As always, you know I tell you all on every holiday, please support your LOCAL FLOWER SHOPS! If you are ordering flowers for someone out of town, please call a locally owned shop directly, during normal business hours. You should be looking for name’s like, “Henry’s Greenhouse and Florist,” or “Smith’s Flower Shop, family owned and run for 40 years”. These are the shops where you will get the best selection of flowers, service, and value for your money.

Please do not use any of the wire services or “24 hour flowers” or “flowers on line” types of companies. These businesses are merely “order gatherers” and will be taking a large portion of the money you thought was going to your flowers for their processing fees. If anyone needs help finding a florist ANYWHERE, please feel free to contact me for assistance.

Please share this information with your friends and families! Thanks everyone…until the next holiday 🙂

P.S. In my experience not all women like getting the standard red roses, sometimes an equally expensive vase of mixed flowers has even more impact. If you are on a budget, consider placing a single rose on someone’s windshield for when they get out of work. Both men and women seem to LOVE this! Just be sure to do it right before they are about to leave (if you are living in the Northeast), or the flower may freeze!

We are delighted to announce that A Night in Bloom has been awarded a 2010 Bride’s Choice Award on Wedding Wire!  Not too shabby, considering we are only heading into year  number 3, since Heather left the storefront flower shop world.   A big thank you to everyone for your support!

Congratulations if you are one of the many happy couples who just got engaged over the holidays!  For those of you who may have heard that you should wait until a few months before your wedding to make your floral selections, this is not the case if you would like to work with me.  I take only a limited amount of orders each year, and because of this, dates fill up much faster for my services than most storefront shops.

Even if you are far from making final selections or unsure of your decor, I highly suggest leaving a deposit if you wish to book me for your wedding.  Many of my new clients are opting to do this, and scheduling meetings for closer to their weddings to fine tune the details.  The same holds true for many wedding professionals such as photographers, planners and Djs in the area.

Please feel free to give me a call or send an e-mail anytime to set up an appointment.  Even if you are not sure of the details yet, I am always happy to talk weddings!

2009 is officially over folks, and I, for one am so excited to begin 2010!!!

Before I do embark on another beautiful, flower-filled year, I would like to take a moment to thank all of you for your business and support in 2009.  Some of you have stood by me from the very beginning of a Night in Bloom, when I had literally just had a baby, and went full swing into my small business adventure.  Others have entrusted me to carry out some designs I had only dreamed of creating,  and a select few “angel people” have woven such a beautiful web of kindness around my business, that it humbles me.

I have met a number of inspiring individuals this year, some are seasoned veterans in this business, others are where I was a few years ago.  I feel blessed to be surrounded by such talented and experienced professionals, but also lucky to be able to pay it forward and help some of my peers who are just starting out.

To those who have been with me and my family though this year and the very beginning, I thank you.  To those who I am currently employed by,  I thank you for your business and truly look forward to creating the day you have been dreaming of.  To those of you who I am about to meet, I can’t wait to get started!  And to my dear family and friends- THANK YOU for your unending patience and support!!!

2009 has not been the best year for many, so I will end this blog with one of my favorite quotes: “When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.  ~Chinese Proverb

Let’s hope better, more beautiful days are ahead!  Cheers to 2010!!!!

For those of you who are struggling with the colors you would like to use for your event, or home decor, look no further:

http://www.degraeve.com/color-palette/

All you have to do is upload a jpeg file of an inspiration photo (it can be a picture of anything, beach scene, favorite art, etc.), and this wonderful tool will automatically create custom color palettes for you, that will beautifully complement your inspiration picture. Love it, love it, love it!!