Sending Smiles ~

What's in season ? Tulips! They are coming from Farms in NJ, Virginia & Holland. An interesting fact about tulips is that they continue to grow after being cut, up to an inch or more & they are “phototropic” which means they bend towards the light! Do you follow our shop on Facebook ? Each Saturday we share a new flower that has recently come into season. We'd love for you to follow us and share!  Spring is around the corner!

December is a fun month to be working here at the flower shop for multiple reasons but the main one is that our days are so varied. One day we might be making 34 cookie bouquets for a corporate client , like I'm doing below.  Or we may be making 24 Chocolate Sled Gift Baskets to be delivered to the Pavillions, like Alanna is working on below.   Or perhaps we making really pretty centerpieces for a holiday party, like Holly is doing below.   Not to mention hosting a design class where the students have fun and make new friends.   And at the end of the class the students pose with their creations!   Design Rosy makes boxwood tree after boxwood tree , all created by hand, one piece of foliage at a time and then decorated for the holiday.  Whatever we work on at the shop, including sympathy designs to show love to grieving families, our days in December are extremely varied and rewarding. While others might be slowing down at wor...

I know what people think... "It must be fun to play with flowers all day long". hahaha, those of us in the Flower Biz always laugh at that because yes, we do enjoy our jobs and let's face it, who wouldn't want to be surrounded with gorgeous flowers day in and day out. The part that most folks find surprising is how truly hard it is to perform at 100% day in and day out. Being creative yes, but also detailed. There are so many important details that one miss and you just might ruin someones birthday, wedding or make them even more sad at a loved ones funeral.  This photo below shows how we plan ahead and advise our clients to do the same. This floral arrangement was designed to fit no matter what the wedding day weather was. In this case, it rained and these flowers fit this nook above a huge fireplace to help decorate the ceremony site. If the sun was out, this piece was made in two pieces and would have been placed on each side of the bride and groom on a ledge t...

There's no doubt... all of us that work here at the flower shop just love flowers. But truthfully, how can you look at this photo and not love them? Garden and tea roses, ranuculus and tulips combined with funky accents of scabiosa pods (those cool green ball things) and dusty miller (the silvery lambs ear looking foliage) make for an interesting floral display. In this case, a brides maids bouquet but honestly, who wouldn't want to receive this mixture of flowers in a low glass cube vase or a silver cylinder container? Next time you order flowers, why not let the florist go wild and get a bit "unconventional" for you? There's a big "floral" world out there waiting to be discovered!! To see more of our designs check out our website at http://www.sendingsmiles.com/ or visit our wedding site at ww.perfectweddingflowers.com

Once I get a bee in my bonnet (ok, I totally dated myself with that one) I'm hard to stop! I wanted our website to be easier for our mobile customers to use and by golly (there I go again) I've done it! It can't be said that we here at Monday Morning Flowers are not forward thinking and progressive. We just launched our mobile website and the buzz so far is that customers are really liking it. The neat (does that qualify as an "old" word) thing is that it actually works off our main website and will recognize if you are on a mobile unit. It automatically switches to an easier version to use which helps speed along your browsing and buying. Gee whiz, (sorry, I could not resist) you really can teach an old dog new tricks. Check out our new mobile site and let us know what you think. Now, my day would have been complete if I could have figured out how to include "upsy daisy" in this blog. Well, a girl can't always be forward thinking and clever at t...

Our new video , originally uploaded by Georgianne at Monday Morning Flowers . It was really fun having a camera man in our shop a few weeks back! I am super happy with the video that Superpages produced for us. I hope you enjoy!!

When you were a little girl and dreamed of your wedding day, there's a good chance that you dreamed of wearing a long white gown while you carried a gorgeous bridal bouquet of white flowers Classic and elegant, creams and white flowers complement your gown without competing. Worried that a white bouquet is boring? Never! Create texture and drama by using flowers in various shades of white and cream. Flowers of different shapes and sizes also add dimensions. The bouquet to the left is lightly accented with pearl studded stephanotis and lisianthus buds give this bouquet softness. What about the simple bouquet to the right? The bouquet was the perfect complement to bride Jennifer's gorgeous gown. Tiny rhinestones along her bodice were the perfect inspiration for her pretty bracelet and rhinestone studded stephanotis. Cream colored roses created depth and a light collar of white ostrich feathers soften and the bouquet and looked fantastic against her soft tulle skirt. The ...

For those of you who read my blog, you know I rarely make it overly "Salesish" but in the spirit of Christmas and knowing that many of you will be running around like crazy looking for gifts, I thought it might be nice if I point out some of my favorite offerings this year. The orders for some of our Teleflora product have started coming in and I have to say I really love the Christmas Cookie Bouquet. The mixing bowl is simply adorable and the arrangmenet really makes up nice. Because this is a Teleflora product, it's easy for us to help you send this to just about any location in the US and Canada. At $52.95 this really makes a sweet gift for anyone on your list and shopping online and hand delivery make it both fast and simple. Another Teleflora  product that I'm really liking is the Teleflora Lenox Holly-Day arrangement. The bowl is aspecially lovely and we have already sold quite a few of these, minus the flowers. That, to me, is the ultimate compliment as peo...

As I sit here at my desk at just before 6 pm, waiting for my husband and driver to return from setting up a large floral event at the Hyatt in Princeton, I'm reading an online article from the Society of American Florist in their E-Brief. I love these e-mails that arrive every Wednesday with bits of new of the floral industry. The article I just read prompted me to think about what, if anything, sets a local florist apart from the local Supermarket. Aside from the fact that we usually offer delivery, which most markets don't, along with a wider range of "arranged" flower selections, we sometimes sell the exact same flower. People may ask why the flowers from the florist cost more than the Supermarket, and the truth is that it's about buying power, gross margins and acceptable spoilage. A local florist will buy far less than a Supermarket, thereby paying a higher price. They don't have the volume to make up for low margins. The Supermarket can also afford to ...

Lots of people ask me the same question when they first meet me and find out the name of my business. That question is "where did the name Monday Morning Flower and Balloon come from". Well, I don't blame them, even I know it's sort of a strange name, a catchy one but a bit unusual for a flower shop. Ok , so here goes, this is where the name came from. I was working another business (Mrs. V's Cleaning Service) and I was beginning to realize that cleaning houses was pretty hard work. I was feeling like I needed more of a challenge so I thought starting another business might be a good idea. I went to the bookstore and found a book of "easy to start" businesses and in there I found one called "Monday Morning Flower Shop". The idea of this business would be to offer delivery of flowers to corporate offices for their lobby on Mondays. So that is exactly what I did and being the creative person that I am, I just used that name. Monday Morning Flow...