Sending Smiles ~

So you are planning your Spring wedding and everywhere you read they tell you should choose flowers that are “in season”. Sounds like it would be simple but often flowers that are available and affordable are not so easy to discern. Why is that you might ask? Mostly it has to do with where flowers are grown. Years ago, if you went to your local florist for wedding flowers, chances are they had a green house attached to their shop and grew many of the necessary flowers. Whatever they grew at that time of year was what you could choose from, plain and simple! Fast forward 50 years and that’s no longer true. Even if we look back 10 or 15 years ago, florists were able to obtain at least some flowers from local greenhouses and farms. Today in NJ, there are not many of these local sources available for “florist” grade cut flowers. Why do I mention this? Well, because the season and weather conditions here in NJ and Eastern PA (where my shops are located) does not really play into the whole

What is the flower? Can you guess? I'll bet you think it's a rose? Nope, it's actually a form of ornamental kale that we use in floral arrangements. This variety is hands down our favorite and it's called "Red Crane" and comes through the dutch market and is grown in Holland green houses. Apparently, it's edible but we've never tried it and I'm thinking we probably won't! Long lasting yet fun and fancy, our designers love "Kale Season". If you order a flower arrangement from our shop, you just might find it among the other blooms. It's especially nice used in Thanksgiving centerpieces and the green and white variety are spectacular during Christmas! Take advantage of Kale Season and ask for this awesome flower when you place your order! To see more of our floral creations be sure to check out our website at http://www.sendingsmiles.com/ and if you are planning a wedding our designs can be seen at http://www.perfectweddingflow

Anyone that knows me knows that I can be quick with the camera. I'm sort of a frustrated photographer of sorts, I really have no idea how to correctly use the lovely Nikon D40 Camera that I bought over a year ago. I have no patience for reading a manual and I rarely stop long enough to figure out what all the different setting mean and do. Regardless, I do take some photos that while a photographer might see the flaws, I think they look pretty darn nice. So was born, my line of blank greeting cards. Take this card for example. I took this photo while at a local winery (Silver Decoy in Robbinsville, NJ) while at a friends birthday party. The perfect photo for a flower shop greeting card, don't you think? So far I've created about 8 different greeting cards that range from pictures of garden variety flowers, flowers in the shop right up to bridal bouquet close ups. They seem to sell well and I'm proud of them. If you're ever at the shop, let me know what you think.

Ta da! Here it finally is. Our new van has it's big daisy and our new logo and we love it. Remember, if you see our van out making a delivery and you snap a quick photo to post on our Facebook page, you'll get a $50 gift certificate from the shop! Visit us at www.facebook.com/localflorist and if you haven't already clicked the "Like" button - feel free!

We really love Thanksgiving here at the shop. Years ago when I still went out on the road to make deliveries, Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday to deliver for. Why you might ask? The smells, the amazing smells that come from inside when they greet you at the door. Cooking! Everyone is cooking and they are so happy. Add a gorgeous flower arrangement for the table and the holiday is complete.

We had the honor last week of providing flowers for the Nassau Inn photo shoot. The Nassau Inn is located in the heart of the downtown Princeton shopping district. If you've never been there, it truly is a treat! It's always challenging to design arrangements that not only show off the location (which is the whole idea of the photo shoot to begin with) but also not be overly seasonal. Right now we are in the throws of fall flowers but folks viewing these pictures could be doing so in Spring, Summer or even in the dead of Winter. Our color theme for the shoot were rich reds, pinks and purples. Purple has been a hot wedding color for the later part of 2010 and appears to be going strong right into 2011. Red and pink are always classic so put the three together and WOW!! Drama!! Look at this lovely shot of the Palmer Room. One of my personal favorites at the Inn because it's elegant but cozy. This room also has lovely daytime light but when the sun goes down, the glow comes

I love this shot of our bride Caroline from her August wedding as she struts along the streets of Princeton University's campus. Boy, things have changed in the world of wedding photography. Back in my day, you just stood there and hopefully looked good! We especially loved creating her brides maids bouquets of all hydrangea. They contained three different shades - green, light blue and then medium blue. Tied with a simple ribbon, they really complimented their blue dresses. Caroline's bouquet was created using flowers of different sizes and shapes from white, to pale blue with accents of sapphire. Blue has been a popular color for 2010 and I predict that trend will continue right on into 2011. That sounds good to me being blue is actually my favorite color! To see more of our wedding designs visit our website (and you'll see it's very blue) at http://www.perfectweddingflowers.com/