Sending Smiles ~

What is it about the holiday season? Mixed among the poinsettias deliveries, boxwood trees and holiday party decorations, we always seem to have more than our share of family funerals to create flower tributes for. As if the holidays are not stressful enough, imagine loosing a loved one at this time.  Actually, I don't have to imagine it, I lost my own father on Christmas Eve 19 years ago. The flowers above were delivered today for a very good customer who was having a memorial service for her mother. Soft pinks, seasonal but feminine made for a striking display at church and the pink marble poinsettias could be given away to family members after the service as a remembrance. There is no substitution for the personal touch needed to create flowers like these. Meeting with the family and discussing their wishes is both an honor and duty that we take very seriously. Above is an arrangement we created a few years back for man who had a special bond with his dog "Lady&

"What is your wedding flower style?" When I ask a bride that question, 80% will tell me, simple but elegant but what does that really mean? When you look in the dictionary the definition of these words, what do you find? Simple means: Free from ostentation and vanity, easy to understand and humble in origin. Elegant  means: Tasteful in design, dignified and graceful in appearance and cleverly simple. Take the bridal bouquet above? More than any other bouquet we've ever made, this one seems to strike a cord in certain brides. To me it's elegant but simple. It's natural but not wild. It has texture that stands apart from the wedding dress but does not compete with it.  But this type of bouquet only accounts for about 20% of the designs we create. Do I think that 8 out of 10 brides really want simple but elegant floral designs? Actually, it's probably the other way around. I think that 80% want complicated, cool, colorful, even funky flowers. For me,

Had to share these lovely photos from Kyo Morishima Photography of last months Scottish wedding. I have to say this was a favorite of mine, only because it was so different and fun to create. The grooms flower was a mixture of a pheasant feather a loop of willow, a touch of red hypericum and seeded euc berries and some blue thistle. A tiny piece of the grooms Scottish Tartan finished the look. The brides bouquet also had all those elements but large red tea roses made a very textured but elegant bouquet. Thank you Kyo for the amazing photos and to the Nassau Inn who hosted this amazing wedding. To see this and more of our wedding designs visit our website at www.sendingsmiles.com and go to the wedding link to view our gallery.

Those times, they are a changin'. Is that a song? I can hear the melody in my head but I don't remember the exact words. But wow, if that is not the truth these days, I don't know what is. Years ago, if you owned a retail floral shop, you prepped your flowers, made them into pretty arrangements in your display coolers and lined up buckets and buckets of loose flowers for customers to choose from. The phone rang and you talked to customers about their needs and hung up by telling them you'd make  pretty arrangement and have it delivered in a jiffy. Then supermarkets started adding floral departments, making it less likely that you'd pick up flowers for your home at your local florist. Need flowers delivered? Yup, the florist is the best for that as most supermarkets don't deliver and so you started to gravitate towards floral services and retailers that had websites. It was important to be able to shop online and see what you were sending.   Computers are

If you read our blog often and see our wedding designs, you are sure to have seen these cool little berries that we us in our arrangements. What are they? Coffee beans? Holly berries? Nope, they are called Hypericum Berries and they are actually a cut flower used in many florists shops. In the case of these red ones, the look is quite seasonal and really adds a pop of color, just like they do in the bridal bouquet below. This is a sneak peek at bride Amanda's wedding bouquet for tomorrow. What about these green ones below? Added among cream and white flowers, they add a touch of green with a spring or summer feel. Add light colored red ones among deep red flowers for a bit of contrast and color. They come in so many different colors such as green, peach, orange, brown and red, they fit into just about any season. Add their deep green leaves into the mix and you can see why we design with them so often. To see more of our floral designs, visit our website at www.send

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had at the shop. Over 100 floral arrangements and centerpieces were delivered the day before the holiday and everyone seemed quite pleased with their fresh flowers. Now, with December 1st  just around the corner, how thoughts turn towards the holiday. Don't let the 60 degree temps fool you, it definitely time for Christmas cheer and gift shopping.  This year we added a new balloon bouquet to our offerings. This bouquet of 6 helium filled mylar balloons is super festive and a fun gift for kids of all ages only $34.95.  When you walk in the front door of our Princeton shop you are greeted by our Christmas tree that is loaded with tiny stuffed animals, lolly pops and many different styles of Christmas ornaments. Each and everything on the tree is for sale, of course and many make great stocking stuffer's.  Winter Welcome, this slate hanging sign is so pretty and can be displayed for years to come, only $14.95. What  In a rush and

Let's face it, it's been a tough few years and local food banks have suffered. Inspired by a TV Food Network program that Kevin saw recently, he really wanted to do something to help out. In an effort to spread the cheer at this time of year, we've put into place a matching donation program to help support the local New Jersey Food Bank. When you place an order and donate $3.00 to the food bank, we'll match your donation. Our hopes are to raise a few hundred dollars and if all goes well, we'll continue into the New Year. Help us to help those having a tough time right now. Remember, there a folks who need our help who live in our communities and no one should be hungry in America.