every picture tells a story

Pinterest.com is the social media site that everybody is talking about. With swelling visitor numbers, despite still being invitation-only, it is already showing that its popularity is well deserved, thanks to its innovative design and style.

Statistics show that the majority of Pinterest’s users are female, and 97% of those who ‘like’ the site on Facebook are women. Whether this will even out over time remains to be seen, but for the time being the proliferation of the imagery of arts and crafts, recipes, and expensive shoes on the site are, rightly or wrongly, fulfilling many stereotypes about women’s interests and concerns.

When Pinterest users spot an image they like on a website, they can share it with their followers on their Pinterest page. This is known as “pinning” an image. Others who see that pin can then ‘like’, comment upon, or “repin” the image, i.e. share it on their own page. Pins are organized on customized “boards”, so that the images are themed.

Its focus on the visual has made Pinterest a central hub of beautiful imagery. Whether it is virtual shopping lists, dream home photography or close-up shots of homemade food, Pinterest members are making the most of the medium to provide themselves with pictorial representations of how they wish their life to be.

One way in which people are taking advantage of Pinterest’s features is to brainstorm ideas for their wedding. Boards for wedding planning, bridesmaids’ dresses, wedding cakes, bridal paraphernalia, jewelry and flowers are pinned and repinned with gay abandon, providing shared ideas about the vital details which combine to make a bride’s day perfect. These visual storyboards show trends and hopes, where women take inspiration from celebrities and fashion designers and work out how to translate them to their own big day.

Wedding boards on Pinterest are also proving helpful for individual women to show whoever will be decorating their cake, arranging their flowers, or making their dress exactly what they want. Lauren Skow, talking on Geekwire, explains,

・When my planner asked for my ideas on d馗or or floral bouquets, I was able to send her my pins for quick reference.・

The popularity of planning nuptials on Pinterest means that there is no shortage of ideas on the site. Even if none of your friends are planning their own wedding, a quick search reveals thousands of pins from other people on the subject.

When you start to refine your tastes, it is easy to delete pins if you have changed your mind about your color scheme, or if something that appealed to you at the start of the process no longer has a place. Friends and family who also use Pinterest can give you feedback on your ideas, and it is even possible to create shared boards, where multiple people have permission to post. You could start a board where all your bridesmaids can pin their favorite pictures, and another for you and your Maid of Honor to plan the bachelorette party activities.

create a garden of love with seeds

When you’re busy planning your wedding it’s difficult to see beyond that one special day. But the fact is, your wedding is the start of a lifetime of special occasions. You’ll soon find yourself planning many other events, including anniversaries, baby showers, birthdays, graduations, holidays and more. Your new family will want to enjoy all of these special times with your loved ones and friends.

You could start a tradition now that carries through the years ahead. Consider choosing party favors for weddings that becomes a family’s trademark or theme.

Personalized seed packets would be a perfect choice. Seeds convey many different messages: the blossoming of your love, the birth of a new baby, another year older, even a living memorial to someone who has recently passed. You can give a different flower for every occasion, creating a virtual garden of love for your family and friends.

Another choice for this tradition is an edible party favor, including mints, candy or delicate packets of tea. All of these convey the sweet memories of your special occasions, and you can personalize their wrappers or containers with whatever message you wish.

With so many personalized favors to choose from, maybe you’d prefer to give something different for every occasion. That’s a great tradition too, because each invitation you send will start your friends guessing as to what you’ll be giving them this time.

No matter what products you decide to use as your traditional family favor, you will have found a way to extend your events into long and pleasant memories. This is certainly something to consider as you search for your personalized wedding item. After all, you’re not just creating one special day, but a lifetime of special occasions.

May 2, 2012
Things are great these days at the Farmhouse and we continue to be busy with weddings, showers, baptisms and first communions. Graduations will start to pour in soon as well.

TIPS: The fall bulbs are blooming Daffodils and now the Tulips. Time to start thinking about summer plans. We usually recommend ordering your guest favors about 4-6 weeks prior to your event date and avoid last minuite stress. Our regular delivery is 10 business days, so start thinking about flowers and trees and herbs for your upcoming event.
Kind Regards, Plant a Memory, Sheila, Robin, Amy

green living how are we doing?

In the Louisiana parish that was home to generations of my family, people lived hard lives as field hands or sharecroppers, laboring from “can see in the morning” to “can’t see at night.” They hoed and picked cotton, corn, peas and other crops; they understood the planting cycle; they ate locally grown fruits and vegetables without ever visiting a supermarket.

Long before the terms “eco-friendly” and “environmentalism” came into vogue, generations of Americans embraced the principles of recycle, reuse, reduce without ever naming them. Earth love was lived rather than proclaimed. And it was passed on naturally, without an advertising campaign or a smartphone app.

Arbor Day, first observed in 1872, seems like an appropriate time to celebrate these early adopters of green living.

My father was part of a generation that left the South en masse, though what they knew about the earth never left them. Even as a child in Los Angeles, I could spot them. They were like my dad who, in the 1980s, long before the “urban farming” trend, seemed intent on turning our South Los Angeles backyard into a Farmville. He grew greens, onions, okra, cucumber, tomatoes and, for a time, sunflowers. The practice wasn’t so strange; other people did it too. The neighbor a few doors down had chickens.

In the South, it is still easy to see the roots of this way of life. During a visit this month, I went to the old “colored” high school in Franklin parish. The school is shuttered; the brick building is in a state of disrepair. But the trees stand stately and resilient on the stretch of grass in front of the buildings.

“We planted those trees,” my dad says, as he pulls from the highway onto the dirt road in front of his former school.

The trees and the school were born in the mid-1950s when my dad was a teenager. In those days the color line divided everything, even earth love. On Arbor Day, white students planted over here, African Americans over there.

As Dad and his classmates planted, some of them knew that they would soon leave this place in search of something the South was unwilling to offer them: level ground on which to plant a life. Today, I see the trees Dad and his classmates planted as evidence of their young hope.

This must have been what the scientist and former slave George Washington Carver had in mind when he said, “Plant a tree.” Though best remembered for his innovative uses of the peanut and sweet potato, Carver “spoke for the trees” decades before Dr. Seuss created the Lorax. Carver, who taught at what was then known as Tuskegee Institute, saw the planting of trees as a way to mark the transitions of life: births and deaths and weddings. Each generation leaves the world an essential gift in the trees that it plants, marking the atmosphere with their signatures.

Today we have options that Carver and previous generations never had. In our high-tech world, soon anybody with a smartphone equipped with a tree identification app can stand in front of a tree and know it. Snap a photo of a leaf and the phone will function as an electronic field guide, providing vital information about the tree. Today, iPhone and iPad users in certain parts of the country already have this ability through the app known as Leafsnap. Imagine what Carver would say if he could see us now!

Whether new technology will make younger generations love trees (or anything else in nature) better than before is an open question. Today we can go bird watching, or we can pull out our smartphones and play Angry Birds. We can grow vegetable gardens in our backyards, or we can play Farmville on Facebook.

As of March, Leafsnap had been downloaded more than half a million times, a sign perhaps that the old message is sinking new roots.

Jocelyn Y. Stewart was a 2011 fellow at the Alicia Patterson Foundation.

From LA times article.  We just had to share. Sheila, Robin, Amy

At Plant a Memory Favors every day is Earth day. But once a year we honour our world and think about all the little things we can do to help our planet.
Most of us are aware but every little bit helps so we encourage you to do your part.
Happy Earth Day from All of us at Tree &  Floral Beginnings. Sheila, Robin, Amy & Allie

every little tree helps

Here is an excellent example of contributing to your community in a small way, even once a year on earth day makes a difference.

place and order, plant trees. simple but powerful

April 9, 2012: It is all about trees this month from us at the Farmhouse.
Celebrate your special occasions in life with lasting memories by giving your guests a special gift that will live on in their hearts.
Place your order in April and receive 2 free tree seedlings to Plant a Memory for a Greener Tomorrow!
Happy Earth Month. How is it going so far? Sheila, Robin & Amy

Most often, couples would want their wedding to be unique and to be memorable.

A wedding is a time for the couple to celebrate as their two hearts become one. They would want to share this celebration with people close to them, including family and friends. One way that a couple can show their appreciation to their wedding guests for celebrating their union with them and at the same time spice up the wedding themes in each tables, is by giving them wedding favors which they can bring home as keepsakes. This would serve as a remembrance for your guests which would allow them to reminisce the time when they were a part of your special day.

Why not have the memories grow with lasting guest gifts of seeds or trees.
Celebrate the Earth this year by giving your guests the strength of a Tree , the beauty of Flowers or the essence of herbs.
Choose from our selection of over 200 earth-friendly favors and create “growing memories ” of your Wedding Day .
April is Earth Month and April 22nd is Earth Day. If you purchase your favors in April we will give you  2 tree seedlings that will grow with your marriage and remind you of this spectacular time in you life.

give trees, create growing memories

advice from a Tree

Stand tall and proud
Sink your roots into the earth
Be content with your natural beauty
Go out on a limb
Drink plenty of water
Remember your roots
Enjoy the view!

March 29, 2012
Earth Day is almost here – Join us in Celebrating our natural world.
See our April Promotion Below. Plant a tree for a Greener Tomorrow!
From all of us at Tree & Floral Beginnings , Locke ,NY

free tree seedlings, place your order in April

March 8, 2012:
Plant a Memory favors is been around offering earth-friendly wedding favors for a while. Did you know we also have some awesomely, unique Baby Shower Favors !!!!
Well we do and this week we would like to introduce you to some “Cute as a Button” Plantable Favors that are our Best Sellers this year so far.

For the rest of March take advantage of FREE Shipping with this Promo Code:  SHIP2012.  All for now. Honour all of your special occasions in life with a celebration and remember them with the beauty of flowers. Thanks for the visit.
Sheila, Robin & Amy

pink baby buttons thank your guests over and over again

Available in : Pink, Blue, Yellow & Green

boy baby shower favors in baby blue

These nature inspired baby shower favors are amazing, unique guest party gifts. Each favor contains 4 colorful buttons full of wildflower seeds so you can plant them completely and will yield a wonderful garden of blooming flowers year after years.

Cute as a Button are one of a kind baby shower favors: distinct , different and dazzling.

green baby showers are earthy events

Each one an original, these unique guest gifts full of wildflowers, are to be planted completely.
Label & Message:  Round “Cute as a Button” label is placed on the back of the frosted envelope. These unforgettable handmade paper seeded favors create “growing memories” of your little one as they grow, a gift that lives long beyond the day.

be different, go yellow

Thank you message: “Thank you for sharing this special day. Please plant these buttons to create a garden of lasting memories.

Your guests will be dazzled by these adorable gifts and they will remember your little one year after year as the wildflowers grow just like your child.

March 1. 2012
Since it is March , Wedding Season will soon be upon us. When ordering Wedding Favors brides and grooms are always asking when to place their orders. You can order anytime but we recommend ordering when you send out your invitations because you have a good idea of how many people you are expecting.

We came accross this article and thought it may be of interest to your. ENJOY! Sheila, Robin & Amy

I’ve had a lot of brides asking me about the timing of when to order and mail out their save the date cards and wedding invitations.  So here are some handy guidelines to help you stay on top of your wedding planning.
Corinne Leroux   Owner

Save the Date Cards
Save the date cards are usually sent anywhere between six months to a year before the wedding.  When to send them depends on a few factors.  If you’re having a destination wedding, have a lot of out of town / international guests, or having your wedding on a popular date (such as New Year’s Eve), it’s best to send your save the date cards about a year out from the wedding.

save the wedding date

 
If you’re having a lot of local guests, sending save the date cards anywhere up to six months ahead of the wedding is fine.

Wedding Invitations
Again, when to send your wedding invitations depends on where the wedding is being held, if your guests are local or out-of-towners, and also the size of the wedding.  Typically, invitations are mailed two to three months ahead of the wedding.  You can send some invitations to out of town guests earlier as well.  If you’re having a small wedding, or a wedding with mostly local guests sending invitations only six weeks before the wedding is also acceptable.

wedding invitations

Other factors that may determine when to send your invitations could be dependant on when your venue(s) or caterer needs to have a confirmed number of guests.

Thank You Cards
Thank you cards should be mailed within three months of the wedding, but preferably the sooner the better.  Handwritten cards are considered proper etiquette and they also have a nice touch, showing you took the time to sit down and thank your guests for their gifts.  Always remember to mention what the gift was in your thank you card. If money was given, do not mention the amount, but you can thank the guest for their “generous gift” and how it will help you after your wedding (ie. Travel, honeymoon).

wedding thank you cards

Now that you have these important timelines of when to send different kinds of wedding cards, you might be wondering what our turnaround time is for having cards printed.

It’s actually pretty quick!

If you’re selecting a design from the store and would like some colour and text changes, we can have a proof ready for your approval within the same day.  If you would like a custom design done, an initial proof can be ready within a week.  The design process varies depending on how many changes you would like made, but once the proof is approved printing takes two to three business days.

For local orders within the lower mainland, we can have delivery done as quickly as same day service if using a local eco courier!  In the rest of BC, delivery is 2 to 3 business days, and for the rest of Canada delivery is 4 to 5 business days.  If you’re ordering from the U.S., delivery is anywhere from 5 to 9 business days.