here?". If so, it might be worth putting some of your decor budget towards decorating the gift table. Often we do a tall floral display or a bouquet of balloons, as in the case of sweet 16 and mitzvah parties. Even a garland of fresh foliage accented with flowers, ribbons or event branches looks lovely if it matches the over all theme of the event!! To see more of our design work visit our party website at www.mondaymorningballoons.com

Have you heard? Have you heard the word? Saturday, November 27th is Small Business Saturday. What is this you wonder? Small Business Saturday is a day to support the local businesses that create jobs, boost the economy and preserve neighborhoods around the country. Small Business Saturday is a national movement to drive shoppers to local merchants across the U.S. Saturday, we urge you to shop small, shop often and shop local. Not all floral delivery sites online are local florists. We urge you to use "Local Florists" who actually arrange and deliver flowers direct from their shops. Unsure if someone you want to order flowers through is local? Check out their About Us page, check out their address. Is there a address local? Do they even show their address? If not, please find a shop that does. Society of American Florists hosts a great directory at   http://nationalfloristdirectory.com/ We hope to see you Saturday!!

Imagine this... your guests arrive for your outdoor garden wedding. They have no idea what to expect. Suddenly they enter the venue and walk smack dab into this display! Wow, talk about making a statement but oh, how overlooked this element usually is in the planning process. The particular wedding of Katie and Kyle really had a natural/hip vibe going on. Katie had each detail carefully planned out. All white flowers against black dresses. Feathers in her mini calla lily bouquet coordinated with her slightly feathered headpiece. Rectangular tables with long, low and florals in cube vases down the center. Moss green accents in the way of ribbon, actual moss spheres and even moss covered initials (K&K for Katie and Kyle) were also used. Spidery mums in the arrangements that coordinated with favors that were decorated cookies of the same theme. Last but not least - and actually first to be seen - we planned and coordinated this escort card table piece. Flowers in a square of all w...

It's that time of year again when folks start decorating their houses for the holidays and so we start making door wreaths and swags. Did you ever wonder where the tradition of hanging a wreath on your door began? Back through many cultures and religions, the hanging of a wreath, the symbol of eternal life, has been a way of celebrating happy occasions and holidays. Even during years when my husband and I were too busy to even put up a Christmas tree (yes, the florist who decorates for others does not always decorate for herself) we've always celebrated the holidays with a wreath. Each year Kevin and I do something different (last years wreath was square with purple ribbons and balls) and it's just our way of expressing ourselves at home. Ask any floral designer and they'll tell you that creating custom holiday wreaths is one of the most fun parts of their job. Why not let us create one for you!!

So you are planning your Spring wedding and everywhere you read they tell you should choose flowers that are “in season”. Sounds like it would be simple but often flowers that are available and affordable are not so easy to discern. Why is that you might ask? Mostly it has to do with where flowers are grown. Years ago, if you went to your local florist for wedding flowers, chances are they had a green house attached to their shop and grew many of the necessary flowers. Whatever they grew at that time of year was what you could choose from, plain and simple! Fast forward 50 years and that’s no longer true. Even if we look back 10 or 15 years ago, florists were able to obtain at least some flowers from local greenhouses and farms. Today in NJ, there are not many of these local sources available for “florist” grade cut flowers. Why do I mention this? Well, because the season and weather conditions here in NJ and Eastern PA (where my shops are located) does not really play into the whole ...

What is the flower? Can you guess? I'll bet you think it's a rose? Nope, it's actually a form of ornamental kale that we use in floral arrangements. This variety is hands down our favorite and it's called "Red Crane" and comes through the dutch market and is grown in Holland green houses. Apparently, it's edible but we've never tried it and I'm thinking we probably won't! Long lasting yet fun and fancy, our designers love "Kale Season". If you order a flower arrangement from our shop, you just might find it among the other blooms. It's especially nice used in Thanksgiving centerpieces and the green and white variety are spectacular during Christmas! Take advantage of Kale Season and ask for this awesome flower when you place your order! To see more of our floral creations be sure to check out our website at http://www.sendingsmiles.com/ and if you are planning a wedding our designs can be seen at http://www.perfectweddingflow...

Anyone that knows me knows that I can be quick with the camera. I'm sort of a frustrated photographer of sorts, I really have no idea how to correctly use the lovely Nikon D40 Camera that I bought over a year ago. I have no patience for reading a manual and I rarely stop long enough to figure out what all the different setting mean and do. Regardless, I do take some photos that while a photographer might see the flaws, I think they look pretty darn nice. So was born, my line of blank greeting cards. Take this card for example. I took this photo while at a local winery (Silver Decoy in Robbinsville, NJ) while at a friends birthday party. The perfect photo for a flower shop greeting card, don't you think? So far I've created about 8 different greeting cards that range from pictures of garden variety flowers, flowers in the shop right up to bridal bouquet close ups. They seem to sell well and I'm proud of them. If you're ever at the shop, let me know what you think....

Ta da! Here it finally is. Our new van has it's big daisy and our new logo and we love it. Remember, if you see our van out making a delivery and you snap a quick photo to post on our Facebook page, you'll get a $50 gift certificate from the shop! Visit us at www.facebook.com/localflorist and if you haven't already clicked the "Like" button - feel free!

We really love Thanksgiving here at the shop. Years ago when I still went out on the road to make deliveries, Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday to deliver for. Why you might ask? The smells, the amazing smells that come from inside when they greet you at the door. Cooking! Everyone is cooking and they are so happy. Add a gorgeous flower arrangement for the table and the holiday is complete.

We had the honor last week of providing flowers for the Nassau Inn photo shoot. The Nassau Inn is located in the heart of the downtown Princeton shopping district. If you've never been there, it truly is a treat! It's always challenging to design arrangements that not only show off the location (which is the whole idea of the photo shoot to begin with) but also not be overly seasonal. Right now we are in the throws of fall flowers but folks viewing these pictures could be doing so in Spring, Summer or even in the dead of Winter. Our color theme for the shoot were rich reds, pinks and purples. Purple has been a hot wedding color for the later part of 2010 and appears to be going strong right into 2011. Red and pink are always classic so put the three together and WOW!! Drama!! Look at this lovely shot of the Palmer Room. One of my personal favorites at the Inn because it's elegant but cozy. This room also has lovely daytime light but when the sun goes down, the glow comes ...

I love this shot of our bride Caroline from her August wedding as she struts along the streets of Princeton University's campus. Boy, things have changed in the world of wedding photography. Back in my day, you just stood there and hopefully looked good! We especially loved creating her brides maids bouquets of all hydrangea. They contained three different shades - green, light blue and then medium blue. Tied with a simple ribbon, they really complimented their blue dresses. Caroline's bouquet was created using flowers of different sizes and shapes from white, to pale blue with accents of sapphire. Blue has been a popular color for 2010 and I predict that trend will continue right on into 2011. That sounds good to me being blue is actually my favorite color! To see more of our wedding designs visit our website (and you'll see it's very blue) at http://www.perfectweddingflowers.com/