Let's face it, if money was no object everyone would love to have flowers in their house. Having fresh flowers in your life doesn't have to break the bank and with a little care you can enjoy them for days or even weeks.

Look for flowers that look hydrated but are still closed or just beginning to open. This one is a biggie. Flowers that are fresh from the farm as just beginning to open and bloom. Blooms often open in order from top to bottom.

For example: Lilies. They are multiple buds. The ones at the bottom open first and then as they expire out the higher ones open. Buy them with the buds are either closed or just beginning to open and you'll get two weeks out of your flowers.

Other tips are to look for fresh looking foliage. Stay away from leaves that are yellow or even brown. Remember, there is always going to be a certain amount of imperfections in flowers, they are real and not fake but try to find ones that truly look fresh. Learn to tell the difference between flowers that are fresh that have not bloomed yet and ones that have bloomed and already on their way out.

Fresh water!! I'm shocked how often I see old, bacteria ridden water in peoples homes. Change the water daily, it only takes a minute and really keeps the flowers fresh. Remember, if you would not want to drink that water, neither will your flowers!

Remove foliage below the water line. This causes what you see above. Take a few minutes and strip the leaves off before you put them into water. If you are purchasing your flowers at a florist, most likely this has been done being flower shops generally do a better job of prepping their flowers when they arrive from the farm.

Fresh cuts! When you first get your flowers home, be sure to take a 1/2" off the bottom, preferably at an angle. Using a good pair of scissors is fine. Don't get caught up in the cutting underwater and using a knife, the two things that throw consumers off. Studies over the years show that if you use a sharp scissor, cut on a angle and put right into water will draw water just fine! Don't make it harder then it needs to be.

Sunlight is a no no. Preferrably  try to keep your flowers out of sunlight and away from heat. Many years ago a customer told me her flowers died right away. I later found out that she had them on her radiator because she thought the warm air was good for them. Um.... No!! Our coolers are kept at 37 degrees so anything above that is stressful to them. Why make it worse by putting them in a hot area? Keep them the coolest you can and they thrive longer for you.

Lastly, remember, different flowers have different vase lives. Even how long roses will last vary on color and variety. White and lavender usually don't last as long as reds, yellows and certain orange roses. If you love iris, that's great but rememeber they only last 2 or 3 days in a vase, shorter if you are buying them in full bloom. If you are looking for flowers with long vase lives stick to flowers such as alstroemeria (my personal favorite), regular daisy poms (I often bring these home and get two weeks out of them), carnations and mini carnations and even Asiatic lilies that have many blooms will give you color in your home for weeks. Even fresh tulips can give you a full 5 to 7 days if you keep trimming them down and don't forget to change their water. These are truly great investments for everyday living. Having a dinner party? Splurge on hydrangea, stock, or other more delicate blooms. It's like a wedding, we get flowers to be at their peek of beauty, we don't worry as much about if they will look great a week from now. It's all about the day!!

I hope these tips help you and that you live with flowers in your life. If you haven't shopped at your local florist recently, try stopping in. If everything looks fresh, reasonably priced and their service is good, perhaps they might be worth the special trip when you need flowers.

People often ask me what is the right way to hold a bridal bouquet. I know some ladies think it's going to be hard but truthfully, even a cascade is very easy to carry. As in the example to the right, that's me holding a very sweet tear drop shaped bouquet (compliments of our bride Coleen). As you can see, I'm able to hold the bouquet with one hand and it's not uncomfortable for me in anyway.

The key to holding a cascade is to drop it down to the waist  level. I've seen many pictures of girls holding their bouquets too high, which is a very uncomfortable way to hold these. Second, holding it too high, especially in the case of the bride, blocks all the beautiful detail of their dresses. Remember, when you are walking down the aisle you want to appear relaxed and natural!

Another issue I've seen is to point the bottom of the bouquet outwards. Make sure that the bouquets sits nice and flush against your body. This will give you the best possible view in the pictures, especially as you walk down the aisle. Other than that, they are a breeze.

The pictures from your wedding should remind you of your special day and as a florist, I'd love for your flowers  to look as beautiful as you do!!

Well, here it is, the day before the day before Thanksgiving and I'm stealing a bit of time away from the sales and design floor to do another, much anticipated "Scenes from the Shop". What? It's not much anticipated? Well, regardless, I'm not offended, nor am I bashful about posting some pics!! hehehehe

The candy bouquets all lined up and ready to go! Melissa did a great job with this display! What's a fun gift to send to kids and adults alike! Add a balloon and it will surely receive a giddy reply!

The holiday gourmet product has started to arrive, including this new line of Greek Cookies. I love getting samples and there are delicious!

Well, I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but it's hard not to get excited about Christmas. It's such a fun time at the shop so I thought I'd share. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Ah, you have to love Halloween and what is more fun than a wedding?  Rachel and Brian were a fun couple and it was great getting to know them (even if I did call the groom Ben once - dah!) and their families.

Their wedding at the Nassau Inn went off without a hitch. Lots of "orange unique" roses accented with brown berries and yellow solidago really looked gorgeous against the brides maids brown dresses.

It was especially fun creating a floral display in Brian's family princess basket for the flower girl to carry! Traditions are so important it was an honor to creating another rememberance in the 45 year old heirloom!Rachels bouquet included mango mini callas along with roses and was the perfect compliment to her romantic lace gown.

The groomsmen looked handsome with their orange rose boutonnieres and Brian with his single "Mango" mini calla. The mothers carried small hand tied bouquets of ivory roses which complimented their dresses. The centerpieces were a mixture of fall foliages, berries, orange and bronze mums with a glowing lantern as the focal point. I especially loved the mini pumpkins that served as the placecards!

The warm glow of candlelight,  beautiful flowers, fantistic food and drinks and an elegant but rustic in-town setting - what more can you ask for the perfect Halloween wedding!!

Feed Me!! That reminds me of The Little Shop of Horrors! If you've never seen it you must go, it's so funny. Anyway, I got the idea for this blog while watching Cake Boss the other night as he was creating a cake of the shouting "Feed Me" monster. It made me hungry for cake right then and there.  So, onto the blog... people love food. They love eating and so they love sending food as gifts, not to mention receiving them!

It's always been amazing to me how many florists don't want to create and delivery gourmet, snack and fruit baskets. We love it. We not only do those but we have been doing a cookie arrangement for over 20 years that is very popular and thank goodness, the cake baker sends an "extra" cookie for us now and then. Yum!! And no disrespect to the Cake Boss (you are my hero) but we even do cakes. Add some balloons and the party begins!

We all have people in our lives that we have no idea what to get them. Maybe it's their birthday or maybe they just came home from the hospital, or maybe they are a business associate that we need to thank. Whoever they are, they are just plain old hard to buy for. Why not send them a snack basket? Want to be all formal and elegant? Gourmet baskets fit the bill. Who doesn't love some fresh fruit and other goodies to make them feel loved and appreciated? Every year we create our own custom offerings of seasonal baskets and now that Christmas (heaven help us all) is just around the corner, why not consider food baskets as your gift of choice. Perfect for just about everyone and darn easy to order. Check out our selection at http://www.sendingsmiles.com/. Don't see something you like, we'd be happy to customize for you! Happy holiday shopping and eating!

Have you ever noticed how seeing a particular color can affect your mood? As a child I remember the ride home from my Aunt and Uncles house every Christmas Eve. Driving down through the city (they live in Bergen County, NJ) the homes we passed were decorated with tons of shiny bright lights. Some were all red, some were multicolored and some were even all green but my favorite was always the homes with all blue lights. Seeing those homes always made me feel warm, relaxed and happy. I always wondered, what type of lovely people lived in those glowing houses. Why had they chosen all blue and did they know how beautiful they were to me. All through a childs eyes those colors caused strong feelings. I get goose bumps just thinking about! I would mention to my parents how lovely I thought those colors were. But every year my mother would say "Oh the blue makes me so depressed, why do people light their houses all in blue. It's dreadful". Each year I would comment and each year so would she. By the time I was a teenager, I kept those words to myself. Ugh, how could my mother and I  have such different points of view on how those colors made us feel?

According to Wikipedia, color is an important part of human expression. Floral design relies so heavily on the use of color to please the senses. Combining different colors creates different responses to different people. Wow! When you put it that way, it's no wonder we ever hit upon the right mix of flowers to please our flower recipients. Oh, poor flower sender, remember to choose a color liked by the person receiving and not yourself. Notice what they like, what makes them happy, what makes their heart sing and your flower gift will be met with heartfelt thanks and joy.

Can flowers be a symbol of success? I say a resounding YES! Have you ever been to a beautiful restaurant and noticed that they have fresh flowers on their front counter or even at every table? Those flowers need to be replaced at least once a week but each week that restaurants pays for them for their space. Why? Simple, people love flowers. Flowers are a symbol of freshness and success. Businesses having trouble paying their staff, rent or other bills don't  buy flowers. Let's be honest, all businesses would love to have fresh flowers in their lobby but not all can afford them. In that way, flowers are a sign of financial success.

I remember reading a statement made by Carley Roney, Co-Founder of TheKnot.com which was "with flowers, you get what you pay for" and boy, that is so true. Case in point, this weekend we had 8 weddings and various other parties that we were hired to create floral centerpieces for. We had every price point from $30 to $125! Wow, what a difference in what we are able to create depending on the budget given. For example, we made some cute little arrangements for a sport banquet. They were a $30 price point, very simple and sweet and added a splash of color to the center of the table. Later on that day we had create large, showy baskets filled lushly with dutch hydrangea, spray roses, dahlias, waxflower and the list goes on and on. How much were those? Well, including balloons the customer had spent $125 on each one and they sure looked like it.

I pride myself on never, ever making someone feel bad about what their budget is for their flowers. I do my best to give them something fresh and beautiful, no matter what their budget. But after setting up those $125.00 centerpieces I looked around at the beautiful environment my client had created for his wifes surprise birthday party and could not help but wonder what he did for a living. To throw his wife such a wonderful party he was obviously no slouch!! Even the staff setting up the event were impressed and mentioned how beautiful the flowers were. Two years into a recession, it was refreshing to look around at what my company had created and know that there are still successful people out there spending money on what I had to offer. Flowers, a sign of success? You bet and like Carley says, you get what you pay for!!

There's a few things I'm learning about myself as the years roll on. One is that I'm not liking getting old, but hey, who does! I'm also learning that I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Hm, my husband says in my line of work it's a good thing but I think my poor employees would say other wise.

But, onto the point of this blog... I'm noticing that I look at everything around me as if I were taking a picture. What's the lighting? What are the colors and how do they look together? What's the composition? Is there something in the way of making my "picture" perfect? I remember one time when my Event Coordinator David came back from setting up a wedding and proudly showed me the pictures he took. Now, mind you, this is on a tiny screen, not on a big computer. I did my usual, "These are great David, wonderful shots, except there's an exit sign in this one, this one is too back lit, the angle makes the flowers looks crooked and this one... look way down there, that tiny little speckle, that's the label that we have on the urns that say property of Monday Morning Flowers". Ugh, the poor guy! With me, he can't catch a break and there's the perfectionism thing rearing it's ugly head again!

But truly, it's how I see the world. Am I looking for the imperfections? Perhaps but the truth is that I see each and every view for the beauty that is there but I'm looking for them under the most perfect of conditions and isn't that what a talented photographer does? Doesn't he play with the focus, the angle, the lighting to show the world in the best possible way?

I guess that's what I mean when I say I see the world through the eyes of the camera. I'm always looking for that perfect view. The one that I know is there. The one that if I just get it 100% right, will be a dream come true. The one that catches a story, a feeling, a sentiment, in a single second. I guess that's why I'm so particular about the photos we take of our weddings. I want them to be perfect. I believe flowers are more beautiful in person than they are on camera. I want to show them for what they are, amazingly lovely.

So the next time you see me and I have my new camera, be patient. I will take your picture. And I'll take your picture again and maybe a few more times but eventually, and I mean eventually, I just might get the best picture of you ever!