Sending Smiles ~

Have you ever noticed how sometimes it's hard to think of a business in more than one way? For example: maybe you always think of McDonald's as the place to get great burgers or even fries but we forget they make wonderful salads and really good coffee. Now, this is not an advertisement for McDonald's, even though I'm a huge fan, even own stock! No, it's just that even for my business, it's hard to get my customers to think of us as more than a florist. Even though the word Balloon is in our name, sometimes people don't realize that we do all kinds of balloon event decor such as balloon columns, arches, centerpieces. As a matter of fact, I did balloon decorating quite a few years before I started doing flowers for weddings. We blow up over 40,000 balloons every single year! Now that's a lot of balloons. Anyway, the point of the blog is that we are more than a florist, we are event decorators and I want to scream it from the highest mountain (well, maybe ...

Yarrow works at the computer updating our websites. Did you know that in addition to our sendingsmiles.com and wedding website, we have two FTD sites and a specific site for Sympathy ordering? We even have a brand new balloon event site getting ready to launch any day! Now that's lot of websites to maintain! She changes the homepages weekly, keeps photos and content fresh and updated and makes sure that there are no "breaks" in any of the links. We know how important our websites are to our customers. Great job Yarrow! If you have never tried our Hanky Panky or Choczel's you are missing out. We have customers come in just to buy a bag now and then. Yummy! This is a close up of a tropical plant called a Bromeliad. Healthy and easy to care for, this plant makes a great addition to an office or home. Over Christmas we sold over 25 of these plants. Now who says you can only send a poinsettia for the holidays! We have the cutest selections of Teddy Bears and other stuf...

About a month ago I was doing my usual buzzing around the shop and noticed a few people browsing. I greeted each with a "Hello" and a "Is anyone helping you yet?". Each told me they were being helped and I did not doubt it as all my employees were hard at work wrapping bouquets and bagging gift items. It's what I love about retail! That whole, I'm here, I need help and I need it now. I find it so stimulating! One woman, as I greeted her said "This place is amazing". She had this look on her face, her head was moving up and down, left and right and her eyes almost looked wild. I became alarmed!! What did she mean? Amazing good or amazing bad? I was almost afraid to ask but I said "Is that a good thing?" and she was like - "oh yes, this place is amazing". I had to ask further, "In what way" and she went on to tell me that she couldn't believe the selection of product we carried, how many employees were flitting her...

For anyone that has ever met with me regarding their wedding flowers, I have a battle cry that I state over and over. Pick a theme and stick to it. How does this save you money on your wedding flowers? Honestly, it's not about having tons of flowers everywhere, it's more about creating a lasting impression. Impressions are more easily made when a distinctive color theme or flowers are used over and over. How often have we seen flowers for a wedding where there are 5 or 6 bright colors all mixed together and after the event is done it's hard to recall what flowers were used or even what the exact color theme was. The eye finds many colors and too many texture to be confusing, leaving more of a confused impression instead of a favorable one. Don't forget that you should be looking for your wedding flowers and decor to represent you as a couple. No one would ever disagree, throwing a wedding takes lots of work, planning and money. Picking a striking but simple color combin...

Earlier today, home from work at a reasonable hour, I decided it would be nice to take a hot bath. The next few days leading up to Christmas will be long and crazy working at the flower shops so relaxing for an hour, soaking in a tub, soothing my tired feet, sounded like heaven. As my husband prepared to relax and watch some football, I mentioned my idea to take a bath and catch up on some magazines, including the latest issue of Fortune Small Business. He was quick to say, "make sure you read something fun" as I peddled off upstairs. I laughed to myself at his comment because to me reading Small Business Fortune is relaxing compared to the Floral Management, Retail Florist, Florist Review, Flowers& and Floral Finance magazines that I read monthly. Compared to how work related those are, Small Business is as down right non-work related as it can get. Anyway, I had been wanting to read the cover story in the December/January issue titled "Make Fear Your Friend" b...

Just the other day a woman called the shop asking if we had foil, you know, the kind you use to wrap the bottom of a plant, in this case, a few poinsettias that she had. Believe it or not, we do use foil but not as often as you might think and so I told her that although I did not have a whole roll I could sell her, I'd be happy to have some sheets cut for her to pick up. When she asked me how much that would cost, I did my usual "I don't need any money, just remember us the next time time you need flowers". I've been doing that kind of thing for so many years, that I sometimes forget the response it gives people. I usually notice the affects when a new employee says, "You don't want me to charge for that"? They seem so surprised but I do this quite often, whenever a customer needs something that's just plain simple or small. I mean, if I have to charge for 12" of curling ribbon or a block of oasis when someone runs into the shop in a bind,...

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...