Jodie and Jonathon's wedding at Chilston Park - the real photos!

Those of you following the blog may remember seeing some photos of Jodie and Jon's wedding at Chilston Park.  It was a soft, pretty, slightly vintage theme and the flowers were predominantly spring flowers in ivory with hints of palest pink and palest lilac.  Wraps of lace were used to tie in with Jodie's exquisite dress and scent was so important and added via paperwhites and rosemary.

Their mismatched hurricane lamps on each of the tables were dressed with tulips and rosemary and each table was sprinkled with paperwhite pips. 

We loved working on this wedding as Jodie and Jon are such a lovely, natural couple, and having met them several times (and also delivered surprise flowers to Jodie a week in advance of the wedding ....to the minute of the ceremony!), we were caught up in their excitement.  When Jodie got in touch yesterday to see whether I would like to see the photos, the only question was really how quickly I could see them.  However, not only did I get to see these fantastic photos from Kelvin Brown (http://www.kelvinbrown.co.uk/), their professional photographer, I got to spend time with Jodie and Jon again as they kindly gave up time in the evening to take me through all their photos. 

Their photographer Kelvin Brown hadn't actually shot a wedding at Chilston Park before, but wow...did he make up for it with these photos. The flowers have already been included in their previous blog, but we can't resist including some of Kelvin's photos of them as well.  Don't worry, non flower photos are to follow below!

Whilst I love seeing our flowers featuring in the actual wedding, I rarely get to see our wedding couples together on their day as we are long since finished and gone, so I love to see the whole story of their day unfold in the photos.  We all knew that Jodie would look amazing (the attention to detail to get the hair, tiara, dress, jewellery and flowers to match so well was lovely), and had already seen how great the boys all looked on the day, but when you see the photos, I'm sure you'll agree that they are beautiful....really classic, timeless images which capture everything about the couple and their special day. I think it makes Chilston Park look like a film set, with Jodie in the starring role as a modern day Audrey Hepburn!

I loved seeing other details of the day, so I will include some of Kelvin's photos minus the flowers just to show you how fabulous the whole day was and how well it was captured on film.....some highlights for me are the bubbles....and the Bulmers Pear (there's an advert if ever I saw one) and the car which belonged to a friend of the family...so evocative and so perfect for Jodie and Jon.  I've not included photos of the speeches as you really do need to hear the story Jon's Dad told the wedding party to understand the photos and why some of the guests are hiding their faces!

Thanks so much to Jodie and Jon for taking the time to share these beautiful photos with us, and thanks so much to Kelvin for allowing us to use these fabulous images in our blog.....I think they may be featuring in a new portfolio book soon!

Sue and Anton's wedding at Hadlow Manor Hotel

We've been looking forward to Sue and Anton's glamorous wedding for some time.  Sue's fabulous evening dress set the scene for a black, white and burgundy theme, and as Anton's favourite flower is the orchid, we knew where we had to start for the flowers.  As Sue is so slim and her dress was quite streamlined, we designed a long slimline phalaenopsis orchid cascade incorporating grasses and pearls but also sprigs of local Hadlow ivy to add a natural feel to the bouquet.  We mirrored Sue's bouquet with an elegant orchid, ivy and grass buttonhole for Anton. 

Sue decided to wear her dark hair loose at the back, and she was concerned that as she and Anton took their vows, the view of the back of her dress may not have enough interest, and hence we designed a hair comb using Black Baccara roses and matching spray roses with ivy and grasses with long trails of invisible thread onto which ivory spray roses and pearls were attached.  Photos of the hairpiece without Sue's hair were wholly inadequate, so you can only see it nestling in the box.  Hopefully we will get to see it in full glory in photos in the future.

Reversing the usual colour scheme for the bridal outfits, Sue's bridesmaids wore ivory dresses to contrast with hers and we therefore used Black Baccara roses to best effect in neat hand-tied bouquets edged in ivy.  We added the touch of black with a bow around the top of the bouquet stems.  We finished their look with matching roses for their hair.  Buttonholes followed the theme, with Black Baccara taking centre stage to match cravates and ladies wearing corsages of spray roses, ivy and grasses.

Sue (not having enough to organise for her day) decided to make the cake herself and wanted us to provide a full and rich dressing of roses, ivy, lily of the valley and a single orchid.  She wanted the flowers to flow around and in between each tier and to have a natural, yet striking appearance.  We added blueberries throughout in wired strings as Sue liked the idea of fruit and this was the best colour match.  The cake was Sue's piece de resistance and was on view throughout the ceremony, hence we spent quite a while getting it right.  Anton and his groomsmen did a sterling job of putting the dowels in and assembling the cake, making it very easy to dress on site.  We hope that the flowers lived up to Sue's cake making skills on the day.  We certainly enjoyed preparing them.

Ruth and Simon's wedding with reception at St Julians Club, Sevenoaks

When I first met Ruth to discuss her flowers, she was very clear about the style of flowers that she wanted.  Ruth's wedding was going to be very relaxed, pretty and romantic.  Her dress was a stunning empire line dress, soft, flowing, with beautiful detailing, yet essentially very simple and so we needed to provide flowers that added to, rather than overpowered the dresses.  Her bridesmaids were wearing palest pink and hence we added hints of pale pink into Ruth's flowers and the venue flowers, and yet kept the bridesmaids' flowers all ivory to contrast with the dresses.  Ruth loves roses and multi-petalled flowers and as she wanted texture and a very natural feel, we used a variety of flowers throughout the wedding.

For Ruth's bouquet, we used La Belle and Gletsjer roses along with trachellium, chincherinchee, hypericum, lisianthus and freesias.  For foliage, we used eucalyptus parvifolia and rosemary to bring additional scent and texture to the bouquet.  Ruth and her bridesmaids all wore small ivory spray roses in their hair.

For the bridesmaids, we tailored the bouquets in size with her chief bridesmaid having a full hand-tied bouquet of Gletsjer roses, trachellium, chincherinchee, hypericum and freesias all in ivory along with rosemary and eucalyptus parvifolia.  We then scaled down the flowers for the two younger bridesmaids.

For the buttonholes, we used the La Belle rose for Simon's buttonhole to tie in with Ruth's bouquet and matched the groom's party to the bridesmaids via the Gletsjer rose. 

For the reception tables, we used simple tapered vases with a full, natural and textured hand-tied bouquet in pale pink and ivory tones, using all the flowers we used elsewhere in the wedding.  Whilst each guest table had a single vase in the centre, Simon and Ruth were framed by a vase each side of them on the top table.  We then finished the floral dressing by providing flowers for the cake to mirror the flowers used elsewhere. We used a floral topper, along with small wired sections on each tier to provide a pretty tie-in to the overall wedding flowers.

Marie and David's wedding at Cooling Castle Barn

Yes, we've been at the lovely Cooling Castle again this week and I think it is nice to see how we can design flowers to meet each individual couple's taste and requirements.   You'll probably notice that the last three entries have been Cooling Castle Barn and it shows how different it can look with different flowers, colours and designs.

Not only do flowers need to look good against the venue and outfits chosen, but they need to reflect the personality and style of the wedding couple.  For Marie and David, this meant that the flowers needed to be simple, stylish, elegant and unfussy....but with a bit of extra sparkle for a special day.  Marie and David's colour scheme was burgundy and ivory and the focus was roses.

For Marie's bouquet, we chose deep velvety Black Baccara roses in a neat, hand-tied design framed with a salal collar for extra contrast against the dress.  Spriggy transluscent crystals were added throughout for the perfect sparkle for Marie.

For the bridesmaids, simple Avalanche rose bouquets, edged in a salal collar were provided.  Unfortunately one wasn't needed on the day as one of the bridesmaids ended up in hospital and we wish her all the very best and a very speedy recovery. 

David's buttonhole was a double rose to match Marie's bouquet with that special sparkle added, and the remainder of the groom's party wore ivory roses to match the bridesmaids.

Tall elegant lily vases with crystals twisted around the outside containing coloured water and a floating rose were provided for the tables.  Each had a domed arrangement of roses and hypericum on top and each was placed on a mirror to add the reflection to the rest of the sparkle.  For the top table, a long and low arrangement was provided for the centre of the table.  The guest table top arrangements have been given to guests as a memento of the day, and some are now happily housed as far away as Newcastle....who said flowers don't travel!

In the celebrant room, we provided two of the tall lily vase arrangements to frame Marie and David taking their vows, and added an additional arrangement on a pedestal central to the dais against the wall.  For the celebrant table, we provided a long, low and trailing arrangement with a more contemporary feel, using palms and folded aspidistra leaves in addition to the roses, hypericum and grasses.  

All in all, we feel Cooling Castle Barn looked elegant, warm and inviting with Marie and David's flowers and we know that had a fabulous day that surpassed their expectations.  What a great start to married life for a really lovely couple.  It's now Bon Voyage as they head out on honeymoon and arriverderci!