Sending Smiles ~

Ah, peacock feathers, definately not for the faint of heart but when used correctly - Wow! This bouquet created for our bride Stephanie really speaks to people when they see it. They may not be brave enough to choose it for themselves but everyone agrees it's beautiful and memorable. Even the groom wore a small peacock feather. Talk about being trend setters! Traditional floral elements like the roses and stephanotis above are taken to the next level with these soft white ostrich feathers. Bride Jennifer loved the soft texture these added to the edge of her bouquet and they also complimented her soft tulle skirting.  The simple act of adding some rhinestones really take this bouquet from ordinary to extraordinary.

The world of flowers - a breath of fresh air on a dreary day. Is there anything more satisfying than being a  florist who is able to slowly unpack these lovely flowers? Today, these little "blooms in fire" arrived to many Ohhhhs and an Ahhhh's from myself and the staff. Gloriosa lilies, commonly known as the climbing lily, arrived to our shop via Japan. Yes, from Japan and these are unusually spectacular. Native to South Africa, they are truly a work of art. Long, thin vine like stems topped off with these gold tipped gems. As the blossom matures, the petals elongate and wrinkle and gradually arch backward while sequencing through a spectrum of color from green to yellow to scarlet. A most unusual and exotic flower, the gloriosa lily is a crimson and yellow vision to behold and if you receive a flower delivery from our shop - you just might have one of these beauties in your arrangement!!

I know, you read that title and said "Of course I care" and you don't even know what I'm about to write, do you?? hehehehe. Too funny but I'll bet that's what you are thinking. This blog is about wedding flowers. And it's about brides. Wedding flowers and brides. Two of my favorite things, most of the time. So back to the title - Do you care? Do you care about your wedding flowers? Are they important to you? I often ask brides during my consultations to tell me how important their flowers are to their overall wedding. I use a basic scale from 1 - 10. One being "I could care less if there was even one single flower at my wedding". Ten being "I must have flowers everywhere" and five being "I'm an average bride, they are important but I don't want to break the bank". First off, I have to tell you right now that I don't care if you are my bride and you tell me you are a 3, a 5 or a 10, as long as I can make you happy.

In most cases, bigger is better, right? That being said, when you get an engagement ring, you'd like it to be a nice size, right? When you get a new car, it would be nice if it was roomy enough to fit you comfortably. It's nice when you go out for dinner and there's so much on your plate that you can take a doggie bag home. I personally love leftovers - no cooking the next day!! Whoo hoo! Well, I guess the same can be said about flowers. It's super nice to receive a gift of flowers but you have to admit, getting a big and showy floral display to the office is enough to put a smile on your face for the whole day. Kevin and I recently put together these three arrangements, at three different prices to make that point to our sales staff. All three arrangements are gorgeous and all three have very high quality blooms but the one on the right really says - WOW ! Sometimes you need to send a "little" something and sometimes you need the WOW factor. My lesson to t

Thought I'd share some views from the Northeastern Floral Conference. Wow, what a way to spend a weekend, surrounded by flowers and making new floral friends! Our friends at Delaware Valley Wholesale had the most amazing display - see above!! It's so much fun seeing flowers that are so artfully designed!! Next stop? The Floral Design Competition! Getting to meet lots of new people, discuss the floral business and have fun is the order of the day at the Conference. Above, Georgianne gets to meet and spend time with the shop owners of Don's Own Flower Shop located in Geneva, NY! Checking out the new varieties of flowers are especially enlightening. These cool blooms were located at the DV booth! If you can't tell how big they are from this picture, check out the roses next to them! It was especially fun spending time with our favorite floral importers, DV. It's always so nice to spend quality time with John Richards and Ken Wilkens!! I even got to meet Bill Shodowski

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 are coming in for the selection, the freshness, the customer s

If I had a dollar for everytime I was out at a business or social function where I heard - "Hey, I see your vans all the time",  I'd be a very wealthy lady by now! How fun is that? I love hearing how people are aware of my company and I especially love my delivery vehicles, complete with their "Send Someone a Smile" and huge blue daisy! So now how can you  win you a smile? If you see our van, take a picture and post it on our Facebook Fan page and you can get money in your hand. That's right, take picture and post it and win a $50 gift card to our shop.  That will put a smile on our face and yours! Have fun and happy hunting! Don't forget to become our fan at Facebook Fan Page of Monday Morning Flowers!