Sending Smiles ~

Looking for a centerpiece with drama? I present to you a double ball topiary made from Tea Roses, Spray Roses, Dahlias, Canrations, Berries, Mint, Ivy Trails and Mosses. Clearly not in everyone's budget, this piece is perfect for a buffet or escort card table .  Created for this past weekends wedding  held at the Nassau in, this piece would later be moved to the Escort Card Table to greet guests as they arrived for cocktails.   An elegant, peach, orange, red and burgundy theme, this piece was both traditional and formal ~ perfect for the Nassau Inn , wouldn't you agree? To see these and more of our event design work, be sure to visit our main website at www.sendingsmiles.com 

Yes, I admit we had 7 weddings this past weekend ~ 2 on Friday, 2 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday but  goodness, they all came out so pretty. Take this place card table below for a pink themed wedding at Nassau Inn.   I really loved the simple but elegant look of the silver branches on some of the tables and the soft romantic pink roses and hydrangeas on others. Bride Rebecca was very pleased!    Now moving on to vibrant and dramatic wedding colors, like those done for bride Jean and her new hubby at Grounds for Sculpture . It was chilly outside but these colors warmed it right up, don't you agree?    Moving on to the reception, the tables were filled with many, many mercury glass vases filled lushly with roses in shades of orange and hot pink. So vibrant and alive.    The place cards are my personal favorite; each card had a tiny clothes pin and were clipped to a single rose . Isn't that clever? If you think so, I'll take credit fo...

I admit that I love doing winter weddings. Last weekends wedding for bride Suzanne was especially pretty. Her bouquet was created using white anemone's, silver brunia berries, white roses ~ both tea and sweetheart size and light accents of lace dusty miller.  The reception was very intimate and romantic with lots of warm candle light and keeping the white and silver color theme going. The Nassau Inn's Palmer room was the perfect place for this winter reception, don't you think?  Low and long centerpieces created with roses, hydrangeas, dusty miller cedar and gerbera daisies were perfect for the 2 long guest tables. Floating candles added a soft glow to the room. To see this and more of our wedding designs, be sure to visit our wedding website at www.perfectweddingflowers.com 

 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? 

Over a year ago I wrote a blog that focused on the Color Purple (hey, wasn't that a movie with Whoopie Goldberg and Oprah) and here we are beginning a new year and the color purple is still hot, hot, hot!! I've been meeting with brides left and right and the color purple is still showing up as dominate color for this year in wedding designs. The above centerpieces were created for our very own Sheryl's sisters wedding. Everything was purple, including the floral centerpieces that were made from hydrangeas in a variety of shading. This bouquet being made by our designer has pops of purple statice along with rich red roses and deep blue delphinium.  These simple brides maids bouquets were just the perfect shade to match their deep purple/fuchsia gowns.  Bride Naomi wanted a Royal feel to her wedding day and so we took apart purple hydrangea blooms and sprinkled them down the aisle at the Nassau Inn.  Two different shades of purple daisies created the...

I don't often post wedding bouquet photos before we deliver them but in this case I had to make an exception. The days leading up to a wedding are busy for us here at the shop and this weekend having 3 weddings is no exception. I'm really looking forward to the ceremony being held at the Nassau Inn Ballroom tomorrow night. Design Manager Holly just finished her bouquet and it's a beauty. Using flowers in a combination that we often use - roses and mini callas, this one is speaks to the occasion and the holiday with the addition of silver hypericum berries and winter foliage's. Tomorrow nights New Years Eve wedding will be alive with lots of candle light and wisps of silver. The last wedding to be done in that ballroom before it goes under renovation, I can't wait to post photos for you to see of this and our other two spectacular New Years Eve Weddings!!  To see this and other photos of our wedding designs visit our facebook page at www.faceboo...

What fun it was for me to write a guest blog on the Nassau Inn's wedding site. I'm happy with the results and thought I'd share the link on my own blog. The topic is "How to Choose a Wedding Florist" and I give my recommendations in 5 simple steps. If you are interested in this blog visit the Nassau Inn's wedding blog at the http://blog.nassauinn.com/2011/01/how-to-choose-a-wedding-florist/ I'd love to hear what you think and let me know if you found it helpful!

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 ...

As, I am fond of saying - It's a matter of personal preference as to whether you will infuse color into your event or not. This above picture is from a wedding we did for our bride Jen. Silver revere bowls filled lushly with cream hydrangea and ivory roses. When the lights come down, these are bound to look spectacular! Cream colored linens are the perfect back drop to the silver tones of the base and are carried into the silver cane of the chairs. Simple and elegant, this direction is always classic. Spring flowers in various shades of blue and purple are accented with soft foliage styled in a white ceramic footed compote.  A pop of color on the ivory cloth gives a gentle yet sutble look. Because the compote blends with the table linens the container is less noticeable. Here's the same white compote filled with deeper tones on a deep blue table cloth. What a difference, right? This time the container pops out and becomes more noticed. These pretty floral centerpieces sit h...

Well, the holiday is over and it was an eventful week. First, I scared the heck out of my staff by fainting at the shop on Monday. After a scary ride in an ambulance and a less than perfect nights stay in the hospital (I would have been more rested sleeping on the floor of the flower shop) I was released back into the watchful eyes of my husband and staff on Wednesday. I'm also proud to announce that we did over 720 deliveries in about 3 days!! Not as many as last year (just over 800 last year) but considering that the holiday fell on a Saturday this year, we were tickled pink! All our hard work on marketing the business and attention to customer service really has paid off. We also designed, delivered and set up two gorgeous weddings on Valentine's Day. Mary Beth and Leah were the most adorable brides and absolutely loved everything (much to my delight). Leah's wedding was fun, earthy and funky using all blue hydrangea, green hypericum berries and brown gerbers !...

So, what is up with this new trend of weddings in March? Back in the day (well, a few years back, at least) we might have one wedding during the whole month of March and this year we have 5 already I am expecting more! I'm not complaining, I love it but what gives? For that matter, I have quite a few in January and also in February as well. This new trend is wonderful. My designers are doing little floral happy dances because apparently there will not be the usual void of "No Weddings" from January to March again this year. I suspect it's the economy and reception sites giving nice deals. To be truthful, I think these winter weddings turn out nicely. The weather where we are in New Jersey and Pennsylvania rarely has a glut of snowfall so having a nice winter wedding is a wonderful idea. Brides and grooms that pick locations that can easily accommodate their ceremony and reception along with overnight rooms for guests seems to be a great choice! Some of our January loc...