Monday, February 8, 2010

Ahhh. Those GAMES!!!!













Yep, it's that time again!!! The Winter Olympics Games are upon us. The Stoneblossom Staff has strong ties to this veritable institution and we would be remiss in letting it pass by without a few words on the subject! I've dragged out my Park City cap and the impossible-to-get Olympic Berets that were the hot items in Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake was our Fourth Olympic Games - and the first Winter one we had been a part of. Dennis loves to tell the story of our primitive workspace - in a rented storage area adjacent to the flower market - with NO HEAT! We had propane heaters to huddle around that were so loud - and they could knock you out from the fumes!
And of course 09-11 had happened just a few short months before - making for a security nightmare - even X-raying out floral designs on their way into each hotel! Who could plan for such a posey nightmare??? This was a major pain in the arse to say the least!

You may ask - did you make those always silly presentation bouquets given to the Medal winners day after day. NO actually. Nothing of the sort! Corporate Sponsors use the Games as a hospitality vehicle for their VIP's and Executives - flying them all in for a few days of fun and frolic - enjoying the amazing athletic spectacles by day - and our glam themed floral designs back at their hotels for dinner by night!!!

If you can imagine servicing 18 different Corporate Sponsors - each with their own set of fabulous designs - all at the same time each and every day - and then trying to deliver them all in a locked-down city between 2:00 and 4:00 am - every night -  for two weeks straight: THAT is the the true GLAMA of the Olympics Games!

In all fairness, we did have the amazing privilege of catching quite a few events over the years - our eyes held open with toothpicks - but a great thrill none the less! Who could forget our front row seats at Curling! A memorable time was definitely had by all at Men's diving (we could have skipped the nose-bleed seats for girl's gymnastics - the athletes like tiny Mexican jumping beans better seen from our beds back at the hotel!).

One of my fondest memories was my first Games in Barcelona - 1992. Ah - to be young again and loose in Sitges - the Jet-setty seaside town south of the city - where we had the most fortunate luck of having our workspace just across the street from the most divine nude beach. The heat, the tapas, the clubs open till dawn... I barely remember making a single floral piece with that blend of heady fare... But I digress...

It's fun to reminisce for sure and wonder how the heck we pulled it all off - not only in Spain or Salt Lake - but Sydney and Atlanta too! Catch Dennis and Margot when they're on a roll and they've got some yarns to tell for sure. Looking forward this year to catching every glorious moment in front of the fire with my pups on the big FLAT SCREEN!

xxxx John

Thursday, February 4, 2010

2010 Wedding Wire Best in the Biz!!!! A great Honor!

2010 Bride's Choice Awards - Wedding Photographers, Wedding Cakes, Wedding Venues & More
Weddings, Wedding Planning, Wedding Websites, Wedding Checklists

Newport, RI - February 4th, 2010 - WeddingWire, the nation’s leading
wedding technology company, just announced
Stoneblossom Floral and Event Design has been selected to receive
the WeddingWire 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for Florists

The annual Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and celebrates
excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry,
 as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over
 500,000 newlyweds.

Stoneblossom is among the top five percent of all vendors in the
 WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding
 professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to
 winners across 19 different service categories, from wedding
 venues to wedding photographers.

“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top
wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community”
said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer.
“The annual Bride’s Choice Awards program has given us the
 unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals
 in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have
 utilized their services in the past year.”

We are happy to announce that Stoneblossom is among the
 very best Florists within the WeddingWire Network, which
 includes WeddingWire and Martha Stewart Weddings. We
 would like to thank our past newlyweds for nominating us for
the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards.


About WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire is the only online wedding planning resource
 designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding
 vendors. WeddingWire enables engaged couples to search,
 compare and book over 100,000 reviewed wedding vendors
 nationwide, from wedding photographers to wedding cakes.
 WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite
 of cutting-edge planning tools, including wedding websites
 and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding
 vendors, WeddingWire provides free online management
 tools creating the only market opportunity that gives
 businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and
 performance. In addition, WeddingWire has partnered
 with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE: MSO)
 to provide its network of local vendors and online
 wedding-planning tools in the Weddings section of
 www.MarthaStewartWeddings.com. For additional
 information, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.