Sending Smiles ~

What's in season ? Tulips! They are coming from Farms in NJ, Virginia & Holland. An interesting fact about tulips is that they continue to grow after being cut, up to an inch or more & they are “phototropic” which means they bend towards the light! Do you follow our shop on Facebook ? Each Saturday we share a new flower that has recently come into season. We'd love for you to follow us and share!  Spring is around the corner!

As a floral shop owner, I love flowers but it's true, as the cobbler has no shoes, often I don't bring flowers home. I probably shouldn't admit that but because I'm surrounded by gorgeous blooms all day long and work 12 hour days, it often doesn't occur to me to grab a bunch when I head out for the evening. Yesterday as the hubby and I closed up for the night, I grabbed a bunch of tulips (one of my all time favorites to bring home) and after cooking and eating dinner, I pulled out a favorite vase to arrange them.  While doing so, I broke a head ~ Oh no! Never fear, look how sweet this single bloom looks in a cute little vase. I posted this picture on my Facebook and within minutes had 20 likes. The power of flowers. Sometimes all it takes is one single flower to brighten a day.  Do you currently follow us on Social Media? We can be found on Facebook for our Princeton Page Here  and for our Yardley Page Here  or on Pinterest Here  or on Instagram Here ....

Love Tulips?  Call today and sign up to create your own tulip arrangement and learn about different varieties of tulips!  Enjoy wine and refreshments while you receive hands-on design instruction and knowledge you will keep for a lifetime.  Our Tulip Arranging class if right around the corner, so call 609-520-2005 today or sign up online at www.sendingsmiles.com .  Join us on Wednesday, April 16th from 6-8PM for only $65 per person - this includes $10 of Monday Morning Money to spend however you like! And don't forget - today's $5 Friday Special is a fresh bunch of Tulips!  Stop in before 7PM to pick up your bunch before it's too late!  Give us a call and we will put a bunch aside for you :)

Designer Alanna shows you how to create 2 different arrangements with this weeks Fresh Ten Flower special. Available at our Princeton NJ store only on February 10th. American grown these lovely tulips will bright up your home or office for 5-7 days! Call to reserve 609-520-2005

With Valentine's Day behind us we look forward to all the Spring flowers that will soon be filling the shop such as hyacinths, sweet peas, tulips and other fun blooms such as lavender statice, daffodils, lisianthus and more. My personal favorite colors are the pinks and purples and don't you just love those huge Japanese Sweet Pea that Kristin is holding? They are enormous and very long lasting.  Soon the Spring weddings will begin and it's been fun seeing the colors and flowers that are in demand for Spring weddings. I'll be sure to post them as the year moves along! For now, let's just breath deep and wait for Spring to arrive. 

Back by popular demand Tulip Mania - 10 stems of Fresh Dutch Tulips. Can't pick up some of the beauties? Why not visit our website and send yourself some today! www.sendingsmiles.com

A meeting today with bride Adele got me to thinking about this blog topic. Working with brides to create floral bouquets that they absolutely love has as much to do with the "texture" the flower combinations create as the "color" theme of the flowers. For example, these bouquets were mostly shades of orange but had these been made using a single flower such as roses or even the dahlias, they certainly would have looked completely different. A bride that likes "texture" will usually love bouquets that have flowers in different shapes and sizes and even though they might be monochromatic, mostly one color like these, the flowers themselves might have slightly different shading with in the same flowers. These bouquets used both roses and tulips that showed mostly as orange but hints and lines of yellow. Take that color away and again, the look would be completely different. Anyone that has ever had a wedding consultation with me knows I generally attack the...

Tulips! You have to love tulips! I know that I do and so do our customers judging from the amount of tulips we sell each spring. It's funny how this week I was thinking back to my trip to Holland about 8 years ago. I even brought in my photo album to share with the staff so they could see all the greenhouses, farms and florist shops we visited. It was so much fun to share the photos with the staff, even if they did make fun of Kevin's facial hair! :o) Of course, a trip to Holland is not complete with out a visit to the Aalsmeer Flower Auction. If you've never been, it's a must see if you love flowers! Look for my blog on that trip as soon as I get time to scan some of the photos. In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy pictures that someone just sent me of the tulip farms in Holland! Can you imagine flying over this beautiful land and seeing this rainbow of tulips? If you can't get to Holland anytime soon why not stop in our shop for some of these pretty f...

Everyone knows that making a purchase, no matter how big or small is partly about the experience. Yes, sometimes you shop because you have to but isn't it true that you shop where you have the best experience? Ok, I'm going to get on my Florist soap box and shout my usual mantra of floralisms. Hm, is that a word? It is unclear to me at the time but on with my rant.... Flower Purchases are About the Floral Experience!! As a Florist I understand that people may be coming into my shop for fresher flowers than they might find at the Supermarket. They may be coming to us for flowers for their wedding. They may be coming in to have flowers delivered to a friend but chances are, if they are coming into my flower shop to buy flowers they are here for the Floral Experience. What, pray tell, is that? It's the wonderful experience that they should have of coming into a clean, organized, well stocked place of beauty. They ...

If you live any where near either of my shops, you woke up to snow this morning! How crazy is that? Well, it is if you are in New Jersey or near Buck's County Pa! Anyway, I am so ready for spring! This morning I walked around the Princeton shop taking it all in and so here are some Scenes from the Shop - Part 3!! Pretty wheat grass and spring colored roses. Fresh bunches of tulips (only $8.95) and hand painted vases with tulips designs. Designer Rocio shows off her very tasteful sympathy piece. It's taller than she is! Rocio is a designer in training and has been slowly learning sympathy design. Lucky for her (and us) she's been taught by her sister who helped bring her into the business. Both Reina and Rocio are naturals!!