Philly Mag’s Bridal Bulletin just ran a feature on our wonderful program called “Kindness Blooms,” where our clients (and others) can donate the flowers they love from their incredible celebrations to people who could really use a little unexpected joy and beauty in their lives.   The Kindness Blooms page will tell you how you can help!

You may remember a couple years go when we first blogged about word starting to get around about Eclatante’s Kindness Blooms’ project in MainLine Today and Philly.com.

Since then so many floral arrangements have been provided to the Ronald McDonald House, Children’s Hospital, the Laurel House and several area retirement and nursing homes.   Its been pure pleasure being able to facilitate the joy that people get from truly beautiful flowers.   And, honestly, there are just no words to express how much better it is to donate the flowers than to see them trashed!

We are always looking for volunteers to help in our efforts.   Please take a look at our Kindness Blooms page and let  us know if  you can help!

When Carrie Denny told us that Philadelphia Weddings Magazine LOVED Emelia & Jay’s wedding, we were flattered — but not surprised.   It truly was an exceptional wedding that we were very proud to show off.  There’s so much to see and learn about this wedding — the couple was just delightful, the details were very carefully and lovingly chosen and the overall result was spectacular.  As you can see, the amazing photography by Marie Labbancz captured this beautiful story perfectly.    

We suggest you pick up a copy of the latest issue of Philadelphia Weddings for a better look.   Or take a look all the pretty pictures from our blog entry about this wedding.

PS: See the gorgeous flowers (created by, of course, Beautiful Blooms)?   They were donated after the weddings was over, as part of Eclatante’s Kindness Blooms project.

This holiday season, like none other, we are struck by what it means to care about other people.   Our industry is fun, energetic and all about celebrating the best days of people’s lives!   But we also recognize that all that merry-making can stand in stark contrast to the effect the economy is having on people who aren’t exactly partying their way through the holidays. 

Eclatante (and many others, we hear!) has come up with a whole set of ideas for how to care about others as we celebrate with our own…

Holiday open houses, company parties, even small dinner parties are the perfect opportunity to extend the spirit of giving.   Small hostess gifts and guest favors can, this year, be small donations to charities.   Guests can arrive with toys or canned goods to give to homeless shelters.   Even presents to adults in your family (who really have it all anyway!) can be much-needed donation to charities who are really suffering in this economic downturn.   Here are a few of our favorites:

Helpusadopt.org –  dedicated to people trying to overcome the seemingly insurmountable financial challenges associated with adoption and to the thousands of birth parents selfless enough to let loving people adopt their children. P.O. Box 20435 – New York, NY 1002  Phone:  917.684.5484

The Support Center for Child Advocates – is the country’s oldest and largest pro bono legal and social services agency for children. The Support Center’s mission is to advocate for abused and neglected children in Philadelphia, with the goal of securing a permanent, nurturing environment for every child.  1900 Cherry Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 Phone:  267.546.9200 

The Philadelphia Council of Navy League – The Navy League is a civilian organization that supports active duty sailors, Marines and Coast Guard and their families.   We think there is no better time to reach out to the deployed and their family than over the holiday which can be so hard for them.   5344 Walden Way, Doylestown, PA 18901  Phone: 215.345.7596   

Or another great option is to give a charitable gift certificate at your company party gift exchange, as guest favors at your Holiday Open House or low-key dinner party or as a very sweet hostess gift.   Go to www.justgive.org where you can purchase a gift certificate for any amount and the receiver can choose their favorite charity.

just sayin’….

WISHING YOU AND YOURS AN EXTRAORDINARY HOLIDAY SEASON!   

We’re very excited that the Philadelphia area is taking notice of Eclatante’s Kindness Blooms project. We’re very proud of the results thus far. But, of course, we need more volunteers willing to help us out after celebrations are over to take the flowers to local organizations. So, the more exposure Kindness Blooms receives, the better!

THANK YOU Main Line Today for this wonderful feature on Kindness Bloom in the September issue of this must-read mag!

And… We’re very exited about this great shout-out about Kindness Bloom from Philadelphia Magazine’s “Daily Examiner.”

We’ve been getting tons of emails and phone calls expressing praise and interest in this endeavor. So we hope that all of Philly will continue to Spread the Word so that not only can we increase the number of volunteers (we do need lots of those!) but people will be inspired to donate the flowers from their events. Which is a very good thing!

Take a look at one of the opportunities we had this summer to pass along the joy of a wonderful wedding to a group of very very nice people who could really enjoy them for many days to come.

Absolutely stunning ceremony arrangements created by Evantine Design from a great wedding at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts were picked up and delivered to Shipley Manor, a retirement home in Wilmington, Delaware. Our Kindness Blooms team arrived with the flowers a bit late in the evening, but we found one wakeful resident who just couldn’t believe what she saw walking in the door!

Without Kindness Blooms coming to the rescue of these beautiful flowers, their fate was a City dumpster!

Please contact Kindness Bloom to donate just a few hours here & there to help us do what we do!!!  To be part of this extraordinary project, please email KindnessBlooms@eclatantedesign.com or call 610.565.9977.

Where flowers bloom, so does hope. Lady Bird Johnson

“Our goal is to never let this happen again.”

This is one of our proudest moments yet! Eclatante Event Design announces its new initiative, Kindness Blooms, a flower project that facilitates the rearranging, pickup and delivery of flowers from its many weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs and other celebrations to hospitals, charitable organizations and elder care facilities in the Philadelphia area. Our clients now have the opportunity to extend the life and joy of their flowers by giving them to people who could really use some unexpected pleasure in their lives — while at the same time, add an element of environmental responsibility to their events.

Our May 18th wedding became the launch of Kindness Blooms. Nancy Bachman was gracious enough to be our first client to donate the flowers she lovingly chose to celebrate her son, Jay’s marriage to Emelia at Appleford to two very worthy organizations The Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia and to the Broomall Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.

Kelly Hays of the Ronald McDonald House was thrilled!

The impact of having fresh flowers donated to our House for families is immeasurable; little touches like that bring a bit of cheer and comfort to families who have spent a long day at the hospital and can brighten the entire mood of the House. We truly appreciate Eclatante’s commitment to making the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House even more like home to the families we serve.

Eclatante takes care of all of the logistics once the client has agreed to donate the flowers from their event. We will suggest a recipient from the list of organizations with whom Eclatante has teamed up, then recruit and coordinate the volunteers and oversee the rearranging and delivery of the flowers to their new home. If there are any costs associated with the delivery, Eclatante will split those costs with the client. Also, clients may be eligible for a tax deduction for their gift of flowers.

We are always looking for new partner-organizations and volunteers. To be part of this extraordinary project, please email KindnessBlooms@eclatantedesign.com or call 610.565.9977.