Sending Smiles ~

So you are planning your Spring wedding and everywhere you read they tell you should choose flowers that are “in season”. Sounds like it would be simple but often flowers that are available and affordable are not so easy to discern. Why is that you might ask? Mostly it has to do with where flowers are grown. Years ago, if you went to your local florist for wedding flowers, chances are they had a green house attached to their shop and grew many of the necessary flowers. Whatever they grew at that time of year was what you could choose from, plain and simple! Fast forward 50 years and that’s no longer true. Even if we look back 10 or 15 years ago, florists were able to obtain at least some flowers from local greenhouses and farms. Today in NJ, there are not many of these local sources available for “florist” grade cut flowers. Why do I mention this? Well, because the season and weather conditions here in NJ and Eastern PA (where my shops are located) does not really play into the whole ...

Ah, the age old question - do you schedule wedding consultations on the weekends? Well, maybe it's not that old a question but for those of us who run small floral shops (yes, even though I have 20 employees, we are still small) it's always tough to be in two places at once. I love meeting with brides and I reserve that  job to me and only me. Why just me, the owner? First off, I love meeting the brides. Secondly, I feel that for all the things we do in the shop, weddings are an area that truly can make or break our reputation. You only get one chance to do a great job for a wedding and after 22 years in the business, I'm just not willing to delegate that job to anyone but me. My talent is reaching into a brides mind and extracting her floral taste, even if she does not know she has one. On her wedding day I want her to feel that I not only listened to her but that I became one with her and created exactly what she would love. Now back to the question. Yes, we do weddin...

"I'm on a budget of about $1,000 for my wedding flowers. What's the best way to spend my money"?  Sound familiar? I get asked that question all the time and so I was inspired to write this blog.  I know it seems like a lot of money but if you need a bridal bouquet, 4 brides maids, flower girl, boutonnieres and corsages, altar decor and even centerpieces... wow, it can be a hard one to maneuver! My advise in this budget range would be to concentrate mostly on the personal flowers such as the bouquets, etc. Keep the flowers to one or two colors so that you can keep the bouquets smaller and more chic. Also, be sure to keep to seasonal flowers. No, peony are not in season in October - come on, I know you were thinking they were!! I'm going to hang a sign in our consultation room that says "spring flowers are mostly in season during the spring"!  It's ok to want pink flowers in November but with a little research you'll find that roses, lil...

It's that time of year again where brides call and come in to talk about their wedding flowers. I thought I'd post a quick guideline of items to bring to your floral appointment. An organized bride who has given some thought to her floral desires before coming in will have a much more productive meeting than one who has not taken the time to give it some thought! Item #1 - Bring a list of the florals that you will need. Nothing is worse than a bride who answers the question "how many brides maids do you have?" by counting them on her fingers! Item #2 - Pictures of both bridal gown and brides maids dresses. The more we can get a feel for your style, the better. Items #3 - Floral inspiration pictures. This is really a must. Collect pictures of flowers that show your style. A picture is truly worth a thousand words and most brides do not know the name of many flowers. What better way to show the texture, color, style and size of each flower element than...