Sending Smiles ~

Every now and then we get a bride who comes in and gives us creative liberty with her bridal bouquet - this is one such bouquet. Don't you just love it? We sure do, especially all the interesting texture. Made using Paco mini callas, mini gerbers, Orange Unique roses, Tango protea, chocolate brown mini cymbidium orchids, fiddle ferns, coffee foliage, seeded euc and fresh lotus pods! Wow, that is a mouthful. What do you think? Would you want to carry a bridal bouquet like this for your fall wedding? To see this and more of our wedding designs, visit our website at www.perfectweddingflowers.com 

We had so much fun Wednesday night hosting our 2nd hands on design class. This time we taught  everything you needed to know to make your own Fall Wreath! First timer Jessica had a wonderful time and we were impress with not only her talent but all the ladies who did a great job!!  Each participant was given a grapevine wreath as their base, some ribbon, dried oak leaves, pine cones and dried wheat. From there the ladies were able to choose from a large array of other elements such a faux fruit, berries, vines and other dried materials.   Once their elements were chosen, Sheryl and Alanna had the honors of applying the hot glue. Between making their wreaths, talking and snacking on wine and cheese, a very pleasant night was had by all!   Let's face it, everything is better with Wine and Cheese! Melissa, Jeanne and Martha have enjoyed coming out to the store for a little "creative girl" time.   Mother and daughter team Jeanne and Amanda had fun creating

Have you seen our Wedding Wire Page? We recently add new photos, a new video and even received a few new reviews recently.  Watch this sweet little video and then be sure to visit our WeddingWire Page. We've also updated our Wedding Website so be sure to take a look around. It's much easier to find examples of our work by color, season and more.  We love doing weddings and we hope it shows.                        

It's officially fall here at the shop. Some folks think we rush it but as soon as we put out the fall products and merchandise our website with fall arrangements, they start selling. Take this dramatic floral arrangement for example:  It's one of our brand new designs for fall 2012. It's named   Autumn Expressions  and retails for only $42.95. The orange  cube vase makes such a nice keepsake and these rich autumnal colors really pop. Imagine this being delivered to you at work or home? We especially love the assortment of flowers and the dried wheat! Folks have also been starting to buy our Halloween and Thanksgiving table top pieces such as chip and dips, salt and pepper shakers, dried wreaths, wine glasses, pitchers, cookies jars and more. To see some of our new arrivals, check out this video on YouTube . Don't forget about our $5 flower specials and be sure to check out Facebook Page to find out what flower we have each week.

When I say that we have some colorful flowers that have just arrived, I'm not kidding! Wow, the colors in the shop this week run from all the fall arrivals of reds, oranges and red to browns and even deep rich blues. Over 300 assorted colored gerbera daisies arrived from Holland this week and the flowers span almost 5 inches across. Some have dark centers like these yellow ones while others have a light center but all are amazing. Each week we try to get at least one variety of hydrangea that is a little bit different, either in the color or the same of the florets. These are called - You and Me Together Classic and they are an amazing shade of blue. Yes, they grow that color naturally without any help from dyes or paints. This particular variety seems to last a very long time and as it ages, it dries almost the exact same shade of blue with very little fading. Talk about a flower that gives it's all! To see these and more of our floral designs be sure to check out

This past week since returning from my California trip has been a whirl wind of bridal activity. Over the last few days alone I have booked on more 2012 wedding and 3 for 2013. What I have found interesting, is the demand for purple flowers for these weddings still seems to be quite high. Almost 50% of the new brides I'm meeting with are using purple in one way or another in their wedding flowers and decor. Many are choosing a shade of green for the maids or even deep lapis seems to be a favorite among current couples.  Thought I'd share this lovely centerpiece we made for bride Lori and her husband Steve. This floral design was create on to of our 24" tall candle holder. Inside the vase were twirls of purple callas and the cascading floral designing on top was made using green hydrangeas, purple roses, phaelanopsis orchids, calla lilies - both Picasso and Purple and light touches of a deep plum colored carnation. They were truly lovely in person.  I especially

Did you know that we do a special every Friday at both our Princeton, NJ and Yardley, PA flower shops? It's called $5 Flower Fridays and each week we offer fresh flower bouquets at a very discounted price. Today's special are summer bouquets and aren't they just adorable? Each week we sell between 15 and 40 of these bouquets and it's our way of thanking our local customers and helping them to afford fresh flowers in their house each week. If you have never joined us for $5 Flower Fridays, we'd love to see you. Want to know what flowers are being offered ahead of time? Just text the word FRIDAY to 555888 and we'll add you to our Text list. Also, check out our Facebook Book Pages at www.facebook.com/localfloris t and www.facebook.com/sendingsmile s for advanced notice each Friday morning. Fresh flowers for just $5, you can't beat it! 

Can you believe it's mid August and Baseball season ends in a month or so? Where did the summer go. We love creating flowers for the home games like this one. This photo was snapped by a friend and customer of Monday Morning Flowers and put on our Facebook page! How cute! Don't you just love the colors? We create three arrangement for each home game for placement in the ladies room - sorry guys, no flowers for you! The Thunder puts a sign up with our name and you'd probably be surprised how many people mention seeing these flowers.  If you have never been out the Thunder Ballpark you must take the time to catch game if you are in the area. A great place for family - good food and entertainment for folks of all ages. With a little luck The Thunder will make it into the playoffs and we'll be delivering a few extra of these butties!! 

 I loved these centerpieces we created  for this past weekends wedding for Kathleen and Scott. Their wedding reception was held at the Nassau Inn in downtown Princeton and this footed mahogany bowl is the perfect container for these soft, pastel blooms. The pop of rich brown looked amazing in their Palmer room with all the warm wood tones in the room.  A sweet mixture of peach Donna Roses, yellow craspedia balls, white daisies and pale pink mini gerbers arranged with elegant ruscus foliage and lime green buplurium fillers. The perfect height and width to fill up the center of the table without blocking the view across. These would also be pretty for an anniversary party, baby shower or a Sweet 16, don't you think? 

Last night we held our very first Terrarium making class and what a fun time we all had. About 12 folks got together for wine, cheese and a lesson in how to make their own terrariums. Led by shop staff Alanna and Sheryl, each person was able to choose their own plants, sand, gravel, moss and even butterflies and birds. I must say, there just might be some future floral designers among our students!  Everyone proudly displayed their works of living art at the end in a group shot and it was fun to see all their bright smiles. We'll be doing more classes in the fall - another Terrarium class on 9/12, a wreath making class on 10/3 and look for a Boxwood tree class in late November!  Thanks to the dynamic duo of Alanna and Sheryl for all their hard work for organizing, hosting and teaching the class. 6 out of 12 people at this class were happy enough with their experience to sign up for our Wreath making class and we can't wait to get started organizing that!  We were ev

Every now and then we get a customer call us who is throwing themselves are party and here's one that we just loved! After realizing that no one was giving her a retirement party, she decided to give herself one. A lover of all things pink, I'm pretty sure she got a kick out of these centerpieces we created for her. An assortment of flowers in shades of pink such as spray roses, gerbera daisies, hydrangeas, tea roses and mini calla lilies all arranged in these pretty silver containers, they looked amazing on the tables. The moral of the story is: don't wait for someone to throw you a party when you do something wonderful, throw yourself one and don't forget the flowers! 

 Ah, nothing says summer like a sunflower bouquet and so it's the perfect flower for a summer wedding, don't you think? Today's bride Jane wanted a fresh picked feel to her bouquet and I  think we really achieved that. Medium size sunflowers arranged with a rim of fresh babies breath and lemon leaves with a hint of monte casino white asters between the blooms adds just a touch of softness the bouquet would not have without them. I also love the pop of white and I think it will look smashing (did I just say smashing?) against her simple bridal gown.  For the men we are using Viking pom poms for the boutonniere. I like the fact that although they look like a sunflower, they are much smaller. This way they don't feel like they are wearing a ladies size corsage. Speaking of corsages, we also like using the viking pom pons to make delicate wristlet corsages like this one. It not only has the wristlet attached, we also include pins in case they decide to wear t

 Yum, we have started getting in some new gourmet product, just in time to test it out for the holiday gourmet basket season! Believe it or not, our Corporate customers will begin ordering their holiday gift baskets before you know it.  We've been enjoying getting in a new variety of Dutch hydrangea each week and this week's is called "You and Me Together - Pink". We love the shape of the little flowers, so pretty, don't you agree?  Next week we will be having our first Terrarium class and we love making these cuties, like this one that Designer Norman made for a customer. A little wave action to look like the sea is what she requested and Norman did a fine job with it!  We've been carrying jewelry and we just got in a new line of bracelets. They are so pretty. Some have saying such as faith, kindness and love. Colorful and affordable at only $14.95.  I love the head bands, they are so cute! Perfect for when you need a touch of bling!  How cute

We love when brides send photos and how nice of bride Corinne to send these lovely shots from her recent wedding. Her color theme of pewter and yellow was such a striking summer color theme, don't you think? Her bouquet was made of all white gerbera daisies with light colored centers and accents of yellow craspedia. Similar to past bride Lauren's bouquet from last year. It was sunny and happy, just like Corinne! I always love Gerberas but don't you love the color of the shocking yellow ones? In this case, the dark centers play up the rich grey of the dresses along with a pop of silvery dusty miller to finish off the bouquets. You know I love rental glassware and the perfect spot to use it is at Triumph Brewery in Princeton. A huge space and long tables are perfect for this mix and match of floating candles in different size and styled vases. Also, a great play off the black linens to really pop and create drama. To see more photos from this wedding be sure t

No we are not inviting you to come in to the shop and take a tumble!! Believe it or not, we have started to display our fall products for the season.  Halloween, Thanksgiving and general fall product have started to arrive and at the risk of tooting our own horn, we really love everything we have brought in for the season. Apparently, owls are very popular right now so aren't they mugs adorable?   Also, loving the thanksgiving platters, pitchers mugs and more. Giving thanks was never so much fun. These make great gifts too. :) Be sure to check out our facebook page as we will be showcasing all our fall arrivals there as they are displayed. www.facebook.com/localflorist

 Each week we try  to bring in a few new floral varieties that we have never seen before like this very cool green and blue hydrangea above. The heads are huge and we loved the ruffly nature of the petals.  The celosia this week are amazing. The colors are so vibrant and shocking! They really look so cool in the arrangements.  Oh my goodness!! What can you say about this beautiful Banksia above. Wow, wow, wow, the texture and colors of these flowers is just super cool. How fun!  Mocha sunflowers, locally grown and very brown, how fun is that? We love the yellow ones but these really add an interesting touch to a summer arrangement. Have you ever seen our bud vases? Each vase is a different shape and very artfully holds a single flower. Who says you need multiple flowers to make a statement? Not with these sweet vases. There you have it, our floral favorites from this past week - 7/22/12. Check back to see what next week holds in store for our customers. Want to see t

This past weekend the hubby and I were out and about with a family function, so of course, I had my camera. I just can't walk anywhere without taking a picture of any flower I see. This one above was a single gladiolus stalk that was in front of a restaurant in Hamilton, NJ. This single bloom was gorgeous and as you can see against the blue sky, the color was very striking. I personal love this flower but sadly many of our customers won't let us use them in our design work. :(  Now, this is obviously some kind of daisy and was found in my Mother-in-Laws garden. I especially loved the pods, which I think is the left over center of the daisy once the petals fall off. Sadly, I don't know much about growing flowers but love designing with them. If I could buy these for the shop, I would but they are most likely just a garden variety meant to be enjoyed like this and not a flora culture variety meant for cutting. :( Once again, we are back at the restaurant and this

 Here are just few flowers that came in this past week that made us happy, happy, happy. How can you not look at this Blue Peppermint Hydrangea (above) and Sunset Mini callas (below) and not just say - aaahhhh. It's fun getting in new varieties of flowers coming through the Dutch market and these were 2 of our favorites. I'm sure we'll order them in again real soon!  Now moving on to some fun plants, we just got in these elegant anthurium plants. Don't you just love these waxy little heart shaped flowers. These plants had tons and tons of blooms and I doubt they will hang around long once our customers see them.

Yes, even as florists, we have favorite weddings we work on and from the last 2 weeks, this bouquet as to be one of them. If you watched our "Hand Tied Bridal Bouquet Cost" video, then this bouquet will look familiar to you. Cream hydrangea, ranuculus along with two shades of peach roses (one a tea rose and the other a garden variety) accented with peach hypericum berries. The reason we loved it was not only for the color but for the wonderful texture the flowers had. Peach has become a very popular color theme and this bouquet really shows why! What are your thoughts? Do you like the color theme and texture of this bouquet? Update! The bride has sent us photos so now you can see how they looked on the day of! We loved the coral color with the blue dresses and the Maid of Honor with her touches of blue with her coral colored dress. ?   And of course, the brides bouquet was stunning with her gown looking soft and romantic, don't you think? To see this an