Sending Smiles ~

I thought I'd share this photo of my hubby Kevin, doing a fantastic job routing the Valentine's Day deliveries. Looks like kaos but in fact everything was staged and routed depending on the town it was to be delivered too. Just about 400 deliveries left the shop in one day and all drivers returned by about 5 pm. Thank you too all our "extra" helpers - Donna, Steven, Donna (number 2), Alison, Mikey, James, Ed, Cory and Dave. Acting as drivers and shop greeters, these wonderful folks helped make our holiday the least stressful holiday in recent years!!

Have you ever wondered who arranges the flowers here at our shop or takes your phone call? Well, here is most of the crew!! Norman is all the way in the back, and new designer Samantha in front of him. Then that's Theresa who after a few years away is back at the Princeton shop - she used to manage our Yardley store. All the way in the back is Design Coordinator Holly, and in front of her is designer Rocio. Tina is in the back on the right and she preps all the flowers and keeps us all neat and clean. Sitting in the front on the bottom is Sales Associate and Marketing Assistant Melissa. Behind her is me, Georgianne. Next to us is to the left is Shop Coordinator Sheryl and Sales Associate Heena (how has been with us over 10 years!). Well, anyway, you know have a face to put with some names. These folks assist our clients with smile and design with all their might to deliver the best possible product and customer service!!

Did you know our Princeton shop is located in the Princeton Forrestal Village? Yes we are and we are just up from the Westin Hotel and are located between Exquisite Brides (how convenient to be located next to that) and Tre Piani and Tre Bar (again, how convenient is that?)! We've actually been in the Village for just over 12 years and we really love it. We moved out of downtown Princeton when we lost our lease and needed more space. People often ask if anyone finds us in this mixture of corporate and retail and the answer is yes they do. We actually do a very brisk walk in and thanks to customer deciding to shop local and the recession lightening up it's grip a bit, our walk in is up this year very nicely. We make speedy delivery into down town Princeton, the whole Route 1 corridor, all of Mercer County, parts of Middlesex and Somerset, not to mention Lower Buck, each and every day. Offering delivery to over 70 zip codes keeps our 3 to 5 delivery trucks busy all day long,

Anyone that knows me knows that I can be quick with the camera. I'm sort of a frustrated photographer of sorts, I really have no idea how to correctly use the lovely Nikon D40 Camera that I bought over a year ago. I have no patience for reading a manual and I rarely stop long enough to figure out what all the different setting mean and do. Regardless, I do take some photos that while a photographer might see the flaws, I think they look pretty darn nice. So was born, my line of blank greeting cards. Take this card for example. I took this photo while at a local winery (Silver Decoy in Robbinsville, NJ) while at a friends birthday party. The perfect photo for a flower shop greeting card, don't you think? So far I've created about 8 different greeting cards that range from pictures of garden variety flowers, flowers in the shop right up to bridal bouquet close ups. They seem to sell well and I'm proud of them. If you're ever at the shop, let me know what you think.

We'll it's finally happened. We have done away with the service fee associated with sending flowers outside our own delivery. Using our affiliate of local flower shops in the Teleflora and/or FTD wire services, we can not only send flowers anywhere in the USA but now it does not cost you anything additional to do so. And remember, we are a local florist, sending to a local florist - There is no middleman!! Why is this a big deal? Because we want to be your local florist and years ago, before what our industry calls "order gatherers" came into existence our customers trusted us to send their orders both near and far. Those days changed forever with the invention of businesses who were not in the business of creating and delivering flower arrangements. Their sole business is to "gather" the order and "relay" them to local florists who were responsible for creating and delivery the flowers. What this effectively did was "cut out" the local

Recently one of our brides posted this photo on her Facebook and I have to confess, I took it for myself. As I mentioned to the bride Krista, what I love about this photo is that it not only shows the table flowers (which look very cool, I think) but it shows everyone having an amazing time. Rarely, do we get to see our table arrangements "in action" and this one screams - party! What fun and how rewarding for us to know that we helped set the tone for this very important day. By the way, in case you spy the gorgeous views out the window, this wedding took place this past summer at the pretty Lambertville Inn which is situated on the Delaware River, just across from New Hope, PA. To see more of their beautiful Inn visit their site at http://www.lambertvillestation.com/ !

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 wedding

Not sure, what color to choose when sending flowers or even planning a party or wedding? It's so hard to decide but truth be told, classic white is always nice both because it can be clean and modern or traditional and elegant. We recently created these pretty wedding bouquets. They were so simple but they looked amazing for a summer time wedding. Need to send flowers for a sympathy? The color white symbolizes wholeness, openness, truth and kindness. The color of white in context of flowers means elements of innocence, humility, and reverence, white flowers evoke simple beauty. When asked, most people will tell you that white flowers are beautiful so why not send them for a get well, anniversary or a birthday? The next time you are in doubt of what color flowers to use or send, never forget the power of white! Would you like to see more examples of our wedding designs? Check out our wedding website at http://www.perfectweddingflowers.com/ or examples of our everyday floral desig

Hallie's Bouquets , originally uploaded by Georgianne at Monday Morning Flowers . It's hot and so are the flower colors this season. Last weekends wedding for Hallie was so much fun to create and this weekend we have lots of orange and hot pink tones going out of here again. The temperature is over 100 and what better way to compete with the blinding sun but infusing amazing color into your life? Can you imagine the look on someones face who receives a flower bouquet in these bright colors!! Did you know that flowers physically make people happy and color has a lot to do with? Well it does. Bring flowers into your life, bring some home and send them as gifts. As Martha says "It's a good thing"! To see more of our flower selection visit our website at http://www.sendingsmiles.com/ !

Memorial Day Wreath , originally uploaded by Georgianne at Monday Morning Flowers . Ok, this week has to be a record for flowers being delivered with a red, white and blue theme. We've even just about run out mini flags! I have to say, it's so nice to see Americans in the spirit of the holiday and relating that joy into floral arrangements being sent to family and friends. This wreath was created for Princeton Boro's Memorial Day celebration and what fun it was to go back past the monument even two weeks later and it was still there, looking pretty good!! Happy Birthday America!! We love you!

Ok, there it is... Fill a vase with fresh flowers is number 21 on a list of 25 bright ideas to recharge your mood, routine and rooms and highlighted in Real Simple Magazine. A Harvard study showed that people who looked at fresh flowers in the morning reported higher energy levels for the rest of the day! That's powerful stuff and so easy to do. Perhaps you'll consider going to your local florist for a fresh bunch of flowers this weekend? What about bringing some into the office next week? Living with flowers - it's a good thing!!

How cute is this picture? Taken almost 8 years ago when my husband and I went on a fantastic trip to the farms of Holland.Thanks to our wholesaler who offered the trip, we had an amazing time. This greenhouse was one of my favorites because I've always loved dutch Gerber Daisies. Almost the size of salad plates, this farm had Gerber's in just about every color your could imagine. I think sometimes we forget about the farmer and his crew that guide the flowers from seedlings to gorgeous blooms!

Wow, talk about a term that gets over used. Not all "local" florists are local. Some out-of-state telemarketing and online firms pose as local florists. These companies mislead consumers into feeling they are ordering flowers from a local florist, but without their knowledge, are being call-remote forwarded to another state. These firms charge higher fees and take business away from legitimate local florists. Consumers are deceived into thinking they are doing business with a local company when they're not. That's unethical and unfair. Any local florist would be happy to assist you with your out of town orders but they will let you know upfront that they are using an affiliate shop to make the delivery. To make sure you are doing business with a local professional florist, just follow these tips from the Federal Trade Commission. Ask for directions to the shop. If they hesitate or refuse, chances are they are not a real florist. Deal only with shops that list their