Sending Smiles ~

Decisions, decisions... planning a wedding is not an easy task not to mention expensive. With many weddings ceremonies today happening at the same place as the reception, many couples forget to include (or leave) money in their budget for flowers and ceremony decor.  Although it's nice to decorate a church or synagogue, I find they need a bit less done to them to transform them into a wedding location. In the case of Jackie and Donovan's wedding this past Septmeber, we concentrated the decorations to the pews and did not try to add anything to an already beautiful altar. I think the hydrangea and ribbon accents on the pews showed that something special was about to happen. The brides color palate of simple creams and ivory helped tone down the colors already present in the church and not compete with them. We also chose not to put the flowers on every pew. Every third one was decorated and helped draw your eye down to the altar without costing a fortune. Simply tied

 I know, I know, there are some folks out there that absolutely hate holidays like Valentine's Day. They think they were invented by gift companies to take money out of their pockets. Well, I don't think that's true but whether you spend a lot on your Valentine or not, I do think it's nice to at least recognize the day with a special treat or gift. This year we've order in lots of thoughtful gifts that are not only cute but really affordable. I remember when I was in high school, all I wanted from my guy was a cute card that said he loved me. I can tell you for sure when I was 16 or 17, if I received this card, I would have been a happy girl. We have lots of cards to choose from priced from .99 to $3.50. Now that's affordable right?  What about this sweet love picture frame. Add a photo of the two of you, wrap it up and imagine their surprise. This frame is priced right and comes in a really nice gift box.  We love these little boxes!! We plan on making

 I have to say, that this past year we had lots of fun bringing in new giftware items. The different gifts we brought in for Christmas sold so well that we decided to really punch up the volume of gifts at the shop this spring. That being said, it didn't take me long to hop on my favorite gift websites and stock up. Coffee mugs sold extremely well for Christmas and so these mugs above should be popular to. My favorite one is actually hidden in the back and says "Stop me before I volunteer again". :o)  These little kitty banks are so cute and will be affordable additions to flower arrangements and goodie bags for birthdays and new babies, don't you think?  The wine glasses we had this past holiday sold completely out and so having these everyday styles will be a great additon to our giftware. These glasses have funny sayings and colorful designs. Personally, I love anything with poka dots!  I brought in these lanterns for the spring and couldn't help bu

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had at the shop. Over 100 floral arrangements and centerpieces were delivered the day before the holiday and everyone seemed quite pleased with their fresh flowers. Now, with December 1st  just around the corner, how thoughts turn towards the holiday. Don't let the 60 degree temps fool you, it definitely time for Christmas cheer and gift shopping.  This year we added a new balloon bouquet to our offerings. This bouquet of 6 helium filled mylar balloons is super festive and a fun gift for kids of all ages only $34.95.  When you walk in the front door of our Princeton shop you are greeted by our Christmas tree that is loaded with tiny stuffed animals, lolly pops and many different styles of Christmas ornaments. Each and everything on the tree is for sale, of course and many make great stocking stuffer's.  Winter Welcome, this slate hanging sign is so pretty and can be displayed for years to come, only $14.95. What  In a rush and

Well, the past two weeks have been a whirlwind at the shops. Between Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Flooding and Nuptials it's been a somewhat frantic time for us. It's always fun for us to style weddings because we not only get to be creative but our hands are on some of the most gorgeous flowers you'll ever see. We noticed a new trend with wedding designs and thought we share with you. Many of our brides this month have given us mementos to add to their bouquets. Case in point is the pretty broach below. We really loved how elegant this looked on Maritza's wedding bouquet this past Friday.  Bride Darlene was having her wedding at the Camden Aquarium last weekend and wanted to add a bit of sparkles to her bouquet. We found this rhinestone garland for her and did a slight spiral down her stems.    We guess you just might be getting the idea!! Bride Maggie gave us this gorgeous necklace for us to add to her bouquet. Isn't it stunning? It really popped against

 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 colors lik

Wanted to share a photo from Beth's Beatles themed Mitzvah from this past weekend. How cute are these oversized balloons, Beatles themed centerpieces (every table was a different album) and cool posters. Taking our inspiration from the the Sgt. Pepper and Yellow Submarine albums, we went with 60's style hot colors and fantasy butterflies. The adult tables had fresh floral arrangements of roses and gerbers and the look was completed with a toss of colorful skittles. What do you think? Do you think the guests felt like they had been thrown back in time? To see this and other examples of our design work check out our website at www.sendingsmiles.com and we'd love for you to like at us www.facebook.com/localflorist

. I love taking photos of the arrangements in our cooler and I especially love these pretty heart wreaths we create for funerals. How could anyone not have their spirits lifted when they see these sunny flowers. Sent to a father by his children both the form and the color speak volumes of how they felt about him. Designer Holly created this wreath using fresh, white lilies, spray and tea roses, viking and daisy poms, cream colored stock and accents of fresh ruscus foliage. This wreath, also going to the same service was created using garden, tea and spray roses, carnations, waxflowers, hydrangea and peony blooms. To see more of our sympathy designs visit our website at www.sendingsympathy.com

Do you know the difference between a Asiatic Lily and a Hybrid Lily? What makes an O.T. Lily different? If it's one thing I've learned, you need a Ph'D to know everything there is to know about flowers! Take this lily for example. It's called an O. T. Lily or Orienpet Lily. It's wonderful color, shape and texture is derived from crosses between Oriental and Trumpet lily types. The advantage in growing Orienpet Lilies (O.T.) is they are more tolerant of harsh growing conditions, compared to the normal Oriental Lily. Yet they retain the exotic appearance, size and fragrance of the Orientals. What a mouth full but I prefer to say - "Hey, what a gorgeous flower" and as a customer you can be rest assured that we'll seek out and find new and exciting varieties for you. Lucky for both of us, no Ph'D required! Our website is an awesome way to shop for flowers but to send something cutting edge and different, why not call and ask us what is new? We&#

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,

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

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!!

Join us each Thursday beginning on October 7th for wine tastings at our Yardley store. Located at 45 E. Afton Ave right between the Yardley Inn and the Continental Tavern, our shop will be open to browsers and wine lovers a like. Beginning at 4 pm until 7 pm, each week we will highlight a different wine from a local vineyard. October 7th's tasting will be a lovely wine from Hopewell Valley Vineyards (yum, my favorite local vineyard). Start the weekend early with a tasting, a bouquet of flowers (but no pressure to do so) and then perhaps venture down to one of our fabulous Yardley restaurants for dinner. Remember, shop and buy local!! For more information visit our Facebook Fan Page at www.facebook.com/localflorist  or shop us online at http://www.sendingsmiles.com/ To find out more about the local businesses of Yardley, PA visit the Yardley Business Association website at www.yardleybusiness.com/  and for more information on Hopewell Valley Vineyards visit their site at www.h

In case you did not know, Monday Morning Flowers inflates and sells over 40,000 helium filled balloons each and every year. Wow, that's a lot of balloons. Lots of our balloons leave our 2 shops in balloon bouquets but many of them are delivered and arranged for special events, such as this one. Kevin and Sheryl did not have far to go as this surprise party was being held at Tre Bar right here in the Princeton Forrestal Village. What fun it was, tropical colored balloons accented with giant mylars in the shape of a watermelon (inside family joke apparently). Arches and columns also take many balloons and before you know a year goes by and 40,000 balloons get inflated!! To see other examples of our balloon designs check out our event and balloon decor website at http://www.mondaymorningballoons.com/ ! To learn more about Tre Piani Restaurant and Catering visit their website at http://www.trepiani.com/

Our new video , originally uploaded by Georgianne at Monday Morning Flowers . It was really fun having a camera man in our shop a few weeks back! I am super happy with the video that Superpages produced for us. I hope you enjoy!!

Family and Flowers , originally uploaded by Georgianne at Monday Morning Flowers . Sometimes I loose perspective on the product that I sell. No really, it's true. I know I talk about flowers - a lot but sometimes I forget the impact they have. This past weekend Kevin and I had to rush from the shop, after setting up numerous events for our clients, we had to actually attend a backyard party in honor of our nephew who was making his Communion. As I ran around, trying to get out, wrapping his gift and writing out his card, I asked designer Samantha to make me a pretty little basket of flowers to take with us. Well, of course, the flowers were a hit and much appreciated by everyone there. The next time you are going to a party, will you consider stopping at your local florist for a bouquet or arrangement? Family, friends and flowers, perfect together.

Thought I'd share some views from the Northeastern Floral Conference. Wow, what a way to spend a weekend, surrounded by flowers and making new floral friends! Our friends at Delaware Valley Wholesale had the most amazing display - see above!! It's so much fun seeing flowers that are so artfully designed!! Next stop? The Floral Design Competition! Getting to meet lots of new people, discuss the floral business and have fun is the order of the day at the Conference. Above, Georgianne gets to meet and spend time with the shop owners of Don's Own Flower Shop located in Geneva, NY! Checking out the new varieties of flowers are especially enlightening. These cool blooms were located at the DV booth! If you can't tell how big they are from this picture, check out the roses next to them! It was especially fun spending time with our favorite floral importers, DV. It's always so nice to spend quality time with John Richards and Ken Wilkens!! I even got to meet Bill Shodowski

Do you have trouble deciding what flowers to send to your mom? Can't decide on what type of flowers to use in your bridal bouquet or in the floral centerpieces for your corporate function? Looking to make your floral purchase seem more grand for the dollars being spent? Sometimes the simple way is the best way! Simple means one or maybe two types of flowers and one color. What better way to showcase a gorgeous bloom by multiplying it by 10 or even 20? Creating bouquets that are all one flower, really allow the shape and texture of the flower being used to stand out. If you love a particular flower by itself, chances are you'll love it if many of the same bloom are grouped together. Keep it to one color and it really makes a strong statement! Do you love the softness of hydrangea? Hydrangea is the perfect flower to stand alone in large groupings of 10 or 20 blooms. What drama unfolds as they burst out like little pink, blue or lavender clouds! What about using a single flo