Sending Smiles ~

Looking for a different rose gift for Valentine's Day? How about this stunning design created by our designer Holly. Cymbidium orchids and roses in red, hot pink and pale pink arraned in a metallic vase accented with floating hearts. Who says sending a dozen roses for Valentine's Day has to be boring!! To see this and more of holiday designs check out our website at www.sendingsmiles.com

Check out our newest video showing scenes from both of our shops. What fun it is to work in a flower shop - Enjoy!! http://animoto.com/s/kQOb3f4gbj4EhM0dTergQQ

Well, this bouquet is not exactly the shade that was chosen by Pantone Color Institutes color of the year for 2011 - Honeysuckle but it's pretty darn close. With all the brides that I've met with over the last 2 months, I have to say that a bright reddish pink seems to be showing up high on brides wedding color wish list. We saw many brides returning to various shades of pink last year, just as we did for our bride Lauren this past fall. This hand tied bouquet was made using roses in different shades and sizes, hydrangeas, lisianthus, ranuculus and was accented with chocolate cosmos, pink astilbe and very cool scabiosa pods. Imagine this vibrant and cheery bouquet against chocolate brown brides maids dresses. An unexpected and feminine color theme for just about any time of year and apparently the inspiration for this years color of the year - Honeysuckle! To see more of our wedding designs visit our wedding site at http://www.perfectweddingflowers.com/ or our everyday flow

What fun it was for me to write a guest blog on the Nassau Inn's wedding site. I'm happy with the results and thought I'd share the link on my own blog. The topic is "How to Choose a Wedding Florist" and I give my recommendations in 5 simple steps. If you are interested in this blog visit the Nassau Inn's wedding blog at the http://blog.nassauinn.com/2011/01/how-to-choose-a-wedding-florist/ I'd love to hear what you think and let me know if you found it helpful!

It may be winter to you but our summer and fall brides are working away, looking for inspirations for their weddings and so I thought I'd add this into the mix for consideration. Can't decide what to have your flower girl carry? How about one of these adorable "kissing" ball pomanders? Tossing petals is still the number 1 choice but sometimes it's not allowed. Why not choose one of these whimsical arrangements for her to carry? Imagine creating one with white button mums accented with tiny black pearl pins and a black satin ribbon. So elegant for a black and white themed wedding. Going for a natural look? What about green moss accented with loops of grasses or even curly willow dangling on natural raffia? Looking for a soft, romantic look? How about soft and ruffled pink carnations accented with tiny sweetheart roses? Unexpected and fun, who could ask for anything better!

Choosing flowers for your bridal bouquet can be daunting - to say the least. With so many options, how do you know you'll choose the flowers, style and colors you really love? When I meet with brides I remind them to remember that the flowers they carry will not only be viewed up close but also from a distance. Brides that are fearful of color should take note that soft shading differences, like the ones in this bouquet, make for interesting close ups and add a soft amount of color against their white or ivory gowns. If you are thinking that creams and whites are just too blah for you, why not add a touch of pastel? To see more examples of our wedding designs visit our wedding website at http://www.perfectweddingflowers.com/

 Are you planning an event that requires floral centerpieces? Are you overwhelmed with all the flower, color and container options? If so, this blog should help you at least understand how the container being used to "house" the flowers can help or hurt you with regards to size and budget. Read on to learn how important choosing the right container can be! Let's talk about the flowers pictured below. These floral centerpieces were created in elegant wooden pedestal bowls. There are a few reasons that I personally like this way of designing. First off, the container, although adding to the cost of the over all table display, also creates a wonderful starting point for the flowers. The container is interesting in and by itself and the flowers only add to the elegance. The pluses to use a container like this one is that the flowers are slightly elevated off the table making the arrangement look more substantial. The fact that the container is decorative means you need less

Did you know that we have a sympathy specific website just for choosing and sending funeral flowers? About 4 years ago we developed this site to make it easier on folks needing to plan a family service, not to mention others who needed to show their sympathy through flowers. We thought by having a site just for these kinds of flowers and other gifts it would be more considerate of their feelings during a stressful and sad time. This past week we were able to redo the site completely with many new and updates styles of arrangements. I sincerely hope you won't need this website, but if you do we hope it makes it easier on you. To visit our site you can go to http://www.sendingsympathy.com/ and to  read more about the importance of sending flowers for funerals, visit our re posted blog on the subject.

It's a snowy day here in NJ/PA and Karen's pretty wedding bouquet is loaded and on it's way to her home in Levittown, PA. Roses in 3 shades of pink accented with crystal stephanotis. Hand tied and simple. The perfect bouquet for a wintry January day. Don't you think? Want to see more of our wedding designs? Visit our facebook page at www.facebook.com/localflorist

A meeting today with bride Adele got me to thinking about this blog topic. Working with brides to create floral bouquets that they absolutely love has as much to do with the "texture" the flower combinations create as the "color" theme of the flowers. For example, these bouquets were mostly shades of orange but had these been made using a single flower such as roses or even the dahlias, they certainly would have looked completely different. A bride that likes "texture" will usually love bouquets that have flowers in different shapes and sizes and even though they might be monochromatic, mostly one color like these, the flowers themselves might have slightly different shading with in the same flowers. These bouquets used both roses and tulips that showed mostly as orange but hints and lines of yellow. Take that color away and again, the look would be completely different. Anyone that has ever had a wedding consultation with me knows I generally attack the

It's funny how often I get asked what my favorite flower is. I wonder if people ask the pizza maker what his favorite pie is. Anyway, roses, roses and more roses. I love roses. I love everything about them. This picture taken at Longwood Gardens on Christmas Day by yours truly shows my fascination with this perfect flower. This bud is just a day or so away from blooming fully and although I generally am not fond of roses that are still buds, this one just spoke to me and forced me to take a photo of it. I wonder if it was mocking me for all the times I've told brides that roses are most beautiful when they are they are fully bloomed. I stand corrected, roses are beautiful at every stage!!