Sending Smiles ~

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I wrote on a subject for this blog. For those that don't know, my husband and I have closed our shop and retired! I'd like to say that I miss running the shop but for almost 8 months now we have been thoroughly enjoying having time to our selves to putter around the house, travel, meet up with friends and just be ourselves.  So what has inspired me to write again? Well, I'm in the process of writing a book!! Yes, it's a book about which I feel highly qualified to write and the topic is "How to Choose a Wedding Florist". After years of helping hundreds if not thousands of couples plan their wedding flowers, I'm putting together an eBook that will help them choose a florist, save time, money and frustration. I'm taking all the things I learned as well as all the things I saw my couples do both wrong and right and sharing them with others.  The book is almost done but I'm currently writing a chapt...

Our designers always love Sunflower season because let's face it, they are such a happy flower, right? Check out these new designs using local sunflowers. Our best selling Sunflower/Summer design is   Sunny Shores . This design just screams summer. Deep blue delphinium, vibrantly yellow roses, light blue hydrangea, yellow alstromeria, beachy grasses and fresh locally grown sunflowers are arranged in a clear glass grace vase with real sea shells on the bottom. This design has been our best seller on our website at   www.sendingsmiles.com  We've sold more  Sunny Shores  on our website than any other new design so far this July but a close second is our new and updated  Sunny's Charm . This design is super affordable at only $34.99 and includes sweet baby's breath, white daisies and 3 gorgeous sunflowers arranged in the cutest little mason jar tied with a raffia bow. not only are local sunflowers pretty because because they are grown locally, they have a very...

  Elopement Flowers, Every Bride Needs a Bouquet ~ One of the most gratifying things to come out of the pandemic is all the e lopement  flowers we have been creating. With many couples deciding to get married right away and not wait, it's been our pleasure to create some gorgeous last minute  wedding  flowers. Some couples are getting married at their own homes while others are going to the court house. Isn't that romantic? We love it!! This  bouquet  was created this pasts weekend and the bride asked for mostly white and green to be accented with touches of blush/pastels. We used a combination of tea and spray roses, mini calla lilies, locally grown gomphrena, cut succulent plants, eucalytpus and  touches of sweet baby's breath. So soft and romantic.  One of our favorites was from a couple of weeks ago. We created a hand tied bouquet of all pink and peach flowers and pops of blue with no added greenery added. Tea and Spray roses, gerbera daisy, b...

  Our Retail Shop is Back Open for In Store Shopping Our retail shop is back open for in store shopping!! Yay! We have finally re-opened our retail store to in-store shopping after more than 5 months of doing Curbside Pick and Delivery Only. It's felt good to welcome folks back into our pretty little store. During the Pandemic, we brought in tons of new items which we highlighted mostly on our website but now you can see them in person. We have majorly expanded our line of food items to include things such as spice rubs and hot sauces, along with healthy snacks such as veggie chips and Super Food cookies. During the pandemic folks have been wanting to send gifts that pamper and support and so we have brought in more items such as spa sets, soaps and lotions, more healing crystals and even items such as sanitizing sprays and face masks. Many of these items have been added as either their own product on our website available for delivery or as "add on" items that can make y...

Mother's Day and Covid19 Update Mother's Day and Covid19 Update ~ Can you believe how long we've all been locked down with this horrible pandemic? We've been blessed to be able to continue to spread cheer through daily delivery of flowers, plants, balloons, food baskets and other gift items. Our customers have been so grateful and the recipients have been over joyed when they open their door to find a special gift left just for them. At first it was hard securing fresh product but each week it gets a bit easier. It's been amazing how many birthday celebrations we've been a part of. We've always created lots of balloon bouquets but never so many for children as the last 3 weeks. It's been so rewarding to be able to create these sweet bouquets for little boys and girls.  This week was Administrative Professionals week and were kept very busy on Wednesday with over 50 deliveries going to hard working staff that have been doing their jobs from home...

The health benefits of living with flowers are many and the colors can mean so much. According to a 10-month behavioral study at Rutgers University, flowers have an immediate impact on happiness and a long-term positive effect on moods. Study participants reported feeling less depressed, anxious, and agitated when presented with flowers. Color plays a strong role in this reaction: • Red has a positive effect on the immune system and an energizing influence on fatigue and exhaustion. • When you see pink , you often feel joy. Bright hues of this color increase blood pressure, heartbeat and respiration, as well, which leads to energy. • Violet calms the body and mind and nourishes creativity. • Yellow , the happy color, encourages communication while it stimulates memory and the nervous system. • Orange’s psychological profile includes promoting optimism, determination, and success. On the other hand, it also urges viewers to socialization, so be sparing with this colo...

Rutger's University:  Emotional Health With today's high-tech and fast-paced lifestyle taking its daily toll on our lives, experts advise exercise and other personal lifestyle changes to relieve stress. According to recent behavioral research conducted at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, nature provides us with a simple way to improve emotional health - flowers. The presence of flowers triggers happy emotions, heightens feelings of life satisfaction and affects social behavior in a positive manner far beyond what is normally believed. "What's most exciting about this study is that it challenges established scientific beliefs about how people can manage their day-to-day moods in a healthy and natural way," said Jeannette Haviland-Jones, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at Rutgers and lead researcher on the study. Research Findings A team of researchers explored the link between flowers and life satisfaction in a 10-month study of participants...

Christmas Wedding Flowers by Monday Morning Flowers Christmas Wedding Flowers by Monday Morning Flowers ~ What a wonderful time of year to celebrate with family and friends and get married. It's hard to believe that we created these pretty floral designs for a wedding almost a year ago. St. Paul's church in downtown Princeton was the site for the ceremony and as you can see, what fully decorated for Christmas with lit trees and huge red poinsettia plants. Our bride Alisandra wore an elegant ballgown while her sister was dressed in a red dress with crystal sleeves. The ends of the pews had accents of fresh holly cut from the Farm the bride grew up on.  Once the guests arrived to the Nassau Inn, they were greeted with elegant wreaths and a large boxwood tree decorated in red roses , berries and white doves.  As the guests took their seats they were treated to a dance by the bride and her father. So sweet!! The bride was radiant the her Father looked so handsome in his t...

Amazing Summer Flowers at our store in Princeton, NJ. The one thing that never gets old for me is viewing pretty  flowers . When I go on vacation, I stop to look at flowers. When I'm at home, I read flower books. When I'm at work, I ooohh and aahh over the pretty stems in the shop. Let's face it, my job is pretty awesome! A big part of my daily responsibilities is sharing our products on Social Media and that is no hard task! Imagine being a plumber or lawyer? Talk about having a "hard" product to showcase. Luckily, I have not only brightly color blooms but fun and inspirational giftware to show.  This  summer  the sunflowers have been spectacular and the other flowers aren't shabby either. This design includes other flowers such as spray roses, tea roses, stock, spider mums and even tropical protea. Designer Alanna got this pretty shot on the side walk looking down. We're thinking that whoever gets this design is gonig to be pretty happy about it. ...

Imagine walking in a funeral home or church. You are there to pay your last respects to a friend, colleague or even family member. As you enter, folks are sitting there, quietly talking but not mingling around. Well, it is a funeral so why would anyone mingle, right? As you enter and decide where to stand, sit or who to talk to you notice that the room is completely devoid of flowers. There's no plants either. Nothing. There's the memorial table or casket with the family sitting in the front but that is it. When you explore this vision, how do you feel about it? How do you feel about the environment? If it makes you feel empty or sad, imagine how the immediate family feel. No one sent flowers? Yes, they may have made donations if they could not attend but the room looks rather dark, sad and quite honestly, dull. That's not to say that churches and funeral homes are not nicely appointed but nothing is as uplifting in a space as fresh flowers. Have you noticed how when th...

You can't be located near a prestigious University like Princeton without adding a few things to your website for Students and Faculty. With PU everything is about the colors black and orange and so we had to create at least a few designs that have the Princeton aesthetic! Check out our whole Princeton collection Here !

Employee Picks ~ we thought it would be fun to share our employees favorite designs for the holiday so kicking off with Sales Associate Heena's pick called Love Story . Heena has been working at Monday Morning Flowers for 16 years! If she's working, first on the phone to assist our call in customers or to process their orders placed on our website. Love Story features red roses, pink lilies, pretty berries and a cut succulent plant arranged in a keepsake wooden box with the word "Love" surrounded by a delicate wreath of flowers. Would you be happy if this showed up at your office this Valentine's Day? To order this design or see our other offerings, visit our website at www.sendingsmiles.com 

It's that time of year again ~ the holiday shopping season has begun and judging by the mall parking lots on Black Friday, it's going to be a busy one. Have you considered where you shop ? If you haven't you should. Here's a few stats to show how you can play an important role in your community by shopping small independently owned businesses!  I know you've heard it before but shopping at locally owned small businesses really can make a difference in your community. You might ask how and this photo below shows the story. Consider a small business like mine. When I need to get something printed, I used my local printer Ed at Document Depot. When I need to get one of my 4 delivery vans fixed, I use a local garage ~ Fowlers in Princeton - Gary is the best! When I buy my yummy chapsticks that we give out to our customers, I use Jim at Browndog Marketing. Each of the business has employees who work for them, so my purchases help keep people employed. So you get the...

This is one of our favorite times of year in the shop. It's a time when the designers get to have fun and create custom designs for the holiday. Here's a sampling of this years offerings! This design features a keepsake wine glass complete with a witches hat with purple and green flowers. Remind you of anyone? We think of the witch from the Wizard of Oz! This design is called Witches Wine ! This hysterical design is created in a keepsake mug that says "I'm Dead Before Coffee" and has a skeleton on the other side. Sunflowers and Roses complete this design called "Must Have Coffee" . This design is called Witches Brew which includes orange roses, purple calla lilies and an adorable witches hat. Which (or witch) design is your favorite?

Have you started following our shop on Instagram yet? Do you like pictures of pretty flowers? Do you like knowing what's going on in our store? Then we invite you to follow us on Instagram as @mondayflowers  We love sharing our daily orders just before being loaded into a delivery truck, like this design above called Rave and below, wedding bouquets for bride Linda at Grounds for Sculpture.  We even have fun videos like this one showing some balloons being delivered for a wedding at Mountain Lakes House.  Although we share more than event designs, party and wedding flowers are some of our most popular posts like these adorable mini sunflower boutonnieres all lined up ready for the wedding party.  In addition to flower and balloon pictures, we share special events and sales, like this weeks side walk sale . Have we inspired you to Follow Us Yet ? We hope so!!

If you ask me what is one of the most stressful parts about running my business, it would be finding talented, hard working staff with a can do attitude. Honestly, we have been searching for someone for more than 2 years and then along comes Alicia who not only is the best fit but goes above and beyond what we could have hoped for.  MMF: Alicia, we're so happy to have you join us at Monday Morning Flowers (MMF). Tell us how you became interested in the flower business! Alicia: My career started as a cashier at a local supermarket but the floral manager asked me to help out in that department one Mother's Day and the rest is history. That was 3 years ago.  MMF: What have you been doing to further your design skills? Alicia:   I'm currently attending Buck's County Community College and taking classes in their AIFD (American Institute of Floral Design) Floral Design Certification Program. I've already taken basic and intermediate design classes along with...