Sending Smiles ~

  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...

Today's bridal bouquet ~ I love all the bouquets we do but this one is the closest to what I would have for myself, if I was getting married for the first time (again). After my own wedding almost 35 years ago and a vow renewal 25 years ago - sadly, I can't justify another wedding for myself and Kevin but it's always a wonderful part of my job to road test the bridal bouquets. This bouquet is created with white and pale pink roses, stephanotis (jasmine), gold tinted seeded eucalyptus, silver dollar eucalyptus and pops of purple limonium.

Valentine's Day is February 14th - See what we have to offer this year Choosing a Valentine's Day gift can be a bit confusing because there are so many options. Our specialty is being able to deliver the gift for you. Imagine their face when a gift is delivered right to the job!! Although  Red Roses  is the traditional gift of love during the Valentine's Day holiday, we offer so many other options for you. Although red roses can get pretty pricey during the month of February, you are in luck because we have many options to choose from that won't break the bank. Here's just a few to help you decide!! We have to start off with a dozen (12) long stem red roses because it is tradition. These gorgeous blooms are going to be arranged in a 10" tall red glass keepsake vase this year. Although they are one of our highest priced items at $124.99, they are also one of the most dramatic designs we will be delivering. These are called our Valentine's Day Red R...

MMF Staff Favorites: Alanna Alanna is our Customer Care coordinator and has been with the company for 5 years this Spring.  When I came out to our showroom Alanna was already holding this cool terrarium made by our newest colleague Jeneen . "Terrariums are fun because they are a little ecosystem you can have right on your desk, and the cover makes it even easier to care for because it holds the condensation." Did you know we have European style hand-tied bouquets available at both our locations ready for you to choose and take with you in a hurry? Alanna liked this one highlighting Protea from South Africa and Freesia. Spring is almost here and we have been getting in some amazing flowers. Alanna (and the rest of us) loved this lavender Sweetpea! We get in new flowers from local sources and all over the world on a daily basis, stop in to see what goodies are available today. :) Thanks Alanna!

Staff Favorites: Jeneen Today I asked Jeneen to share some of her favorite items in the store. Jeneen is our newest MMF staff member finishing her third week with us and we are so happy to have her, especially this week! ;) The first thing Jeneen gravitated toward was some of the amazing flowers we got in this week from Japan! Here she is holding one of our gorgeous jumbo anemones and one of the largest ranunculous we have seen in a while. "Everyone thinks Valentine's Day and automatically assumes red roses, but we forget there are hundreds of stunning and unique flowers that can make a statement even more powerful than the traditional red rose."  A great way to add a finishing touch to a gift is with delicious chocolates. We carry artisanal  chocolates from Oregon made by Moonstruck and they are definitely one of Jeneen's favorite gourmet foods we carry. If you're not sure what to get someone for a gift besides flowers, we off...

If you've been in our shop over the last year or so, we may have noticed that we've really expanded our product lines. In addition the usual Flower Shop items we have expanded into new home decor and fashion lines including scarves, like this one shown below. Recently we brought in a wide selection of late winter and Spring scarves in all colors of the rainbow. I think this black and red scarf below would make an adorable gift for Valentine's day, right?  Another line we recently added was some items from Primal Elements, which include these perfume rollettes. These are compact enough to store in your handbag and dab when you are on the go will have you smelling delightful in no time!  In 2014 we added Moonstruck Chocolates to our gourmet line and this week we added these amazing chocolate Barks. This bar has Rasberries and Fennel Sugar and looks like a work of art!   We did so well with our red rose light up pens that we just brought in a line of spring c...

 It is completely, impossible to get bored around here. This weekend had us doing three, completely different weddings and what great fun they were. We are also excited about our wedding designs but this week was especially gratifying. The bouquet above was created for our bride Danielle and was the coolest, funkiest bouquet we've been able to create since our Funky Peacock Feather bouquet. A hand tied mixture of mini callas, cymbidium orchids, mokara orchids, crespedia, pincushion protea,  limonium and the ever cool uluhe. What do you think of it? This next bouquet was created for the maid of honor for Pierre and Yves. The overall color theme for the wedding was Sunbeam, Tangerine and Guava with each girl carrying the opposite colors to their dress. This bouquet included all three colors as the maid of honor was wearing champagne. The rose varieties used were Gelosia (for the sunbeam yellow), Tropical Amazon (for the tangerine) and Movie Star for the (guava coral). With color...

We don't often get to create cascade bouquets but I have to say, I really think Designer Holly did a fabulous job on designing this one. Created for today's bride Hoon-Jung, we were semi-recreating her very own mother's wedding bouquet. Although this one uses a nicer, more elegant selection of flowers (her mom's was all white carnations) I think she'll be pleased with the result. Using a combination of roses, freesia, bouvardia and dendrobium orchids with the traditional plumosa foliage, this bouquet has a bit more interest and texture than her mother's bouquet.  It will be interesting to see if more brides choose cascade bouquets to hand tied versions popular over the last 10 years or so. There is something to be said for an elegant cascade and I'm truly hoping that our bride loves her bouquet as much as we do! To see more of our wedding designs be sure to visit our wedding website at www.perfectweddingflowers.com or our Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/l...

At both of our flower shops, we pride ourselves on always have sweet, funky, fresh and fun floral arrangemens ready to go for our walk in customers. This pretty basket was created by Designer Holly (who happens to also manage our Design Team). Shocking lilies (yes, that is their name) and matching roses accented with a sweet orange butterfly - well who could ask for more! Imagine presenting this to someone for their birthday or bringing it with you on a get well hospital visit. I can't imagine their face doing anything other than smiling - can you? To see more of our floral designs be sure to visit our Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/localflorist or our website at http://www.sendingsmiles.com/

Have you seen the cover of today's Princeton Packet Newspaper? Well, yes, there I am, yours truly in all my "floral" glory. What fun it was to have the "Press" at the shop. It was wonderful of them to put flowers right on their cover and I was honored to be included.  Valentine's Day and flowers - perfect together. Have you noticed how everyone feels a need to say "Don't send flowers this Valentine's Day - send our product instead"? I'm thinking that as florists we should take that as a compliment that we are so often targeted in ads. Marketing 101 - if you have to put down someone elses product, you just might not have a good product yourself. Enough said. For those of us who sell flowers, stand on our own merits. People, especially women, love getting flowers.   No bashing the folks that sell jewelry, chocolates, cell phones, fruit, teddy bears, etc, etc.  Because flowers let you say what's in your heart why not send flowers t...

I love doing weddings during the winter, mainly because we certainly seem to have a dry spell during January, February and March. We have done a few weddings so far this year and this bouquet was created for our bride Daria who is being married right as I type this blog. Deep rich red roses accented with crystal really strike a dramatic feel for February, don't you think?

Looking for a different rose gift for Valentine's Day? How about this stunning design created by our designer Holly. Cymbidium orchids and roses in red, hot pink and pale pink arraned in a metallic vase accented with floating hearts. Who says sending a dozen roses for Valentine's Day has to be boring!! To see this and more of holiday designs check out our website at www.sendingsmiles.com

It's a snowy day here in NJ/PA and Karen's pretty wedding bouquet is loaded and on it's way to her home in Levittown, PA. Roses in 3 shades of pink accented with crystal stephanotis. Hand tied and simple. The perfect bouquet for a wintry January day. Don't you think? Want to see more of our wedding designs? Visit our facebook page at www.facebook.com/localflorist

It's funny how often I get asked what my favorite flower is. I wonder if people ask the pizza maker what his favorite pie is. Anyway, roses, roses and more roses. I love roses. I love everything about them. This picture taken at Longwood Gardens on Christmas Day by yours truly shows my fascination with this perfect flower. This bud is just a day or so away from blooming fully and although I generally am not fond of roses that are still buds, this one just spoke to me and forced me to take a photo of it. I wonder if it was mocking me for all the times I've told brides that roses are most beautiful when they are they are fully bloomed. I stand corrected, roses are beautiful at every stage!!

My last blog talked about the importance of the Escort/Place Card table and that got me to thinking about the gift table. Is it worth decorating the gift table at your wedding or other event such as a shower or birthday party? My answer is a definite "Maybe"!! Is the table in an area that will be seen all night? Does it need a little something to help say "Here, Put your gifts here?". If so, it might be worth putting some of your decor budget towards decorating the gift table. Often we do a tall floral display or a bouquet of balloons, as in the case of sweet 16 and mitzvah parties. Even a garland of fresh foliage accented with flowers, ribbons or event branches looks lovely if it matches the over all theme of the event!! To see more of our design work visit our party website at www.mondaymorningballoons.com

Have you heard? Have you heard the word? Saturday, November 27th is Small Business Saturday. What is this you wonder? Small Business Saturday is a day to support the local businesses that create jobs, boost the economy and preserve neighborhoods around the country. Small Business Saturday is a national movement to drive shoppers to local merchants across the U.S. Saturday, we urge you to shop small, shop often and shop local. Not all floral delivery sites online are local florists. We urge you to use "Local Florists" who actually arrange and deliver flowers direct from their shops. Unsure if someone you want to order flowers through is local? Check out their About Us page, check out their address. Is there a address local? Do they even show their address? If not, please find a shop that does. Society of American Florists hosts a great directory at   http://nationalfloristdirectory.com/ We hope to see you Saturday!!

We really love Thanksgiving here at the shop. Years ago when I still went out on the road to make deliveries, Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday to deliver for. Why you might ask? The smells, the amazing smells that come from inside when they greet you at the door. Cooking! Everyone is cooking and they are so happy. Add a gorgeous flower arrangement for the table and the holiday is complete.

We had the honor last week of providing flowers for the Nassau Inn photo shoot. The Nassau Inn is located in the heart of the downtown Princeton shopping district. If you've never been there, it truly is a treat! It's always challenging to design arrangements that not only show off the location (which is the whole idea of the photo shoot to begin with) but also not be overly seasonal. Right now we are in the throws of fall flowers but folks viewing these pictures could be doing so in Spring, Summer or even in the dead of Winter. Our color theme for the shoot were rich reds, pinks and purples. Purple has been a hot wedding color for the later part of 2010 and appears to be going strong right into 2011. Red and pink are always classic so put the three together and WOW!! Drama!! Look at this lovely shot of the Palmer Room. One of my personal favorites at the Inn because it's elegant but cozy. This room also has lovely daytime light but when the sun goes down, the glow comes ...

Did you just find out that your flower girl is not allowed to throw petals at your church wedding? Never fear - a suggestion is here! Ok, sorry, that was corny but that happens all the time during my consultations. I ask brides what they would like their flower girls to carry and they seem to think that tossing flower petals is not only the only option but that it's allowed everywhere. Well, it's not. Most churches these days don't want petals being tossed for fear of tripping a guest on their marble or tiled floors. Other venues may want a runner to be down so that the petals won't get dug into the carpet and possibly leave a stain. If tossing petals is not an option at your ceremony site, why not consider a cute basket of flowers in the wedding theme. This one was created for little Rebecca for one of last weeks weddings and it's not only easy to hold but just darling!!

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...