Sending Smiles ~

Did you know that we have a sympathy specific website just for choosing and sending funeral flowers? About 4 years ago we developed this site to make it easier on folks needing to plan a family service, not to mention others who needed to show their sympathy through flowers. We thought by having a site just for these kinds of flowers and other gifts it would be more considerate of their feelings during a stressful and sad time. This past week we were able to redo the site completely with many new and updates styles of arrangements. I sincerely hope you won't need this website, but if you do we hope it makes it easier on you. To visit our site you can go to http://www.sendingsympathy.com/ and to  read more about the importance of sending flowers for funerals, visit our re posted blog on the subject.

It's a snowy day here in NJ/PA and Karen's pretty wedding bouquet is loaded and on it's way to her home in Levittown, PA. Roses in 3 shades of pink accented with crystal stephanotis. Hand tied and simple. The perfect bouquet for a wintry January day. Don't you think? Want to see more of our wedding designs? Visit our facebook page at www.facebook.com/localflorist

A meeting today with bride Adele got me to thinking about this blog topic. Working with brides to create floral bouquets that they absolutely love has as much to do with the "texture" the flower combinations create as the "color" theme of the flowers. For example, these bouquets were mostly shades of orange but had these been made using a single flower such as roses or even the dahlias, they certainly would have looked completely different. A bride that likes "texture" will usually love bouquets that have flowers in different shapes and sizes and even though they might be monochromatic, mostly one color like these, the flowers themselves might have slightly different shading with in the same flowers. These bouquets used both roses and tulips that showed mostly as orange but hints and lines of yellow. Take that color away and again, the look would be completely different. Anyone that has ever had a wedding consultation with me knows I generally attack the

It's funny how often I get asked what my favorite flower is. I wonder if people ask the pizza maker what his favorite pie is. Anyway, roses, roses and more roses. I love roses. I love everything about them. This picture taken at Longwood Gardens on Christmas Day by yours truly shows my fascination with this perfect flower. This bud is just a day or so away from blooming fully and although I generally am not fond of roses that are still buds, this one just spoke to me and forced me to take a photo of it. I wonder if it was mocking me for all the times I've told brides that roses are most beautiful when they are they are fully bloomed. I stand corrected, roses are beautiful at every stage!!

What's more fun that festive balloons at a party? Did you know that Monday Morning Flower and Balloon Co inflates over 40,000 balloons each year? Now that's a lot of hot air - or helium to be exact. Balloons are so much fun for all kinds of events like Bar and Bat Mitzvah, Sweet 16 parties, showers, anniversary and birthday parties. Take this Sweet 16 held at KatManDu in Trenton, NJ http://www.katmandutrenton.com/ with only three balloons in each bouquet, yet so visual. To see more of our balloon design work, visit our event website at http://www.mondaymorningballoons.com/ . We hope the next time you throw a party, you might consider decorating with balloons!

Don't you just love Hydrangeas? I know I do. As soon as I meet with a bride and she mentions blues or purples, these gorgeous flowers pop right to mind. Full and lush, they make gorgeous bouquets, centerpieces and look lovely tied to the end of a pew with a simple fabric ribbon. This photo taken at Longwood Gardens just this past week (by yours truly, of course) really shows not only the depth of color but also the variety of color from bloom to bloom. As shown here, these are all mostly on the same plant of the same variety. If you are looking for a perfect match and to have the blossoms all the exact same shade, hydrangeas might not be for you. I personally think that the randomness of the color is exactly what makes these flowers so gorgeous. Haven't considered hydrangea for your wedding? Perhaps I have changed your mind? :o)

Just a quickie blog to say Happy Holidays to all our customer, family, friends and "Blog" readers. We wish for you health, happiness and a prosperous 2011 from all of us at Monday Morning Flower and Balloon Co!