Garden Party Sisters

"Where flowers bloom, so does hope." Lady Bird Johnson

Meet Mary (the right sister):

My love for flowers started at a young age. One of my first memories growing up on our family farm was playing outside with my sisters (I am lucky to have two!) and gathering "flowers" for a bouquet for our loving mother. Little did I know, I was collecting some really beautiful (and unfortunately sneeze-inducing) blooms. I gave them to my mother and she thanked me, proudly displaying them on the back step of our farmhouse. Poor Dad is severely allergic. Everyone that came and went loved the colorful bouquet unexpectedly adorning our warm brick steps. I have never grown tired of the warm feeling I receive after giving my floral designs to friends, I believe it is what I am meant to do with my life. The simple act of creating a beautiful collection of nature's finest blooms and soaking up the smiles from our brides heals my soul. I consider myself extremely lucky that I can now devote 100% of myself to my business, well except for my little Lee.

At the ripe age of 25 (ha), I am proud of the path I am on in life. A Garden Party is going on 4 years, I have been happily married to my first love for over 2 years and we are settled in cozily on his family farm in a small town. We recently expanded our family on July 11th, 2009 to include Lee, a giggly, fuzzy-headed, curious, somehow always hungry little boy. We enjoy going to Penn State games (Horticulture, Class of 2006), playfully bickering about what to record on our DVR (don't act like you aren't guilty also), eating dinner together after the fields are tended, ignoring our cell phones on Sunday evening and getting our hearing back after spending time with our 4 nieces (ages 5 through 5 months).

Meet Dawn (the left sister, but somehow always right):

Playing with flowers has always been a part of who I am. Even as a little girl I remember picking the tiniest clover flowers and using them to decorate my dollhouse. In high school I was lucky enough to get involved in horticulture class and really dove into floral design. My college years (SUNY Cobleskill, Class of 02) introduced me to all aspects of horticulture. As an ornamental horticulture major, I learned about hundreds of trees, all by Latin name of course! Lots of my spare time at school was spent in the floral design lab with my new best friends. Amazingly enough, the first big wedding I designed for happened to be my own! Since my wedding a little over 7 years ago, it is amazing to think of where I am now. I have a fabulous husband, Chip, who is more than happy to take over "mommy" duty when I am at the flower shop working away. We have been blessed with two little girls, Grace and Leah, who like to spend a lot of their time picking flowers for me! My girls are always itching for an adventure, so we spend lots of time outdoors and make almost weekly trips to the zoo and park together. Grave even amazed her teachers this year when she explained the difference between deciduous and evergreen trees! It seems some things run in the family...

What we stand for:

Dawn and I have enjoyed watching our business grow from designing for our own weddings, to serving dozens and dozens of lucky brides. Our commitment to each other and to our business is one of the easiest things we have ever done. We believe that by doing what we love and always giving our best, our business will reflect that. Nothing makes me happier than watching our vision come to life through flowers. We are lucky to be able to say that we LOVE our jobs; we adore meeting with glowing brides, helping to plan their special day, adding our unique and personal touches with flowers, and then watching it all come together perfectly, just as nature intended.

A Garden Party is just beginning to bloom, our hope planted the seed...