Sending Smiles ~

I've been in the flower and balloon business so long I sometimes forget how receiving one of our offerings can make someone feel. Just this morning I took an order from a woman who wanted to send a dear friend a big bouquet of Get Well and Thinking of You Balloons . Get Well Balloon Bouquet  She told me the story about how she felt when she received balloons when her son was born. She said she loved getting flowers but the balloons were so fun and festive and made her happy. I mentioned it was ironic that she and I were having this conversation because we are in the middle of a huge project of expanding our balloon bouquet offerings on our website. I guess it'a all about the timing. Here are a few new bouquets that just went live today!! Sweet 16 Balloon Bouquet  18th Birthday Balloon Bouquet  21st Birthday Balloon Bouquet 40th Birthday Balloon Bouquet  50th Birthday Balloon Bouquet 60th Birthday Balloon Bouquet

Another month of fun Instagram photos. Thought I'd share the behind the scenes from December!  Here a photographer posts a photo of a bridal bouquet we created in November and we share it on our feed!  Our Princeton store decorated for the holiday season!  Kevin and Alanna build a balloon archway for a non-profit awards breakfast in Woodbridge. This is a new frame for us and it really turned out great. It's 12 feet tall!!  A winter wedding of teals and white, snowflakes and birch branches at Old York Country Club in Bordentown, NJ.  A 3 foot tall boxwood tree decorated with real peacock feathers  for the Princeton Residence Inn. Even the ribbon had the peacock feather design!  We held 3 design classes during the month of December including this wreath making class. The students really did a great job.  Design Alanna went out to a club meeting for a demonstration and then then attendees bought what she made.  ...

Happy Saturday! I sincerely hope everyone out there had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know I did! For us today really kicks off the season of holiday buying and it's starts with Small Business Saturday . Today has us offering 25% everything in the store and we offered a discount to our online shoppers as well.  Admittedly our holiday season tends to get stronger the closer the holiday comes with our strength being our ability to help our customers send holiday love at the last minute.   It's still fun for us to start decking the halls (although we don't formally decorate our shops until the first week of December) and we have lots of holiday themed house and giftwares available. The winter and Christmas themed holiday wreaths, centerpieces and poinsettia orders will start hot and heavy by Mid Decembe r too.   We've had a few browser in our Princeton and Yardley shops today and truthfully with most folks still shopping at the malls, we often pick up those...

 Have you met Tara? She works in our Yardley shop on Saturdays (she's student) and has been a great addition to our team. Today she helped out in the shop to assist our Thanksgiving Customers!  Driver Donna is part time and such a wonderful team member. See that smile? She's always eager to help and always with a smile! Yesterday and Today she helped deliver smiles in Mercer, Middlesex and Lower Bucks Country. Meet Jeff. Wonder what he does here at the shop? Well he is certainly very multifaceted ~ have you seen any of our online or printed graphics? If so, they were designed by Jeff. Have you ever gone into our Yardley shop on a Thursday or Friday? Yup, you've seen Jeff running the store, processing flowers and creating bouquets for customers. Or perhaps you have opened your door to his smiling face as he makes a deliver to you. See, we told you he was multifaceted!   The Dynamic Duo!! Alexis and Alanna ~ or should I say the A Team. Posing for me betwe...

It may seem a little "Late" to be talking about 2015 wedding trends and I would agree with you if it weren't for the fact that we still have some last minute Fall and December weddings finalizing with our shop right now. I love these "Late Arrival Brides" because they give me a peek into next years wedding trends. Speaking of last minute weddings, Beautiful Emily shown below was a bride we worked with on her August 20th wedding . First meeting with her Mother (who had no idea what Emily might like to have for her wedding) we had to wait for Emily to finish school to finally dig into her flower wish list. This happened 11 days before her wedding . Yes you heard right, 11 days.  Although this may have added a few gray hairs to my head being I was not sure what Emily might like, plus I had to cost out and propose quickly not to mention I had missed every single deadline for order Farm Direct Flowers (this could be a blog in itself) but we needless to say, we w...

No color has been more confusing to me over the years than coral. Described as a redish or pinkish shade of orange (gee, that's helpful) it remains a very popular color choice for wedding designs. No matter what you call it, this pretty "shade" has been in heavy use this wedding season and I've met with couples for 2016 who are also asking about this pretty color theme. Take the wedding flowers above created for a wedding this weekend. Amsterdam Roses, Bismark Gerbera, Brilliant Coral Spray rose and peach/coral hypericum berries combine to create one striking combination, don't you think? Would you consider this color theme for your wedding ?

Who says a floral design has to have tons of flowers to be memorable. Take this floral design as an example. Created using 1 stem of purple butterfly aster, 4 stems of lavender daises, 1 rose, half a hand full of foliage and purple moss with 3 simple butterflies and there you have it. An adorable floral design that looks super cute, is a nice size and is sure to bring a smile. The retail value on this design is just under $30 but imagine this being used on a buffet table for a party or even as a centerpiece. Know someone who could use a lift, this design is sure to bring a smile and make them feel loved. Birthday flowers for your favorite young lady? This will do it, don't you agree? The next time you need flowers , don't assume you have to spend big bucks to make a big impact. Just give your favorite florist some free rein and let them create something special just for you! Remember to keep it local ~ please order your flowers from a local independent business owner an...

Late June has us creating designs for every occasion from Get Well, Birthday, Graduation and Beyond. The designers have been having fun with the designs they are making, including the arrangements in the cooler for those who need to dash in and back out!  Fresh cut bouquets of mixed flowers ready for those grab and go customers in a rush.   Summer candles arrived last month and are on full display, including this Sunshine in a Can candle from Aunt Sadies.   Coffee Coasters - a fun gift for the coffee drinkers in your life.   Who doesn't love yellow daisies , right?   Coffee mugs for your favorite nurse!   Gorgeous orchid plants in the shop this week!  We love making plant gardens and new tropical plants just arrived.   These polka dot plants are super cute and easy to care for and grown. The perfect indoor house plant.   Some adorable signage ~ the joy of the Journey is in the Ride.   Fresh sto...

With all the terrible things going on in the world today, it certainly is not a good idea for me to complain about my little pleasant world but it's so nice to finally have a semi-warm day with a shining sun. Here at the shop in Princeton Forrestal Village we are recovering from a very busy Administrative Professionals Holiday week and getting the store ready for Mother's Day . It's always fun when the weather clears up enough for us to place some of our plants and gift ware outside.  If you would like to see all our new Mother's Day offerings for 2015, feel free to check out website at www.sendingsmiles.com . Take peek at both our Mother's Day and Mother's Day Premium categories for great gift ideas. We hope to serve you soon!!  

You may remember a few months back Kevin wrote a blog post about how balloons make people happy and so this photo came quickly to mind. Last week a customer came in and said she wanted balloons for later in the day to be delivered to her home for her son's 10th Birthday. http://www.sendingsmiles.com/princeton-plainsboro-trenton-florist/birthday-flowers-and-gifts-11334c.asp?topnav=LeftNav She wanted something bright and colorful, plus she wanted her son to be Wow'd. I'm thinking that Jack was pretty speechless when these rainbow colored balloon tree were delivered.  We love when customers share photos and being she stopped in the next morning to let us know how happy Jack was, plus shared a photo, really plays to the fact that Balloons truly make people happy! Want to send a balloon bouquet to someone you know? Visit our website at www.sendingsmiles.com and link onto the Balloon Bouquet category! 

We may be a florist shop but we sell lots of other items, especially things that make great gifts and one of them is locally harvested honey from Yellow Bee Honey of Lawrenceville. Show below with our tea related items such as tea cups, tea pots and tea steeps. These are 8 oz in squeezable bottles.   We also have wonderfully fragrant Honey scented candles from Aunt Sadie's Candle Company of Vermont. These are paired with the more vintage looking bottles of Yellow Bee Honey.  We also sell many of these bottles in our Fruit and Gourmet Food baskets , which make a great gift for just about any occasion.  When reordering plush animals and bears we couldn't resist these adorable little guys complete with their own honey pots!  Add a spring flower arrangement and that is sure to brighten up anyone's day!  Do you know someone who loves honey? Then we have some great gift ideas for you! To see all our new arrivals, be sure to visit our Facebook Page oft...

•Do the roses I give on Valentine's Day have to be Red? NO! People love receiving roses in other colors such as peach, pink, yellow and lavender. You don't even have to send Roses. Mixed spring bouquets are the next most popular choice to send on Valentine's Day from our shop. •Does my flower gift have to be a huge bouquet of flowers and cost a lot?  Of course not! A single bloom you picked out by hand at your local florist will mean just as much as a whole dozen of roses . Your flower purchase should be relative to what you feel is comfortable for you to spend. There are many options to choose from. Save some real dough by checking out our promotion codes at the bottom of this e-mail! •Why do red flowers seem to cost more during the holiday? Simple supply and demand. Not enough supply and high demand.Go with the crowd and send red flowers or stand out by being creative and most likely, you'll save some money. •What are some other great gift ideas ...