Sending Smiles ~

But only if it's working for you"... I love that saying, keep on doing what you are doing, but only if it's working well for you. How many people have you met over the years that just seem to have the same things happen to them over and over again? Is it just Karma? Is it fate? Or can it be that they too are stuck on a path that creates a certain outcome, over and over again? Years ago I had a friend that was always in dire straights and it was one thing after the next. Sometimes it was money related, sometimes it was boyfriend related, other times it was family related. After awhile, I could see her actions and I knew what the outcome would be. I could predict what would happen and most of the time it was like a slow motion train wreck. I was like the flag man yelling " don't do that!! Go back!! Go this way! Speed Up, Slow down" whatever was the opposite direction of what she always did, which usually caused something "bad" to happen. Something she

You may laugh but with over 20 employees coming and going between our two shops, that are open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, it's hard to catch all our employees at the same time! Over the years I've become accustom to sending out my Red Alert News Bulletin's keeping the employees posted on the happenings at the company. While writing this one, I thought it might make a fun blog for those of you that would love the inside skinny of what's new and exciting at the two Monday Morning Flower shops! Read on to see what the employees see! :o) Red Alert!! Monday Morning News Bulletin! From, the Big Cheese, Georgianne Well, I thought it might be time to write a bulletin as the last 6 months have been very eventful, with both devastating news and rebirth. As some of you are new to the company and many are “old timers” I wanted to take this opportunity to let you all know how special and important each and every one of you is to Kevin and me both professionally but personally.

My absolute favorite part of doing a wedding is the bridal bouquet. From the first time the bride and I meet to discuss her wedding flowers, I become fixated on what we will create for her to carry. For me, it sets the tone for the whole wedding. Please a bride with her bouquet and most likely the rest will fall into place. Color, structure, form and the details - I become lost in them! My eyes glaze over as she shows me her floral inspiration pictures and describes of her dress. In my mind, the possibilities are endless but what will she want? What will make her heart sing? What will make her eyes tear up on that special day when her bouquet is presented? That's what I see my job as - the one that makes it happen!! Enjoy the video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiaSdjj8vH4

I laugh at myself as I write that title but it's funny how every time I have a "grand" revelation (and I use that term loosely) I think - "Wow! I have to write a blog about that"! I'm sitting here wondering when did my life turn into a blog? And the bigger question is, does anyone care what I think? I'm not so sure but boy, I really do love putting down my thoughts knowing that someone just might read it. Last week, one of my employees commented on my writing because she really loves my blogs. She innocently asked me if I got good grades in school for my writing skills. I nearly laughed out loud but, of course, that would not be very Presidential of me. I very nicely told her no, I was never good at English or writing. I was completely honest and told her that I had to take Junior English twice, as I failed with a big fat F! I don't know the difference between a verb and a noun and thank goodness for spell check! I'm a florist for heaven sake, no

Welcome back for Part 2 of "Inside the Design Bench" at Monday Morning Flowers. Part 1 explored all the work that goes into beginning to design wedding flowers. Our team works hard to make sure that everything is perfect for that special day. I know that sounds corny but it's true!! This part explores the actual delivery and set up of all the wedding flowers. By the time our set up team is back in the truck and heading for home base, 9 or 10 employees have helped to make it all happen! Now, back to bride Erin's wedding....Below is her bouquet. Depending on what our bride has chosen and if it's a unique looking bouquet, we try to get a quick picture before it leaves the shop. Future brides appreciate our ability to show them different styles and colors of bouquets we have created. Although the actual day of the wedding can be hectic, especially if we have more than one to set up that day, remembering to take a few pictures is top on our list of wedding details! Er

I guess most people would think that all the flowers for a wedding come in on Friday and get delivered on Saturday. There could be nothing further from the truth. Luckily for us, flowers take time to hydrate and open but also the process of designing is a much longer and labor intense one than most people would realize. The flowers above have just arrived for our bride Erin, who gets married this Saturday. Stock, delphinium, roses, hypericum berries and hydrangea will all be masterfully arranged into her bouquets and centerpieces! A team effort is definitely necessary and most weddings take about 2 or 3 days to create from start to finish! With three or four weddings each weekend, it's necessary to plan our time efficiently! Designer Rocio is doing the next step to the centerpieces which is adding the lovely assortment of greens such as seeded euc, geranium, ruscus and mint. These centerpieces are already gorgeous before even on single flower gets added! Working in assembly line

I hear that all the time! "Someday, when I retire, I want to work in a flower shop and be a floral designer". Well, you won't hear anything bad come from me because I love my career and my heart goes out to anyone who does not truly love what they do for a living. That being said, right now we are have two floral design interns at the shop. Both are learning the art of floral design for different, personal reasons but both appear to be learning because of their love of the flowers. I hope they continue to feel that way as their journey of the industry progresses. Our internship is a 4 week program that runs one day per week for 4 weeks. Each week covers the basics: how to prep flowers, correct greening, creative floral insertion and touches on aspects of being a designer, from a business point of view. I'm very excited to be hosting these interns because I feel that it's a vital part of keeping interest in our industry. Going to college for Floral Design is time