LOCAL,LOCAL,LOCAL!!!

I was so excited to find all of this locally grown product right here in CT!!

                                                             Love the Yellow Iris!

 

Delphinium

 

 These Callas were cut my your truly in the pouring rain! Love my brides!

  

Roses for Autism roses- love that there are roses being grown once again in CT!

Photos for Quinn

As you all know by now I am friends and a big fan of Jillian from 60b photography, I am re-posting this from Jillian who is doing a great thing and trying to help a child's family.  Baby Quinn is only 7 months old and is fighting for her life so I know Jillian and myself greatly appreciate you taking the time to read this and help in anyway you can!

Post By Jillian Farrell:

This is a really important post for me so please read & share! As I've mentioned before when I left Walgreens I left some of my favorite people in the world. I still keep in touch as much as possible and visit whenever I can. One of the people I've stayed connected with is my old Manager, Jason. Jason was the greatest EXA (a step right below the Store Manager) I worked for and my store had around 4 or 5 pass through during my time there. haha And I'm not just saying that to butter him up!

Last summer Jason announced with glee that his wife was expecting - I think all of us were beyond excited for them to start a family together. While none of us had met Becky at the time we all knew that they really wanted to start a family. Their plans met some difficulty when little baby Quinn was born premature at 2 lbs 12 ounces in September. She fought her way to the top and became the most adorable baby girl.

Despite her amazing will to thrive as the cutest little girl, two weeks ago Quinn was diagnosed with cancer. Her parents, who are two of the most positive and inspirational people I know, created a caring bridge website to share their news about their journey and Quinn's progress. Check that out here. While I encourage you to visit the site and get to know them, I also urge you to do whatever you can to send positivity and hope in their direction. Jason & Becky haven't asked for anything more than that and while I appreciate their ability to be humble I know that they and little Quinn deserve more than that.

Because this is a very difficult time and requires a lot of driving, time off of work and more, I am offering 50% off photo shoots for anyone who brings a gift card for over $50 to the shoot. All of the gift cards donated will be given to Jason & Becky to help them in their time of need. Gift Cards should be for useful needs like gas, gifted credit cards, local grocery stores, etc. This promotion runs through July 31, 2011 and is subject to my availability - even though I'm available quite a lot.

For rates please contact me. I'm still in the process of uploading my packages, but will gladly share when contacted.

If people would like to make smaller donations I am interested in holding a series of 15 minute shoots in one afternoon on May 28th at Topsmead in Litchfield, CT. I will only do this if I have more than 10 people book sessions between 3 & 6 pm. These shoots will be FREE with the donation of a gift card over $15 and yield anywhere between 5 and 15 photographs. 

I would like to add that I will be donating flowers to your shoot you book with Jillian.

The Long Awaited Nutmeg Bridal Shoot!

After some long hours editing Jillian of 60b Photography has gotten the photos onto a CD for me to share with you!  In case you are new to this shoot that has talked and talked about it took place at the old Nutmeg Ballet Studio in Torrington.  Sabrina of Sabrina Allard Designs worked her magic to get us in there and also got some fabulous dresses for the shoot from The Wedding Embassy in Watertown.  Well enough chatter here they are:

Just thought I add in at least one dress shot!  It's Sabrina letting her inner ballerina out!

Another rockin' shoot with 60b Photography!

Leave to the fabulous Sabrina of Sabrina Allard Inc. to make an ordinary flower shoot with Jill and I into a fantastic and rocking bridal shoot!  She got The Wedding Embassy in Watertown to allow us to borrow some great dresses, the girls hair was done by Bri from Platinum Salon in Torrington, the headbands were care of Spellbound, and the flowers were of course from HGK Designs!

Again thanks to the wonderful Sabrina and the Torrington Downtown Partners we had the pleasure of this all taking place in the old Nutmeg Ballet Studio on Water St.  This was fantastic place to have a shoot in they still have the ballet bars up, Jill even found an old pair of ballet shoes!, and many other fun things. Well enough chit chat here is part one of the shoot!:

Tracy rockin' the dress!

Miriam just wore this lovely dress so elegantly!

Tracy holding what might be one of my funkiest bouquets to date

The Duchess Rose made from Tinto Roses that the girls loved

My first ever Glamellia I think it came out pretty good if I do say so myself

 

 Well that's the end of the first set from the shoot can't wait to share more with you!

Cake Creations by Stephanie!

I am always one for promoting other small businesses but I love when it is someone I know especially an old friend.  So imagine how excited I was when I saw an old high school friend's cake pictures she had been doing and saw how great they were!  Well here are some of them:

I LOVE this beach themed cake, don't you just love the heart in the sand?

What a chic looking wedding cake!

Doesn't that Coach Bag look good enough to eat!

Polka dots and Stripes always a great choice

Flowers always add a romantic touch to a cake!

Here are just some of the great comments Stephanie's cakes have gotten her:

C.Downes: Steph, we're totally hiring you to make our wedding cake. Can you bring it out to California? :)
 

Christina Wolfe Photography: And seriously *the* best cake. ever. ...actually...do you do monthly deliveries???

Melissa I.:Steph the cake was sooo good everyone loved it!

I know you just can't wait to book Stephanie for your next event so here is her contact info:

stephanie.curtiss@hotmail.com

Be sure to let her know HGK Designs sent you!

A Rose is a Rose..... Is Not by Cindy Baxter

Yes, the Super Bowl ad featuring Faith Hill and the guy sending flowers was clever (and yes, his girlfriend probably broke up with him over what he wrote on the card). But have you ever wondered just how much of your money actually ends up in the vase when ordering through an online floral site?

Probably not…but then, you probably didn’t see the finished product either.

To understand what’s going on behind the curtain, you first need to know the players:

Wire services are companies most of us have heard of—FTD, Teleflora, Bloomnet, 1800Flowers, and the like. Originally created to link local brick and mortars to each other nationally (making it possible to place an order in Kansas City for delivery in Denver), they’ve jumped into the online business, now selling direct to consumers…at great expense to local florists.

Non-affiliated order gatherers (aka order takers) are a more slippery lot. They purchase local phone numbers in multiple cities, build websites behind each number to give the impression they’re a nearby brick and mortar, then route calls through a central phone bank somewhere out of state. Their role is to process and pump—take the money, grab their cut, then pawn fulfillment off to a third party who’s given pennies on the dollar to work with—often a warehouse operation, rarely an actual florist.

Where’s the money go?

Numbers for unaffiliated order gatherers are tough to come by; no two seem to play by the same set of “rules.” Wire services, however, are more easily charted, as they follow well-documented patterns:

Why cross your fingers and pray the business who “inherits” your online order can magically turn $35 into a $50 look and a ride across town? Instead, let’s get all that hard earned cash into your vase:

Step 1. Google “flowers” or “florist” plus the name of the delivery city

Ex: florist “Salt Lake City”

Check out the resulting websites, looking for a local phone number—not just a toll free number. If only the latter appears, beware; you probably landed on an order gathering call center. (Don’t assume a street address is legit; quite often, they’re commercial addresses at p.o. box locations.)

Step 2. Next, call the local phone number

When they answer, say the following (exactly as written):

“I’d like to come by to pick something out in person. Where are you located, and what are your hours this week?”

If they answer you straight up, it’s a brick and mortar florist. If, however, they work toward getting you to order over the phone or online instead, you just found a call center. Next in line, please…..

(Side note: After they confirm they’re an actual store, it’s okay to come clean. There isn’t a brick and mortar florist in the country who won’t thank you for checking to be sure they’re real.)

Step 3. Separate delivery from daisies

If you want a $50 floral arrangement, ask for a $50 floral arrangement. If, instead, you want the $50 to cover both the arrangement and delivery, tell the florist up front. Don’t assume delivery is free–it’s not (in spite of what the online sites lead you to believe…they may advertise a $50 arrangement with free delivery, but the expense comes out of the portion you thought was allocated for flowers).

Between paychecks, gas, and insurance, florists pay a premium to offer delivery service, then price it as low as they feasibly can. Don’t haggle; they’re already cutting numbers to the bone.

Mission accomplished

Your goal is pretty straightforward: Find pretty flowers, pay for pretty flowers, send pretty flowers—not fund a call center or national processing service. Dialing up a phone number or two instead of trusting your keyboard will make the difference between “ooh ahh” and “oh well” on the receiving end.

C’mon. Go for the gush. It’s worth it.

Check out this amazing blog:

Always Upward

For the 2nd Year in a row we won!

A big thank you to all of my brides who have given such stellar reviews you have once again helped HGK Designs to receive the Wedding Wire Brides Choice Award!  It thrills me that in the first 2 years of business HGK has won both years!!  Again thank you and here's to winning 2012's award

Small business Day 3!!

Today's small business is Wiggles & Giggles a fantastic scrapbook store in Wethersfield! But to say that Wiggles & Giggles is just a scrapbook store would be wrong it is the largest scrapbook and paper craft store in the Northeast!! Check them out and if you can show me a receipt dated between today 11/30/10 to 12/31/10 for a sale of over $75 before tax and any discounts and HGK Designs will give you 15% off any arrangement for delivery* before 1/31/11! 

*certain restrictions for delivery apply contact for details

Small Business Highlight Day 2!

Today's small business is Heartwood Carpentry! Heartwood located up in picturesque Litchfield county can do everything from trim work to adding on a room to your home all at affordable prices! If you have Heartwood Carpentry do a job over $500 before taxes HGK Designs will give you a choice of 3 Free Wreaths, 3 Free 7 1/2" Poinsettias that up to 10 blooms!, 100 Free invites to any type event, or 10% off a floral order of $100 or more.Contact Heartwood Carpentry today and get some of that to do list done! heartwoodcarp@yahoo.com

Small Business Week!

In honor of Small Business Saturday I have decided to highlight a small business each day until next Saturday! Here is the first business!:

60b Photography is run by one Miss Jillian whose photography I just love but don't take my word for check her out at http://www.60bphotography.com/ 

60b Photography makes it easy and affordable to capture every chapter of your life! Be sure to hurry and take advantage of her Nov special $40 for a session when you book by the 30th! Also if you book by Dec 31, 2010 any photo session with Jillian HGK Designs is going to give you either 50 FREE invitations to any event or 5% off any floral order of $25 or more!

 

Photography Special from 60b!!

November is the month Jillian was born so she is running a special and here it is:

NOVEMBER SPECIAL


Well hello november! To celebrate this lovely month (it's my birthday month!) I'm offering one hour photo sessions within 20 miles of 06062 for $40! Tack on that extra hour for only $20! Oh and did I mention the shoot didn't have to take place in November? Feel free to book up to March 2010 with this deal! Offer ends November 30, 2010. Certain restrictions may apply.
Contact me for details! Payment won't be due until the day of the session so if you book a date and something comes up we'll just reschedule!

60bphotography@gmail.com <--Don't be shy now!

Take advantage of this fantastic offer with this fantastic photographer she is booking quickly!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of working with Jillian of 60b photography on a bridal shoot with a couple who were fantastic enough to dress up in their wedding attire again and be our models!  Here is a sneek peek at some of the photos that Jillian got to me can't wait to show you the rest!

Did we not get some beautiful models?  Love the pics can't wait for the rest!

My 1st fellow WAMOGO 2001 graduate Wedding!

This October I had the pleasure of working with one my past WAMOGO classmates, Stacey.  We graduated together in 2001 and had not seen each other since that graduation day in '01.  So I was so happy to find Stacey to still be just as nice as she was back then and not only that but a fantastic bride to work with!

With this to say I have to think Stacey also enjoyed working with me:

Heather - Thank you soo much! The flowers were absolutely GORGEOUS and EXACTLY what I wanted!! You're the best :)

Her flowers were just so gorgeous that Jillian of 60b Photography and I took some great photos of them at Hubbard Park.

One of my favorites but you would have loved to see the hop skip and jump I had to do to get the bouquet there

This was one of the first shots taken I loved it, it was taken on an old tree stump a great natural background

I have yet to have Jillian take a photo for me that I have not loved so if you ever need a fantastic photographer I highly recommend 60b Photography and not just for her flower shots she also took fantastic pictures at my sisters shower this past July!

http://www.60bphotography.com/

http://www.facebook.com/60bphotography?v=info

60bphotography@gmail.com

Pictures of HGK flowers from Sassy Mouth Photo's Studio Opening

I did up 2 arrangement for Marisa of Sassy Mouth Photography in Meriden for her new studio opening last night.  I aslo had the pleasure of doing a 3rd as a gift from Jen at Embellish Floral in NH, I love when other designers have such faith in you that will order from you!  Any way onto the photos

This was for Marisa's new office the bright happy colors just scream MARISA!!

This went into the new "living room" of the studio a stylish living room setup in the new studio

A close up of the gift from Embellish that Marisa put my card on and around!

More Beautiful bouquet pics from 60b!

I was so lucky to have come to know Jillian of 60b photography over the past couple months and not only is she great fun and totally professional she takes fabulous pictures! Check out her take on last weekends wedding she was nice enough to come over and take some shots!

A close up of the brides bouquet

 A close up of the bridesmaids bouquets

                                   One of the mason jar arrangements for the cocktail tables

                                           The Bride's bouquet a wonderful fall mix

                                       Another close up of the bridesmaids bouquets

                                 One of the miniture stem vases that surrounded the                       larger mason jar for the centerpieces

                    This Manzanita branches was accented with mokara orchids and maiden hair fern and was used to decorate the place card table.

I hope you all liked these as much as I did, I can't wait to work with Jillian again!