Sending Smiles ~

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had at the shop. Over 100 floral arrangements and centerpieces were delivered the day before the holiday and everyone seemed quite pleased with their fresh flowers. Now, with December 1st  just around the corner, how thoughts turn towards the holiday. Don't let the 60 degree temps fool you, it definitely time for Christmas cheer and gift shopping.  This year we added a new balloon bouquet to our offerings. This bouquet of 6 helium filled mylar balloons is super festive and a fun gift for kids of all ages only $34.95.  When you walk in the front door of our Princeton shop you are greeted by our Christmas tree that is loaded with tiny stuffed animals, lolly pops and many different styles of Christmas ornaments. Each and everything on the tree is for sale, of course and many make great stocking stuffer's.  Winter Welcome, this slate hanging sign is so pretty and can be displayed for years to come, only $14.95. What ...

Let's face it, it's been a tough few years and local food banks have suffered. Inspired by a TV Food Network program that Kevin saw recently, he really wanted to do something to help out. In an effort to spread the cheer at this time of year, we've put into place a matching donation program to help support the local New Jersey Food Bank. When you place an order and donate $3.00 to the food bank, we'll match your donation. Our hopes are to raise a few hundred dollars and if all goes well, we'll continue into the New Year. Help us to help those having a tough time right now. Remember, there a folks who need our help who live in our communities and no one should be hungry in America.

I love noticing trends as they come and go and I have to say, peach has been a hot trend this year in event and wedding designs. I've always adored peach but with orange being the hot ticket, it seems like peach was just pushed aside. Well, not any more! Looking over our wedding designs from that last few weeks peach was a color we saw used again and again. It's also that time of year when I start meeting with many new brides for their 2012 weddings, a peach remains a strong color theme. I'll keep you posted as the trend into 2012 start to become more apparent but from my point of view - I'd be on peach being a bigger next year!

My friend Patti always cracks me up... "I'm going to return in another life and sell widgets!" She's my friend but also the person who finds the flowers I need for the shop and they come from all over the world.  I love my job, I love flowers but sometimes I completely understand Patti's battle cry to sell a product that is not: Made by Nature Perishable Subjective and.... Misunderstood Don't get me wrong, the flower biz is just about the best career ever but it can be a bit of an uphill battle. Take for instance a call I had 2 weeks ago.. Ring, ring, ring... Georgianne: Hi, How can I help you? Customer: I just got yellow roses delivered and I think there is something wrong with them. I think they are old. Georgianne:  Oh my, what's wrong with them, are they wilted? Are they drooping? Customer: No, but they are brown along the edge and they look bumpy and they don't look like the yellow roses I've gotten before. The petals look we...

This past week we had the pleasure of working on a small wedding with a cool twist. The groom, who is Scottish was able to provide us with a bit of his very own family tartan! His flower, pictured hear included lots of natural elements such as deep blue thistle, seeded eucalyptus, a loop of curly willow, a pheasant feather and red hypericum berries. A light accent of his family tartan was added, which matched the brides bouquet that also had the fabric wrapped down her flower stems. Who said boutonnieres have to be boring? This one certainly helped the groom express his family history and his personality! To see this and more of our design ideas can be seen at our website at http://www.sendingsmiles.com/ http://www.sendingsmiles.com/aboutus.asp?topnav=TopNav

We would be less than truthful if we said that the last 2 years or so have not been a hard time for our company. The recession took it's toll and with other flower shops closing around us, we are grateful to not only be surviving but thriving. This week we brought together almost our whole team (driver Joe and sales associate Kristine we unable to attend) for a business celebration event! We had a great time and thank you to Salt Creek Grille here in the Princeton Forretal Village for doing a fantastic hosting our meeting!  It's always fun getting a group shot as we are rarely in the same place at the same time! Mom and Dad Vinicombe even made an appearance (Arlene works in our office part time assisting Kevin) and they even brought the grandkids - our niece and nephew Mary Ann and Markie!    Shop Coordinator Sheryl, Driver Jeff, Sales Associate Melissa and holiday driver Kyle pose for me!  Driver Allan, who has been with our company for ...

 What a difference a week makes. Last week it snowed and this week, although chilly, the sun was out. Today we created and delivered 2 weddings, one for Suzan and David and the other for Andrea and Kyle.  Above is the hand tied bouquet we created for Andrea. What lovely color, don't you think? What I loved about what she chose is that her bouquet not only contained a very cool mix of flowers which included Heart garden roses but also purple carnations, yellow mini calla lilies, Tango pincushion protea accented with chocolate cosmos and foliage's. From there we jumped to each of the 3 brides maids who carried a single type of flower but all different ones. This bouquet is all obviously all roses but what a rose it is. You've heard me talk about my love for Circus roses and this time is no exception. Don't they look like a fiery sunset all bundled into one small package? The second brides maid carried a bouquet of all yellow mini calla lilies accented with s...

We did it, we survived an unexpected October snow storm on a busy event weekend. Taken with the hubby's cell phone, these floral centerpieces were set up at Prospect House on Princeton Universities Campus. Look at the snow covered trees and gardens in the back ground. With 4 teams on the road doing daily deliveries, setting up this party (a Corporate function) a full sized wedding (with church and reception set ups), a flower and balloon decorated Mitzvah and a Halloween party thrown in for good measure - it took nerves of steel to pull it off. Thank you to my amazing crew who without the benefit of boots, gloves or chains for the their tires, managed to set up all parties and get back safely to home base, each with their delivery vans intact. With power outages, electrical poles on fire, party locations being changed at the last minute and all around mass confusion, I think we did a pretty darn good job. I don't think I'll ever think of October as "no need to worry...