Sending Smiles ~

Every year we seem to sell more and more gifts and this spring is no exception. I had so much fun choosing some items to bring in for Easter, Mother's Day and Summer and I have to say, my favorite is this line of Zebra Print Gift Items. Stuffed animals, coffee mugs and even the cool tote bag all make great gifts for Mom or anyone having a birthday this summer. To see this and more of our new gifts check out our facebook page at www.facebook.com/localflorist

It's hard to believe that I became aware of  Homefront just about 20 years ago. My friend Ann was involved in the organization and told me all about it. It was perfect timing for me because I was helping my mother and father move from New Jersey to Virginia. My mom had 2 of just about everything in her kitchen and there was no way we could move it all. Ann told me I could donate all their  "perfectly good" extras to Homefront (then called the Exchange Club) and so she put me in touch with the founder, Connie Mercer. At that time, Connie and her band of volunteers were helping folks that were homeless and living in motels on Route 1 by getting them into "real" housing. Ever since then, we've been donating flowers and balloons for their clients and their special events. Fast forward to 2012 and my "visit" with Connie to Homefront this past Monday, I can't tell you how impressed I am with the amazing organi...

KISS - Keep It Simple Sweetie (Ok, so I changed that word) and this really tells that story. A brides maids bouquet made for yesterdays small wedding, this bouquet is made of Ocean Song Lavender roses and purple waxflowers accented with a tiny collar of fresh galax leaves. Posted onto my Monday Flowers Facebook page, with in a matter of hours we had over 45 "likes" by florists and non-florists alike. Sometimes you just have to keep the flower selection simple. To see this and other wedding designs feel free to visit our website at www.sendingsmiles.com or www.perfectweddingflowers.com

Every year we get a call from the White House Florist (yes, that White House)  ordering a memorial wreath for President Cleveland's Grave. He's buried in the historic Princeton Cemetery for those of you that did not know that! Each year they send a memorial wreath from the current President in honor of his birthday. This year was a huge event being it was his 175th! You may not know that he was President of the United States twice, at 2 different times. He was the 22nd and the 24th President. President Cleveland moved to Princeton, NJ in 1897 after his second term as President. He became a beloved member of the community. He died on June 24th, 1908 and was buried in Princeton Cemetery. Our local Princeton Packet newspaper always puts a photo of his ceremony on their front page. All deceased Presidents are honored this way and we are honored to be the local florist that creates this amazing wreath for our very own local President.

What I love most about going to Floral Expos and Conferences is the time I get to spend with other floral designers and shop owners. For the most part, I find them to be hard working, talented, thoughtful and extremely ethical.    Take weddings for example; there are many elements above and beyond the retail cost of a flower that we need to be compensated for. Spending time helping them with their floral selections, typing up proposals, visiting locations, ordering and designing the flowers not to mention delivering and set up of all floral elements. I've said it before and I'll say it again, wedding work is extremely rewarding but nothing takes longer than the wedding flower process.   We deal in a highly artistic, perishable product with both design and pricing largely left up to our interpretation. As for pricing, each owner has to operate their business in a way that not only covers their costs but allows them to reinvest in their staff, their equipment, t...

Have you ever wondered about those cool Echeveria Plants you are seeing all over these days? We love designing with these little guys. Sometimes we use them as a "cut" flower like this one which is left to float on a sea of polished river stones while other times we buy them as an actual plant that is still in soil. They are such a great addition to any floral arrangement or a bridal bouquet. Natural and long lasting, these tiny drought resistance plants come in all different sizes and shapes and some even have slight color variations like this one that has pink tips. In the cactus family, they don't need much water so they make an ideal compliment for your desk at work or coffee table at home. It feels wonderful to have fresh, living things in our environment so why not these adorable little succulent plants! To see these and other natural product we have for sale in the shop, why not visit our website at www.sendingsmiles.com or our facebook page at www.facebook.c...

Once again our schedule worked out to allow us to attend the Northeast Floral Conference and Expo last weekend. This year it was held in pretty Sturbridge, MA and the hotel there did a great job tending to all the crazy florists who blew in! As you can see, the expo volunteers did a great job leaving the floral mark every where you turned. the above arrangements we over 6 feet tall and really got us in the mood to meet, greet, learn and share with our floral peers.    The weekend was chock full of seminars, demonstration's, lectures and even a vendor fair. Below, J Schwanke AAF, AIFD PFCI instructs our design class in new and fun techniques for wearable flowers. J is always inspirational and entertaining! To see more of J's wonderful ideas check out www.UBloom.com Below Delaware Valley Wholesales very own Laurie Lemek AIFD also showed us new ideas for prom and wedding floral designs. No conference would be complete without a cocktail and dinner party...

Can you believe it, in just a couple short weeks it will be St. Patrick's Day? We always love that holiday around here and this year with it falling on a Saturday, we will be going all out. We've ordered in plenty of green balloons, green carnations and will even have little shamrock plants to sell. Shop Coordinator Sheryl is going to be making calls to local Pubs and Restaurants to see if they want to spruce up their places this year and really make the holiday one to remember! I personally can't wait!  Ok, so anyone that knows me knows I am addicted to peeps. How cute was our display of yellow chick peeps and daffodils. The perfect combination for spring!  We sell tons fo our decorated cookies and even though I loved the ones shaped like fall leaves and poinsettia flowers, I could not be happier to see the spring flower ones arrive once again. A fresh shipment just arrived of Get Well and Happy Birthday decorated cookies came in too. Lots of birthdays this tim...

 We had so much fun working on the Cinderella's Closet Event this past weekend at Novo Nordisk! Talk about making these girls feel special. The staff and volunteers at Novo did an amazing job collecting prom gowns, shoes and even accessories such as handbags and jewelry. On the day the girls came to the office to choose their dresses, Novo had us decorate the office to create a prom like setting to welcome them.  For those of your not familar with Cinderella's Closet, it's a non profit organization that matches up girls who need prom attire with beautiful, donated ones. Isn't that a wonderful thing?  The weeks leading up to the big "shopping" day, we provided balloons at the office on collection days to create excitement among the employees. Well, they came thru with flying colors, collecting and donation over 300 gowns! Wow!  We loved creating the decor and the staff at Novo seemed very pleased. All in all it was a great event with ...

Well, it's that time of year again - Time for the Philadelphia Flower Show! This year I did not act as a judge as I have in the past, but I was able to attend and take a look see with the hubby on Sunday. The theme this year is Hawaii and as you enter this magical place you are greeting by blue clear ocean above and white dendrobium orchid and anthurium flower waves crashing over head. What a wonderful way to start the show!  A close up below reveals how the white caps were created along with elegant and gracefully curved phaelanopsis orchid plants. Folks loved it!!    This exhibit was my personal favorite, created by Robertson's floral. On each side, representing the blue oceans with white cresting waves, were these blue water filled vessels and cut phael orchid sprays. In the center was a trip thru the mainland with it's tropical flowers and fauna and sandy beaches.  Everywhere you looked there were every type of tropical bloom and o...

It's March 2nd and Prom season is just around the corner. The girls are out buzzing around looking for gowns, jewelry and last but not least, flowers. This corsage was created for a wedding but what a great idea to attach the flowers onto a purse. It's a bit different and fun and we especially loved the colors of this one. Lavender roses and blue hydrangea really looked amazing on the platinum purse. A very "in" color theme right now!! Check back to our website shortly as we'll we putting up our Prom category very soon. www.sendingsmiles.com

It's always fun to open up the paper and see our balloon or flower handy work. In this case a local Princeton business was celebrating their first anniversary with a ribbon cutting and festive balloons. What about this arch that we created for the Trenton Thunder Baseball Team when they wanted to celebrate making it into the playoffs? Flying over 70 feet long, 20 feet above the heads of arriving fans, it sure showed that it was time to celebrate! Spring is one of our busiest times of year for balloon designs such as this arch we created for Mercer County Community Colleges graduation last year. What better way to celebrate a milestone than with balloons! They are big and showy and sometimes it's just what you need to celebrate! To see these and many other of our balloon designs check out our website at www.mondaymorningballoons.com or www.sendingsmiles.com