Sending Smiles ~

What's more fun that festive balloons at a party? Did you know that Monday Morning Flower and Balloon Co inflates over 40,000 balloons each year? Now that's a lot of hot air - or helium to be exact. Balloons are so much fun for all kinds of events like Bar and Bat Mitzvah, Sweet 16 parties, showers, anniversary and birthday parties. Take this Sweet 16 held at KatManDu in Trenton, NJ http://www.katmandutrenton.com/ with only three balloons in each bouquet, yet so visual. To see more of our balloon design work, visit our event website at http://www.mondaymorningballoons.com/ . We hope the next time you throw a party, you might consider decorating with balloons!

Don't you just love Hydrangeas? I know I do. As soon as I meet with a bride and she mentions blues or purples, these gorgeous flowers pop right to mind. Full and lush, they make gorgeous bouquets, centerpieces and look lovely tied to the end of a pew with a simple fabric ribbon. This photo taken at Longwood Gardens just this past week (by yours truly, of course) really shows not only the depth of color but also the variety of color from bloom to bloom. As shown here, these are all mostly on the same plant of the same variety. If you are looking for a perfect match and to have the blossoms all the exact same shade, hydrangeas might not be for you. I personally think that the randomness of the color is exactly what makes these flowers so gorgeous. Haven't considered hydrangea for your wedding? Perhaps I have changed your mind? :o)

Just a quickie blog to say Happy Holidays to all our customer, family, friends and "Blog" readers. We wish for you health, happiness and a prosperous 2011 from all of us at Monday Morning Flower and Balloon Co!

Have you ever wondered who arranges the flowers here at our shop or takes your phone call? Well, here is most of the crew!! Norman is all the way in the back, and new designer Samantha in front of him. Then that's Theresa who after a few years away is back at the Princeton shop - she used to manage our Yardley store. All the way in the back is Design Coordinator Holly, and in front of her is designer Rocio. Tina is in the back on the right and she preps all the flowers and keeps us all neat and clean. Sitting in the front on the bottom is Sales Associate and Marketing Assistant Melissa. Behind her is me, Georgianne. Next to us is to the left is Shop Coordinator Sheryl and Sales Associate Heena (how has been with us over 10 years!). Well, anyway, you know have a face to put with some names. These folks assist our clients with smile and design with all their might to deliver the best possible product and customer service!!

Have you ever noticed how many birthdays there are in December? In our business, we certainly see the ebbs and flows of life events such as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and sympathies. In addition to Christmas and Hanukkah, December is always busy for us with folks needing to send thoughts of comfort and sympathy. What a terrible time of year to loose a loved one. We take great pride in providing beautiful floral arrangements for viewings and services, just like Holly is doing for this recent service. A spring like mixture of flowers in shades of pinks and creams using roses, gerber, snaps and orchids. To see more of our sympathy work visit our sympathy website at http://www.sendingsympathy.com/ and for happier occasions shop us at http://www.sendingsmiles.com/

I have to say that I'm so happy that bright colors seem to be coming back into fashion. Remember back in the early 90's when we thought nothing of wearing purple blazers or hot pink sweaters? Haven't you missed those bright, feel good colors? I know I have. Last week I had to do some shopping for a family that Kevin and I were sponsoring for Christmas. One of the family members had asked for a pink sweater. Thinking that it might be tough to find a bright and really cool pink sweater, I ventured into the women's department. I was delighted to see many to choose from and so many other pretty tops and sweaters in bright, vibrant shades. I see this trend also in floral design, from wedding to everyday orders. People are in love with color and I could not be happier! Just like this bouquet we created for a photo shoot for the Nassau Inn - http://www.nassauinn.com/ taken by Kyo Morishima Photography - http://www.kymorishima.com/ - most brides are coming in asking for r...

Did you know our Princeton shop is located in the Princeton Forrestal Village? Yes we are and we are just up from the Westin Hotel and are located between Exquisite Brides (how convenient to be located next to that) and Tre Piani and Tre Bar (again, how convenient is that?)! We've actually been in the Village for just over 12 years and we really love it. We moved out of downtown Princeton when we lost our lease and needed more space. People often ask if anyone finds us in this mixture of corporate and retail and the answer is yes they do. We actually do a very brisk walk in and thanks to customer deciding to shop local and the recession lightening up it's grip a bit, our walk in is up this year very nicely. We make speedy delivery into down town Princeton, the whole Route 1 corridor, all of Mercer County, parts of Middlesex and Somerset, not to mention Lower Buck, each and every day. Offering delivery to over 70 zip codes keeps our 3 to 5 delivery trucks busy all day long,...

Every year Kevin and I sit down to make up our holiday gift list for our own customers. Talk about a long list, as we are lucky enough to have many wonderful customers! This year we decided to do a combination of chocolates and poinsettias. I love to have fun with our corporate gifts as a way of showing our clients some new and unusual things. Of course red poinsettias area always popular but this year we sent out some white ones, like this one and also some Cinnamon colored ones that were almost a copper color. What raves reviews we received too! We also have done in the past large red poinsettia trees and once again, folks really loved getting them. The biggest compliment we get to a gift is when someone calls to thank us and then asks us to send the same thing to their client. The holidays are a busy time for us, but we really do try to take the time to show our customers how much we appreciate their business!! Tis the Season!!

Yes, the funky peacock feather bouquet was ours! I write that line a bit tongue in cheek because one of our bouquets has become famous and known as the "Funky Peacock Feather" bouquet. I posted a photo almost 3 years ago onto my Flickr account and did not watermark or protect it in any way. Almost 10,000 views later that bouquet seemed to have caused the most buzz. I've seen it used so many times (mostly without credit to our shop - no worries, I'm not angry about that) in blogs and online. I thought it would be fun to show some of the other photos from that wedding. I often get asked if we really did that bouquet. Yes and here's the proof! The bride was Stephanie and the photographer was Jeff Tisman and the bride came to me very close to her October wedding date. Why? Because she was afraid that the florist would talk her out of using peacock feathers in her wedding. That was before she knew me and found out how much I love doing, not only what the brid...

Here's the Yardley shop all decorated for the season. We started early this year because just after Thanksgiving our business ramps up for the holidays, leaving little time to decorate our own spaces!! The wreath that hangs on the front door of the Princeton Forrestal Village was created by designer Norman. A tree at the Yardley shop holds all kinds of sweet holiday gifts. Each of the Yardley staff have their own stocking, hung with care - of course! Don't forget about our free book exchange. It's completely free and we have over 350 books to choose from! This year we brought in a line of silks for the holidays. Perfect to decorate the home, wreaths and we even use many in the custom grave blankets we decorate. A newly decorated wreaths awaits delivery to a lucky family! Wreaths make nice gifts! This year we have added line of chocolates. They are made for us by a local chocolatier and have for both Hanukkah and Christmas. They have been very good sellers so far! As alwa...