Hello Dorelle!

   My brother’s wedding was this past weekend and I wanted to send you some preliminary pictures of the flowers.  They turned out just gorgeous.  All the flowers were delivered on time and they were in great shape.  Thank you so much for all your help with this process.  I wish I could get married again and redo my flowers myself!  I certainly will be calling you again for future flower needs.  (My sister is next in line to get married….we are anxiously awaiting a proposal.) 

I’m sure I’ll get some other close-ups of the flowers from the photographer a little later.  Feel free to use them on your website!  –Lindsey N.

Green Acres, FL

So, you want to save money, but, you want to have professional invitations, until now, that was an impossibility! I have found you guys an amazing company, and an even more amazing lady to work with.

Check this out…You can create a custom invitation, get response cards, envelopes, and NOW, you get a bonus for ordering 100 you will get free Thank-You notes!

 100 invitations including response cards and envelopes would get you a 10% discount off of the individual pricing.  So for $3.50 each, 100 invitations will get you $35 off, plus the current month’s special too (free thank you cards)!

Hurry up and go to  http://www.neotericexpressions.etsy.com Talk with Tiffany, and tell her Dorelle sent you there.

Have a wonderful day, and keep flowers in your heart!

I know I don’t have to remind you it’s the holiday season. People are running, shopping, cooking, baking, and partying. When you have people over to your home, or, you need a quick gift to bring, you should think flowers. Flowers always make people happy! Here’s an idea I think you will find fun, easy, and different.

Find an inexpensive glass bowl, (try dollar tree) or the back of your cabinets. Get some metallic shred, red, gold, silver, any color will do. Fill the glass bowl generously with the shred, add water, maybe a flashing light (if you have it), then add white flowers. In your standard “rose bowl” you can fill the bowl with 9 roses or 5 large carnations or 1 nice sized hydrangea. Lightly spray with a mist of water, and for pizazz sprinkle lightly with angel dust glitter.  Wrap a ribbon around the neck of the bowl, if you have jingle bells, hang them from the ribbon, and you are done!

With bridesnblooms, 1 box of roses, 13 rose bowls, 1 roll of ribbon, 3 bags of shred, and you have 13 gifts. Total cost $133.00 cost per gift $10.23…..Wow!!!

Have a wonderful and flower filled day!

Because we are more about helping others than we are about lining our pockets, when we come across a new product that we think you will love, we will bring it to you here.

Heritage Makers is a cool product that allows you to make your own printed & bound storybook about anything. You can make a storybook to print and give to your kids or you can make one about your relationship, uploading photos from all your outings leading right up to your honeymoon.  You can custom make it all, and then it comes to your front door all done.

It takes scrapbooking to an all new level, it’s professional and can be made for your parent books, your main wedding photo book, it’s all up to you, and the cost is so low you won’t believe it.

If you have more questions, check out http://www.mystorycorneronline.com

Speak with Rachel, she’s a real doll!

Have a wonderful and flower filled day!

Hello all:

So, Valentine’s day falls on a Sunday this year, this makes for some very happy brides, as it’s the most romantic day of the year, until, they start dreaming about their flowers. Roses are a hot commodity from mid January until the week after Valentine’s day. This is when the farms are going to make most of their money for the year.

Please consider using flowers other than roses for your wedding if it is going to fall during those 5 weeks.  If you absolutely must have roses, choose a color other than red.

Flowers that don’t generally go up too much in price for that time of the year are hydrangeas, orchids, tropicals,  and daisies. 

We will always do our best to bring you the freshest, most beautiful flowers, for the lowest price possible.  Though our prices on flowers will go up during those 5 weeks, they will still be nowhere near what the traditional florist will be charging, if they even have time to take your wedding during that weekend.

So go ahead and dream of the most perfect Valentine’s weekend wedding, then give us a call for the very best pricing available.

Have a flower filled day!

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and you’ve probably been thinking about what you will serve, who will you invite, and what will you wear; But, have you given any thought to your centerpiece? As the word infers, it is the “Center Piece” of your table. It is what will set the tone for the table.

Since Thanksgiving falls during Autumn, we naturally think of fall colors. Orange, gold, brown, deep red, deep green flowers are in abundance during this season.

Everyone has seen centerpieces made from pumpkins or cornucopias, but, why not try using some of your crystal? How about a punch bowl sitting on a wall mirror? or, your Trifle bowl, you could layer flowers as you would layer the dessert.

I personally like to use window boxes for Thanksgiving. I have growing plants (succulants) as the main portion of the box, then I add in the layers of fresh flowers. I like to keep with a theme, so, I would place small pumpkins, on skewer sticks, add in deep red roses, orange and gold mums, then finish off the edges by draping fresh herbs such as parsley or cilantro. (remember, when creating this type of arrangement you will want to do clusters of same flowers, for effect) always use odd numbers such as 3s and 5s for clustering.

What’s nice about this centerpiece is that the plants will keep growing in the box, until you need to make another centerpiece.  *Consider growing the herbs in the flower box, then you will have them to use all year*

If you buy your roses and mums from bridesnblooms.com you will have plenty to give to your guests as a thank-you for coming gift.

I’m so excited, I can hardly get the words down fast enough, so that you can read all about it. I found the coolest entertainment company. www.biglyles.com. Wow, they have so many amazingly interactive options to choose from, that you may have trouble choosing just the right option for you and your party.
***They specialize in Far Out Photos***Check out that portion of their site 1st.

I love the fact that they have costumes for your guests and great music for the videos that they shoot, and a really cool machine (Canditto) that let’s your guests print out their own digital photos from their own personal cameras, right on site!!!!! (And you get to keep all the pictures that were taken, by all your guests, as they are stored for you until the end of your event).

I wish I had an icon of a little cheerleader girl, because that’s how I feel about this company. Rah, Rah!!

Have a flower filled day, and pass on the good ideas

Hi Ladies:
Another wonderful site was just found, and what a site it is. If you have been looking at bridal dresses and veils in the stores you know that those veils can really be pricey. Some of you have even opted not to have a veil, just to save money. Well, now you can have the perfect veil, just as you want it, personally made just for you, by hand.
***They are running a special for the month of August, place your order by midnight 08/31/09 and shipping will be free***
You know, if I’m recommending it, it’s gotta be a killer deal! Go, look at the site, then give them a call. All you need is an idea, a picture a computer and a phone. The rest is done by ultimate dream veils. Check them out on weddingwire.com or http://ultimatedreamveils.bravehost.com/

Here’s to a flower filled day!

We found another wonderful site for you. If you are looking for really well priced items for your wedding, they charge almost the same thing for purchase as most of you would pay for renting. Check them out.
www.efavormart.com

Have a flower filled day!

Dorelle

Hello Everyone:
I found this article written by the Linen House, to be very infomative. For the Bride, it is a good tool to measure the vendors you are considering, for the vendors, it is a good tool to make sure that you are doing everything that the Bride is expecting of you.

Brides, are your vendors following these critical 6 steps?

Brides, repeat this mantra before you walk into your next vendor meeting: I’ve come to this vendor appointment to find things to make my wedding fabulous and memorable for my guests. I’m working within a budget and vendors need to respect that. After this meeting I don’t want to have to worry about these items at all. I trust the vendor to do his job and involve me in finalizing numbers or to inform me if anything unexpected happens. Regardless of my previous lack of experience with this type of vendor or the size of my order or the venue where I am holding my reception I expect to be treated with courtesy, dignity and respect. This is my wedding and it is very special to me. That’s why I am here! Well, all that, and I want to have fun!
The process as important as the product
When savvy vendors meet with their bridal clients, they want to ensure each meeting is successful. Obviously the vendor wants to make the sale. The bride wants to find those ‘just right’ items for the wedding. Smart vendors understand satisfied customers can become their best marketing campaign of one. Even before the final product is delivered, vendors are evaluated by the bride on the experience of making their selections. That information is likely to be shared with friends and family. It almost certainly will be shared over and over if the experience was a bad one.
How are vendors to ensure their business is not the target, deserved or not, of a bride’s frustration? The best way is for vendors to make sure the appointment is a fulfilling experience for all parties. Keep in mind these 6 steps.
1. Greet
2. Share
3. Select
4. Confirm
5. Summarize
6. Agree on next steps
The bullet points under each heading are the specific vendor tasks associated with the six phases of the perfect appointment.

1. Greet the clients
Welcome the bride and others in her party
Greet each person by name if known
Introduce yourself; provide a business card to each person
Offer a beverage or refreshments
Ask if the bride has previously been to this business location
Give short tour/highlights of the business
2. Share Information
Validate your understanding of what if anything you know about the wedding
Listen to the bride to correct or update your knowledge of the purpose for the visit
Take notes. These will prove invaluable in the weeks ahead
Use a form or check list during the meeting to make sure every possibility is covered. Blank paper is better than nothing, but not as professional and complete as a form.
Start to collect the basic information about the location, time, guest count, etc. during this phase. You will have to circle back to fill in the blanks during the summary phase.
3. Bride makes selections
Encourage the bride to interact with the sample merchandise. The more involved the bride is in the process the more ownership she will feel.
Don’t be discouraged if the bride does not care for the first options you suggest. At the beginning you may have to show a multitude of choices until something clicks. Even at that it could be more about color, texture, price or other factors. Be flexible. Use your experiences and expertise to offer suggestions that would enhance the wedding.
Be patient. The bride is here to make an important decision so it may take a little while to arrive at the final vision.
Enjoy the process. Smile and compliment the bride on her choices. This should be genuinely fun!
Share in the excitement of the wedding you are helping to plan. Ask questions to get more information about the vision, the guest of honor, the venue. Any information that helps make the event more real for you will help you do a better job in assisting the bride.
4. Confirm Availability and Pricing
Nothing is more discouraging to a bride than to fall in love with a selection only to find out later what she wants is not available or exceed the budget
During the appointment, once the selections start to solidify, confirm general pricing and availability. This gives the bride the option to choose alternatives or even enhance her décor based on this current information.
5. Summarize the selections
Wrap up the decision making phase of the meeting
Make certain you know what selections have been made. Confirm this with the bride.
Now is the time to get the exact bill-to name, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, mailing address, venue name, delivery addresses, contact information, table sizes, etc. Doing it later increases the likelihood it will be overlooked.
Provide the client samples of the selected items.
Stress that only firm reservations hold items. Offer to write a reservation right then. If it will take some time to write up the reservation:
Make sure the bride’s beverage glass has been refilled
Provide a blank contract form so the bride can read it in detail
Keep a stack of current wedding magazines handy for browsing
6. Agree on time frame and responsibility for next steps Now is the time to recap what you are going to do and when
Also review what information you still need from the bride and when she will provide it to you and how
Say goodbye; thank your bride for visiting
Review your notes to make sure they are in good order
Straighten the showroom for the next guest
Send a hand-written thank-you note or at least an e-mail recapping the next steps time frame and high level selections.

Brides, ask yourself as you walk out the door after a vendor meeting: Was this a worthwhile experience? Did I have the opportunity to see an adequate sampling of the merchandise and choose items that reflect my personal taste? Did I learn something new that will help me at the next vendor appointment or that I can use when planning other events in the future? Do I know specifically what I selected? Do I need to provide the vendor additional information? Do I know what and by when?

Was being a bride fun today?