Sending Smiles ~

Simple Candle Centerpieces , originally uploaded by Georgianne at Monday Morning Flowers . I wanted to share these pretty centerpieces created for an intimate wedding held at the Salt Creek Grill this winter. Tall, square vases filled with natural river stones were the base for these candle centerpieces. Tied with a chocolate brown ribbon, the effect was natural but romantic. The location has an earthy, modern feel and these centerpieces really blended in with the environment. Flowers are nice but if budget does not allow why not consider something like this?

Brides sometimes ask me if the men in weddings have to wear a boutonniere. I usually tell them, of course not, but it is nice. Same goes for Proms. If the fellow does not want one, don't force it but isn't it nice during special occasions to wear a flower. Call me old fashioned but I still remember the flower I purchased for my Junior Prom date. A blue carnation. I know, I know but dyed flowers are making a come back!! Anyway, I know that sometimes putting on the boutonniere can be a bit of a lesson in coordination but it doesn't need to be difficult. Feel free to watch my Youtube video that show where and how to correctly place on a boutonniere. Monday Morning Flowers - YouTube

I've always said I'm not much for the color red. I don't drive a red car, I don't wear red lipstick, I don't have a red couch but I have to say when it comes to dramatic wedding colors - red really delivers! What's more striking and romantic than an all red bridal bouquet? If you are trying to be soft and romantic, red is not the color for you but if you want to scream, look at me, red really makes the point. This bouquet was one of my favorite red bouquets that we have done over the last few months. Berries, velvety roses, mini callas, sweetheart roses and scabiosa pods really give both drama and texture. A small red rose accented with other elements from the wedding compliment this grooms rich red tie. A pop of color is always wonderful on a black tux but few colors have the drama of red! These red and cream floral displays create a gorgeous back drop to this huge mirror at the Nassau Inn. This New Years eve wedding decor really complimented what was go...

When I met bride Beth and her lovely mother, I knew I would have an incredible time helping them plan a romantic wedding. I think these pictures tell the story. Thanks to Pete Malone at 217 Photography for the amazing photos. We created all the floral designs for Pete and Dawns wedding just last year!! Enjoy!! A wedding day without gorgeous flowers? Unthinkable!! Beautiful Beth her gorgeous bouquet of pink, peach and cream roses accents with pink waxflowers. Simple and romantic, just like her! Proud Papa! The handsome grooms is all smiles. His simple cream colored rose looks amazing on his classic suit! A wonderful shot by photography by 217 Photography! Bubbles anyone? Beth and Keith, the perfect pair.

Whenever I do a wedding consultation, one of the elements I'm always sure to discuss is the process of tagging all the flowers for my brides and grooms. This insures that not only is there no confusion about whose flowers are whose but also helps us to make sure that each floral is delivered to the correction location. How we do this is we e-mail each Bride a questionnaire for them to fill out and send back to us. There we ask for all contact information such as day of cells, wedding planner information, drop time desired, banquet hall and church contacts, etc. Then there is a place where we ask to the Bride and Groom to name each person in the wedding that is either wearing or holding a flower. Not only does this include bridal bouquets but also boutonnieres, corsages, etc. Lastly, we ask for this list to be broken down by drop off location. Most Brides forget that they may need their bouquets at one location for pictures and the gentlemen flowers might need to go directly to chur...

There is one question that I get all the time from brides. Want to guess what that is? It's "how much are my wedding flowers are going to cost", of course! That is such a difficult question to answer, and not because we florists don't want to answer it. The truth is that some brides want lots of flowers and others want the bare minimum. I find that most fall somewhere in between. Taking the time to find out what the bride envisions for her day along with any budget she has set, is priority #1 during first consultations with me. The issue that have is that most families have not set an overall budget for their weddings. This is not good!!! Not setting a budget allows for overspending. You wouldn't ask your realtor to show you houses without telling them how much your mortgage was approved for, would you? You don't go car shopping with an open checkbook? Planning a wedding will be one of the most expensive "purchases" you will even make and I can not i...

"When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other." Chinese Proverb Lovely Lilies: I would not want to do event designs or wedding creations without them in my bag of "floral tricks". Large blooms that come in many colors, some fragrant and others not. People often confuse Asiatic Lilies with Oriental Hybrids and so below is a bit of an explanation regarding what makes them different! Asiatic Hybrids: The Asiatic hybrids are among the earliest to bloom, and also the easiest of lilies to grow! They have the broadest color range of any division, including whites, pinks, plums, yellows, oranges, and reds. Their flowers can be up facing , outfacing, or pendant, and generally are not scented. This variety general has a low cost than Hybrid lilies! They are also easy to use in hand tied bouquets and smaller sized centerpieces. Floating in a bloom or two in a small bowl makes an easy, elegant floral centerpiece. ...

Recently I wrote a blog singing the praises of the color Pink for wedding flowers. Now it's time talk about yellow. In the past 2 months alone, we have done 6 weddings (including one that we are doing this coming weekend) with yellow as the predominant color theme. For our bride Jihan we mixed lavenders, creams and buttery yellows using a mixture of hydrangea, tulips and roses for an elegant spring mixture and an accent of lime green foliage softened the look. Another dramatic combination has been yellow and steel grey. Our bride Jen used a mixture of forsythia branches, roses and orchids in shades of yellow to create her beach themed wedding. Accents of platinum along with soft yellows were an unexpected but gorgeous combination. Even her bouquet carried the theme using fragrant yellow freesia. A very convenient aspect of using this color theme is that there are so many gorgeous flowers that come in various shades of yellow. Orchids, roses, freesia, tulips, dahlias, mum, carnati...

I met Ava and Harry one night quite a few months ago to talk about their vision for their wedding. Almost 3 hours later I felt like I had a clear picture of what they wanted their wedding flowers to look like. I also felt like I had known them forever. We really had a nice time talking about flowers, work and life. It's amazing how brides and grooms come and go but there is a piece of each one left behind inside of me when the wedding day is over. I was especially excited to do their wedding because Ava wanted us to create a cascade bouquet for her. I love hand tied bouquets but truth be told we do so many of them, it's more challenging to do a good, old fashioned bridal bouquet. My prediction is that we'll be seeing more and more cascades. The same weekend we did Harry and Ava's wedding we did two others and 2 out of three brides choose a cascade style bouquet, so it seems to be a trend that is picking up momentum. Ava's beautiful bouquet was very simple but so str...

I don't know what it is about the color pink but it just never seems to go out of style when choosing a wedding flower color. A lush bouquet of ivory and pale pink roses is as timeless now as it was 10 years ago. Aged, ceramic urns filled with herbs and pink blooms make a perfect centerpiece for a wedding set in an old mansion. A simple wreath of cream hydrangea, pink roses and carnations and accents of moss look perfect at an outdoor terrace wedding. Pink roses everywhere speak of romance and elegance. Choose pink as your wedding color the options are endless. To see more, gorgeous pink arrangements visit our wedding website at www.perfectweddingflowers.com

We are happy to announce that we have again been chosen as "Best of Weddings Florist" for The Knot 2009. We were chosen as an Editors Pick! Monday Morning Flowers - Princeton is 1 of only 19 florists chosen for their "Best Of" publication for the whole state of New Jersey. We are both honored and humbled to be so considered among the other very talented florists around the country. Getting married? We just might be a good florist to choose!!! :o)

When you do as many weddings as we do sometimes the bouquets, centerpieces and miscellaneous items become a blur of colors and textures that come into the shop and quickly leave! It's so much fun and I rarely do a wedding that I don't absolutely love the outcome. I thought it might be fun to post some in my blog. It truly becomes a matter of finding just the right colors and flowers to translate their dreams into a reality for their special day! I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed creating them!

I laugh as I write the title to this blog, because I'm really dating my self!! Donnie and Marie Osmond. Ah, the good old days. I just got off the phone with a customer who is trying to plan an event and needs decor. As I ask the usual questions "Are we going for something fun, funky or elegant?" it reminds me of that song that Donnie and Marie used to sing. Marie loved Country music and Donnie loved Rock. It showed how they were different and it was always a catchy song. The truth is I am Donnie and Marie rolled into one when it comes to flowers, balloons and decor. It really is all about the client and finding out what their goals are. I often hear about florists who tell brides that they can't do daisies for their wedding because it's too casual of a flower. I've always been of the mind set that my job is to please the customer and interpret what they want. I love that part about my job. Nothing gets me more excited when I see a brides face light up when I s...