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Garden Party Sisters bio picture

"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...

Category Archives: Weddings

We got published on theknot.com! Top 10 Expert Tips for the Best Wedding Flowers

Check out this article published on theknot.com about tips for how to get the best wedding flowers, they took MY ADVICE! See, I kinda know what I am talking about We are #9! Enjoy it ladies!
Top 10 Expert Tips for the Best Wedding Flowers.
If you are not a knot.com (ha) registered bride, I...

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March 5, 2010 - 6:46 am Tina - I just want to eat him up!

March 5, 2010 - 6:59 am Sarah - Congratulations! ... and I also cannot get enough of LEE!

Waterfalls, Clayment DE Wedding Florist: Sarah’s Winter Wedding…Part 1

So this is the post all of our winter brides have been waiting for! I just got the digital prints hot off the press from Tina and couldn’t wait another day to share them with you! Thank you Tina for ALL of the great photos from Sarah’s January wedding, you amaze me more and more with...

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February 25, 2010 - 12:47 pm Tina - Your designs blew me away - can't WAIT to see what you do at my wedding!

February 25, 2010 - 12:49 pm Amanda C - I was so excited to see you post these pictures from your friend's wedding! I couldn't wait to see the ceremony backdrop in full effect and am blown away by the bride's bouquet - LOVE!!! As always, I am not surprised to see yet another beautiful job well done by the two of you. Just confirms my thinking that I made the right decision! :)

February 25, 2010 - 1:15 pm Kylene - You girls did such an amazing job with everything!! It was a really wonderful day :)and I agreee with Tina....can't wait to see what you come up with in October!

February 25, 2010 - 3:13 pm Roanna - You and Dawn did such an amazing job, you really transformed that room, it was so elegant, beautiful, and romantic!! The attention to detail is incredible!

February 25, 2010 - 4:34 pm Sarah - All I can say is that everything far exceeded my expectations! You guys are incredible and I'm thankful to have such talented friends! Thanks for making our wedding look so beautiful :) :)

February 26, 2010 - 7:59 am Michelle - I LOVE your design and I'm excited that I am able to use you for my bouquets and reception!

February 26, 2010 - 8:56 pm Brandy - What a GORGEOUS wedding!! Dawn, I wish I could get married again and have y'all come to Texas to do my flowers! *Love it!* All your weddings have been phenomenal, love seeing all the beautiful pics.

Time flies when you’re planning a wedding!

Many brides ask us how far ahead of time they should book the florist.  This depends on a few things, but generally we like to have our weddings booked about 10-12 months in advance.  Of course we book weddings just a few months out too, but first come, first serve ladies! We must be getting...

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The Palace, Blackwood NJ Wedding Florist: A Fall Flashback – Colleen and Stephen

Talk about a blushing bride…Colleen certainly was! I just got these awesome shots from David Humphrey, a local photographer serving the tri state area. FYI to my budgeting brides out there, he has maney different packages and prices listed on his website, thanks Dave! Anyway, back to Colleen and Stephen. Their wedding took place at...

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Swansea Vineyards, South Jersey Wedding Florist: Some warmer thoughts during this snow!

Everyone surviving the snow out there? I have actually enjoyed our blizzard this weekend, I got so much accomplished and my husband was not working for once! We tackled our dining room redo and I guess we had a little but too much gumption, since we had it all repainted and put back to order...

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Paris Caterers at the Palace, Blackwood NJ Wedding Florist: I heart purple!

We just had pictures sent to us from a bride that got married this past September (thanks Sara!), and I am so excited to blog about them.  Purple is my favorite color and I am always thrilled to meet a bride that loves purple as much as I do.  Sara got married at The Palace...

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February 2, 2010 - 11:17 am Sarah - Loved the purple too! And the small details like the gems on the ribbon of the centerpiece vases that make everything extra amazing!

Look what we won!

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced A Garden Party has been selected to receive the WeddingWire 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ in the Wedding Florist catagory!
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.
A Garden...

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January 26, 2010 - 8:51 am Lauren - Congratulations! You and Dawn must be on cloud 9. Enjoy every moment... it is well deserved. Wishing A Garden Party much continued success!

January 26, 2010 - 10:25 am Ellie Vranich - congratulations! Wow what an honor! Of course, we all already know you're the best wedding florist out there! You're amazing!

January 26, 2010 - 10:37 am Kylene - That's awesome Mary and Dawn!!!! Congratulations :)

January 26, 2010 - 11:07 am Tina - Yay! Congrats!!

January 26, 2010 - 12:41 pm Sarah M. - YAY! I am so excited to say that I will be using AWARD winning florists for my wedding in Jan!!! (not that I didn't already know you guys were awesome!!). Congratulations!!!!

January 27, 2010 - 3:25 am Michelle - Congrats, that's wonderful! Wishing you all the best in 2010!

February 2, 2010 - 11:20 am Sarah - I see many future press releases out of you guys! Keep winning the awards :)

Philadelphia Wedding Florist: This piece of paper just made my day!

Getting the mail now is such an adventure! Whenever my little Lee is fussy, we head out to the mailbox (he loves being outside!). We grab the mail and slowly make our way back into the house, sometimes taking garden strolls to check out all of my flowers. I am ready for spring now, can...

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January 14, 2010 - 9:16 am Tina - How sweet! Love getting things like that from brides:)

“I just got engaged….now what?”

For those recently engaged brides out there, congrats! We have seen quite an increase in inquiries since the holiday engagement season…who said the winter months were supposed to be slow for florists? We are busier than ever and loving every second of it! Dawn and I love to hear engagement stories, we really are that sappy.
 I get...

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January 6, 2010 - 1:45 pm Patty - Mary, this post is very helpful to those of us doing research on budgeting for the wedding. I appreciate the specific price ranges you give here! Your blog is easy to read and I've enjoyed the variety of pictures to help with ideas. Great job.

January 6, 2010 - 5:51 pm admin - Thanks for the comment Patty. It is great to hear feedback, that is the whole reason I did the blog format! Information should be readily available to those planning such an important event, I am happy to share...feel free to email or post with other specific questions.

South Jersey Wedding Florist: Upcoming Bridal Shows

2010 here we come! We had a great year in 2009 and are so looking forward to even better things in 2010. Last year was full of some fabulous brides and gorgeous weddings. We can not wait to work with all of out 2010 brides and make their visions come to life. We are going...

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