Here are a few pictures, courtesy of Kamila Harris Photography-

What to wear? What colors to choose? What flower to use? What cake flavor to pick? Where’s the venue going to be? White or Ivory wedding dress? Invite Uncle Harry or pretend that his invitation got lost?

Many times we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the everyday planning and sometimes brides will go to companies and businesses that are an “all-for-one” deal, which there is nothing wrong with. But with using a small business, the attention to detail and relationship with the vendor is more personal and of higher quality.

As  a small business, we pride ourselves in providing the best quality flowers from countries all over the world. Some flowers are locally grown, some are international. Our brides are paying for the best and they get the best as we hand-pick each bloom for their big day. Many times brides don’t realize the amount flowers can really be, but just as paying for photography, the food, the limo, the dress, etc,  these flowers are a big part of the big day and really create the atmosphere and look fantastic in the wedding photos.

Another small business quirk is the timing for a proposal. Some proposals take as little as two days to write up, or some take up to a few weeks. The reasons vary from being extremely busy with the weddings that weekend to creating a new look for the Bride which includes looking up new resources, gathering information, and finding the perfect details to reflect the bride and groom.

At the Manic Botanic, the proposal is not handled by just anyone. There are three of us that meet with the brides and will follow through till the day of your wedding. Every proposal is tailored for each individual bride and not a “typical” print out that we just email.

As our business is small, the weddings are limited per weekend to make sure that we provide the attention each one needs. We are not a factory and we make it our business to not only oversee our flowers, but make sure everything else is pretty much in place too.

Small businesses provide the comfort, personality, relationship, detail, and quality that bigger businesses seem to lose because of the size. Our whole goal is to serve our brides the best flowers and to make them feel comfortable with what they’re getting. Our hearts are in every arrangement we create and we hope to grasp the personality of the bride throughout the arrangements as well.

This is the just a glimpse into our world: the small business world -and we are here to serve every one of our brides.

We are proud to announce that we are now a part of Little Black Book. This was one of the weddings we’ve done that were published on their blog. Chrissy  and Joe were such an amazing couple to work with and have the biggest of hearts. We are so happy that we got to be a part of their special day and wish them the best!

Here is the blog:

Well, after a beachy keen week of stunning nuptials, many of which took place near the sea, we figured it was fitting to continue the week with a super Super 8 Film from Blossom Productions on – you guessed it – a beach. This Cape May wedding was perfect in every way, and lucky for us, it was all captured in a way that will definitely make you smile, absolutely cause goose bumps, and probably bring a tear to your pretty little eye. We even have a few still shots of the day from Laura Eaton Photography, and their just as amazing as the film. Make sure to visit the gallery for all of them!

After that little sneak peak, I’m sure you’re dying to jump right in to the Super 8 from Blossom Productions. So here we go!

Chrissy & Joe: Cape May Wedding from Blossom Productions on Vimeo.

From Blossom Productions … Chrissy wanted the vintage, timeless look of film woven throughout her video because she not only loved how it looked but also because it created a feeling of nostalgia. As filmmakers, capturing the sights and sounds of the day are incredibly important. If we can also capture the actual emotion, then that is the icing on the cake.

Chrissy’s father passed away when she was a young girl and many memories of her father occurred in Cape May. She had a locket containing his photograph attached to her bouquet. As we were filming all of the significant, BIG moments, we made sure to capture the not-so-obvious, yet incredibly meaningful, small details. The locket was one of them. In some ways, her dad was with her every step of the way that day.

For all of the thought, energy, and time that went into making sure the day went as planned, these two were also about fun and spontaneity. It was a hot out and on the way to shooting formals on the beach, Chrissy and Joe shared a Slurpee. I don’t know many newly, married brides who’d be daring enough to drink a cherry (bright red!) frozen drink while wearing a white wedding dress!

Chrissy and Joe also understood that there’d be very few occasions in life when the people who meant the most to them would all be in the same room for celebratory occasion. Knowing Chrissy’s past, preserving these memories for her came with an even greater responsibility to do it all right-and for having that opportunity, we were honored.

Photography: Laura Eaton Photography / Cinematography: Blossom Productions / Flowers: Manic Botanic / Event Planning & Design: Proud to Plan / Ceremony Location: Our Lady Star of the Sea / Reception Location: The Grand Hotel / Cake & Desserts: Pink Cake Box / Wedding Gown Designer:Pronovias / Bridesmaid’s Dress Designer: Bari Jay

Thank you to all of our brides who have allowed us to be a part of her big day!

We’ve had so much fun and love the challenge and are honored to have received this award!!!

Thank you again, The Manic Botanic

It’s all the rage, so come and get your ‘manic’ on! “Like” our page and show some love!

After all..it’s Valentine’s Day!

Too bad there isn’t a “love” button! haha

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!!

Thank you for being so patient with us! We’ve been so busy these past few months, which is a great thing, but takes away my blog time! Haha. Just want to update everyone on our shop and life adventures : )

First off, take a look at a few of our weddings that I posted! These were some of our favorite and we’re still working on getting more up as the weeks progress. We’ve met many great vendors and brides this season and really look forward to this new year with our new brides-to be. The shop is going through its typical “rearranging” as we’re getting ready for the spring season. Life at the shop should be on television, as we say. We’d have Jerseylicious beat by a mile! Ha.

Family update..

Cathy had her second baby about 7 months ago and my, is he a big boy! Conner is loving his new baby brother and they are really growing up so fast. Cathy’s been doing fantastic job at our shop as well, being an amazing floral designer and being a great friend to us all. Her compassion and way of speaking to people really shows who she is and we couldn’t survive without her. Her help is most appreciated and we cannot thank her enough for what she does! xoxo

My sister turned 17 this December. She is now driving all over South Jersey, so watch out for that Suzuki Jeep! (just kidding!) She is truly growing up to be a beautiful young lady and I love her so much!! My diva sister <3 As life progresses, she is seriously considering going into make up and hair design and is so excited. Christina has only one year left of high school and then she has to make her big decision. I believe she will be great at everything she does and is very driven to do her best. You’ll see her on the weekends to help us set up weddings and at wedding shows and then more in the summer.

TC has started college this semester!! He took one during winter break, and now has 5 classes. He’s doing really great adjusting and is excited to continue on with his education. Since August, he’s lost 60 lbs on weight watchers and has been working out like a fiend. He’s been a huge help with our shop’s organization and is the mastermind to finangling anything and everything we need at the shop. Wecannot wait to have him back full swing once the wedding season starts up again. He’s been our life savor when things have gone wrong and is just a great positive force in our shop. Go TC!!

I’m (Tami) in my second semester at Rowan University this spring. I’m in my  Jr year of college and am loving it despite the crazy 6 class work load. It’s tough balancing the school and the work, but I get it done and it’s very rewarding. As TC’s lost 60 lbs, I’ve lost 20 lbs and feel fantastic. I’ve been going to the gym when I can and have a newfound relationship with the elliptical. This year, I’ve truly grown to love this business as my own and my mom calls me “little apron” (and she’s Big Apron aka the boss) haha. It’s a shop joke but it’s really what its become in my heart. I’ve moved on to bigger and better things like write proposals and take care of brides with emails and scheduling appointments along with upkeep of the website and blog. I still wash the buckets and scrub the floor but I do it with a different attitude than when I was 16 or 17 yrs old. I’m proud of this shop and I’m proud of my mom, boyfriend, Cathy and my sister for stepping up and working together as a great team.

Lillian is still taking on the role of super mom, wife, business owner, daughter, friend. Mom, (she’s mine, haha) is just the power force behind this business and it’s because of her that this business is flourishing before our very eyes. She is not only our boss here, but she is our friend and our encourager. If we feel like we can’t do something, she is the one who says, “Get that vase and bring me those flowers and I’ll show you how to do it!” We can do everything because of her. Her honesty, loyalty and hard work have really paid off this year and many doors have been open for us. She loves her job and we love working for her because it’s just a great atmosphere to be in. Thanks mom!!!

My papa bear has also been coming to the wedding shows to help out when we have to split teams. He’s just such a funny, great man to talk to and will put a smile on everyone’s face. We really appreciate his work efforts at the Manic Botanic. He’s the one coming in when something needs to get fixed. He’s the one that we call when we need an extra pair of hands to help on the beach. My brother has been helping with our storage as well and also the clean up so I have to mention Michael.

And thats our manic family update : )

Hope you enjoy and if you have any ideas on blogs that YOU want to see happen, please comment and let me know! I’m open to pretty much anything!

Tami-The manic blogger

8.22.10

This couple was truly a blast! With a classic wedding at Congress Hall with an edge of rocker red for her bouquet, this wedding was fun, fun, and more fun! It started off as a cloudy, rainy day and the ceremony was supposed to be on the lawn. We had to run out and take everything down and set it up in the veranda. Let’s just say that everything looked absolutely amazing regardless.. Right as the wedding started, the rain stopped completely and the sun came out! It was the most perfect day for this couple. With the red against the tiffany blue walls, everything looked sharp and had clean lines and truly reflected our couple. Her bouquet was monochromatic red and her girls were in white bouquets.

The photography was done by John Arcara, whom we absolutely fell in love with. He was on the ground taking photographs of falling rose petals when we first saw him and THATS dedication! His (and his wife’s) shots are raw, edgy, and pristine all at the same time.

Check him out at http://johnarcara.com/ for his website and blog. His laid back personality and great eye for photographs makes him so easy to work with and he travels everywhere.

And P.S., we love working with Daniella at Congress Hall! She might be small, but she is mighty and really gets the job done.

December 31, 2010

What a great way to bring in the new year! We had such a blast with Beth Ann and her family! Beth Ann was the most rambunctious, happy, and whirlwind of a bride! We loved every second working with her and creating a look for her. Because of her fantastically huge personality and wedding, we created four looks for her centerpieces. Reds, golds, whites, and creams were the color schemes for this New Years Eve party. Everything looked spectacular at the Flanders Hotel (OC) and all Beth Ann did was smile all night long.

Her photographer was absolutely amazing as well. Jeff Tisman captured every angle of the wedding from the flowers, shoes and rings to the surprised faces, boardwalk, dancing, and balloon drop. Not only was he great at taking pictures, he was fantastically fun to be around.

http://www.jefftismanphotography.com/bethannadam -This is the photo slide link Jeff created

www.jefftismanphotography.com -Here is his link!

And here is our beautiful bride!

And here are a few of our own pictures of the center pieces and the bird cage she wanted. The cake was created by The Cake Studio. Darren is just amazing at what he does and we’ve used him personally and tell all of our brides about him and his work. He’s right down the street from us and is such a pleasure to work with. He took the elements of Beth Ann’s invitations and her dress and meshed it together to create this extravaganza.

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Wedding of Liz and Anton

December 4, 2010

We had the privilege of doing my best friend’s wedding up in NY this December. I was actually in the wedding, which was so much fun, and my mom and the crew brought up Liz’s wedding flowers. Though a winter wedding, Liz stayed true to herself and the theme was black and hot pink. Everything turned out even better than expected. It was such a joyous occasion of seeing my best friend get married to Anton, her best friend. We laughed, we cried, we danced, we had a blast! A mix of hot pink gerbers, roses, green hydrangea, peonies, etc. We loved getting to do her wedding and I wish I could relive it again and again!