Sending Smiles ~

We had such a wonderful time designing these Ocean themed centerpieces. Can you guess the flowers used in these floral designs?  What would a bat mitzvah be without the balloons and these fish, dolphin and whale balloons were just the thing to bring the theme into Tre Piani for the party.    To see these and more of our themed event design be sure to visit our event website at www.mondaymorningballoons.com  

If a full page showing big, bright pink peonies doesn’t stop  Redbook  magazine readers in their tracks while flipping through the April issue, then the headline, “This month, bring him flowers” will make them do a double take, thanks to SAF’s public relations efforts — which also resulted in a prime placement for flowers in the March issue of O, The Oprah Magazine.  The eye-catching blooms and enticing headline in beckons readers to findings from two Rutgers University research studies on the benefits of floral gifts. “A Rutgers University study found that men are noticeably sweeter to women who give them blooms,” the article states explaining one finding from the SAF-backed  Emotional Impact of Flowers Study . It goes on to quote lead researcher Jeannette Haviland-Jones, Ph.D.: “‘Plus, people automatically like you more, and think you’re sensitive and thoughtful.’” Haviland-Jones is referring to results from the  Power of Giving Flowers Study , which w...

Natural and rustic is the theme of this bouquet for our Bride Alaina for her wedding at the Lambertville Inn. Locally grown lilacs, fever few daisies, succulents, blue thistle, silvery brunia and lime green buplerium make for a very textured, fresh picked bouquet.  Formal satin ribbon would not have gone with this bouquet so the stems were wrapped in a natural twine keeping with the sophisticated rustic theme of the bouquet.  Love the mini succulents we added to the bouquet, don't you? To see this and more of our wedding design be sure to check out our wedding website ! 

Sorry, I could not resist throwing a little fun into this " Green Themed " blog and don't you just love Kermie anyway? Actually, it is very easy being green at least in the floral design world. Have you ever noticed that when your food arrives to your table at an upscale restaurant their is usually something fresh and green on your plate?  Have you ever wondered why they add a sprinkling of fresh herbs on top of certain foods before presenting them? It is because these herbs not only brighten the palate but also liven the color of the food on the plate. Half the experience of eating is the presentation of the food on the plate and how appealing it looks to the eye. The reason we often add green to our floral designs , is the same reason that chef's add a pop of green on their culinary creations. Adding neutral green adds depth to the design as well making the other colors in the arrangement seem more vibrant. Take the arabicum, berries and hanging amaranthus in...

It was such an honor to speak before 45 young, emerging leader as part of the LEEP program which is an offshoot of the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce.                

Nothing makes a florist cringe more than reading those words in an obituary ~ In Lieu of Flowers. The death of a family member or close friend is one of life's most painful episodes. Those in mourning need support and most of us are anxious to find some way to comfort them. One of the most appropriate and appreciated ways to express sympathy and compassion, as well as respect for the deceased, is by sending flowers . Occasionally, the obituary announcement includes the phrase " In lieu of flowers , contributions may be made to...". Often times, this terminology is used to encourage charitable gifts but not necessarily to discourage other expressions. Most families sincerely appreciate all personal expressions and may later regret having too few flowers at the funeral . It is important that each giver make their own choice and many people are choosing to send a floral remembrance to the service or family home as well as a donation to the charity indicated. Whil...

We love April and May at the store because of all the fun parties we get to decorate! Our designers were  hard at work making centerpieces today.  Blue and white centerpieces for a corporate meeting. Love the blue iris! Folks are loving all the bright colors at this time of the year. I'll bet these looked sharp on the tables.  To see these and more example of our party floral centerpieces, be sure to visit our event website at www.mondaymorningballoons.com 

It's that time of year again - time to show your admin's you appreciate all they do for you.  Dating back to 1952, Administrative Professional's Week is the time to show your secretary, administrative assistant, or executive assistant that the work they do is valued and important.  After all, the business would not work without them.  This holiday was created to recognize administrative professionals and let them know their work is crucial to the company - so show them you care!  Did you know the most common gifts for Admin Week are:  flowers, cards, candies, and assorted gift baskets- and guess what?  We have them all here at Monday Morning Flowers !  AND we do same day delivery if you order by 3PM.  But don't wait, Administrative Professionals Week is April 22nd-26th, so take just a minute to browse our website , and see what you think your admin would like. We have everything from gorgeous floral arrangements to gourmet fruit, snac...

Have you ever seen a flower like this? This is a pincushion protea and the variety of this one is called Tango. Imagine including this in a Bridal Bouquet or a High Style Floral Design? Orange is a popular color for event design and even many of our daily designs are showcasing orange flowers.  I especially love the combination of roses, berries and protea, like this arrangement that we recently added to our website. A great floral gift for man, don't you think?  To see this and more of  our floral designs, visit our website at www.sendingsmiles.com - we have so many floral gift ideas and we are always adding more! We want to be your local florist! 

When I talk to people about their floral designs , whether they are for a wedding or just a floral gift, they often say ~ "I don't need those exact flowers, you can change the flowers to lower the cost". Here it is in a nutshell folks, changing the flowers, changes the look. Changing the flowers changes the texture and often changing the flowers changes the ability to make an arrangement in a certain color theme.  If you could create a very artsy, unique looking arrangement by using common flowers instead of expensive rare ones, everyone would do it, right? Take the bouquet in the picture below. This bouquet is created with quite a few different flowers such as scabiosa pods, mini calla lilies, spray roses, tea roses, hypericum berries and seeded eucalyptus. If you wanted to make a lower cost version of this bouquet, you probably could change out some of the callas with carnations but the calla lily has a very unusual shape and nothing else, with a lower cost, real...

As our "High Tea and Hands On Design" event gets closer, we are getting more and more excited!  Tea service for the event will be provided by Taking Tea In Style , and we can not wait to have all the delicious goodies that will be served! Gourmet sandwiches and desserts with fresh brewed teas and special jam, this is going to be an afternoon delight.  Along with a lovely afternoon out to relax, we will be teaching how to create your own charming tea cup floral arrangement.  Perfectly dainty and a fabulous decoration for the house, you will love to make these at home as your  Spring decor .  Space is filling up, but we still have room for a few more participants, so call our shop at 609-520-2005 today to reserve your spot!  This event is only $45, so make it a ladies afternoon out and bring a girlfriend!  Enjoy tea, get crafty, and don't forget - bring your big hats in honor of Will and Kate's upcoming anniversary - it's go...

This weekends wedding for Lisa and Bill was especially fun to design. The bridal bouquet consisted of 3 different colored gerbera diaises - coral, light lavender and medium pink. Accents of baby's breath was added to break up the colors and along the outer leaves we added loops of ti leaves to add a cool edge.  The bridal party consisted of 6 brides maids wearing black gowns. 2 brides maids carried coral gerbers, 2 carried light lavender and 2 carried medium pink. The stems were wrapped in black satin ribbon to allow them to disappear into the dress and not take away from the gorgeous flowers!   I am especially fond of the coral colored gerbera ~ this variety is called Bismark and these flowers are grown in Canada. They are especially hardy, which is perfect for hand tied bouquets like these.  The babies breath is called Party Time and has big, fat florets and they looks especially nice paired with the gerberas. I think these are the perfect bouquets for ...

Roses for $5? You got it, each Friday at both our flower stores located in  - Princeton, NJ and Yardley, PA we have what we call $5 Flower Fridays. Each week we offer a great fresh flower deal and today's special are rose bouquets. You don't get flowers this fresh at the Super Market and our goal is to bring you fresh product at a great price so that you can treat yourself. We think everyone should have fresh flowers in the house and we would love to sell them to you!  Our Princeton shop is open until 7 PM and Yardley until 6 PM. We'd love to see you and remember, Shop Local! 

Wow, that sounds so ominous but truly, most couples that I meet have not given enough thought to how much they can spend on their wedding flowers. When you began your wedding planning , did you set an overall wedding budget for all elements needed for the day? If not, that could be a problem down the line. I won't tackle that in this blog because I'm not a wedding planner but this statement comes from years of seeing families struggle to come up with the money to have the wedding they envision. If you don't have a working budget in the beginning and don't allocate dollars for each item needed, you are definitely going to exceed what you can afford. Here's a great worksheet that shows you most, if not all of the elements needed in a wedding. Easy Budget Wedding Spreadsheet ~  I'm surprised how often couples tell me they are already over budget and did include a line item for flowers! That's like going into a car dealer and saying I have no money t...

We sell more red roses than another other color. That probably doesn't come as surprise to you because when it comes to romance it's all about the red. This rose variety is called "Freedom" and has rich red petals that gently open outward as the flower blooms.  Red roses are still the traditional floral gift for wedding anniversaries with 12 being the most popular presentation followed by 2 dozen. A simple glass vases, elegant foliage and a touch of accent flowers such as baby's breath makes for a classic/timeless presentation.  What are your favorite color roses ? 

We love holidays here at the shop, not only because they can be a very busy time for us (which means business is good) but we love what our flowers "bring" to these special days. Even as florists we love having and sharing our floral designs with family over the holidays. Take my niece Mary Ann who absolutely adored this "bunny" floral arrangement. Not only did she carry it around but she was seen petting the "bunny" many times in the course of the Easter celebration. How gratifying it was for me to provide her with this first floral experience.  The holiday dinner table wouldn't be complete without a floral centerpiece and gauging by how many Easter centerpieces we sold this year, our customers felt that same way. Who says kids don't appreciate flowers? My nephew carefully staged this display which include not only the floral centerpiece but also his Transformer and his Enterprise model. :)    If you didn't have flowers on your din...