Monday 23 December 2013

Beautiful bouquets from wonderful weddings

Those of you that read the blog will know that I've got so behind this year and given the number of weddings we have done, it's just not possible to blog them all.  So I thought I'd do an end of year round up of a few bouquets not previously blogged.  They vary dramatically from neat and precise hand-tied bouquets to wilder and soft rustic bouquets, from overarms to shower bouquets.  Whatever your own personal style and preferences, there is probably one for you below.  Each was designed specifically for our lovely brides and after consultations on the overall style and feel of the wedding, shape of dress etc and I hope they help you get some more ideas.

Firstly back to May for Gemma and Ray's wedding, which is about to feature as a real life wedding on Hitched.  Gemma did so much of the work for the wedding herself which was held in Bredhurst Church and then after at Bredhurst Village Hall.  She wanted a vintage feel but a very vibrant seet of colours and wanted buttons and ribbons to feature.  We LOVED her hand-tied bouquet and the mismatched wrist corsages we provided for her bridesmaids.





Continuing on a sunny and bright colour scheme was the lovely Becky and Simon's wedding at Cooling Castle Barn in June.  Sunflowers were her fave flowers and hence we used them along with greenrick, trachellium, eryngium thistle (Simon wore a kilt so it had to be thistle) and loops of china grass.  We kept the bridesmaids' bouquets simple with sunflowers and foliage.  What a fresh and vibrant colour scheme...and a fab cake which we just had to add!




Moving away from the vibrant colour palette, Katie and Tim married at Tonbridge Castle in June and then had a very relaxed reception at Whetsted Place.  Her Jenny Packham dress was accompanied by a very "just-picked" and not too neat bouquet in shades of pale pink, ivory and a touch of blue.  Various roses, sweet peas, veronica, matricaria, bouvardia and lisianthus were included with soft foliage.  It smelt as good as it looked!   The three Flower Girls had small posies to work alongside Katie's bouquet and they were so cute!





Whilst we are on the pastel, slightly vintage style of flowers, we provided Kezia's bridal bouquet for her wedding to Joel.  She made her bridesmaids'  button bouquets herself and they were gorgeous...very talented.  We provided various other flowers for the wedding, but the bouquet took centre stage largely helped by how stunning Kezia looked herself...couldn't have picked a better model for this bouquet!



And then another change of style for the lovely Emma's wedding to Will at Hever Castle in August.  Emma had chosen a largely black and white theme and her dress had little black flowers scattered across.  She thus wanted a bright and vibrant set of flowers to set off the colour scheme.  For her bouquet we used multi-coloured germinis along with roses, Vanda orchids, Greentrick and china grass.  For her bridesmaids, we decided to use just the germinis and foliage.  Stunning!


Michelle married Gary in early November and wanted a very striking rich floral theme featuring deep red roses.  We used other flowers within the venue but for Michelle's bouquet we decided on a neat and striking bouquet of Black Baccara roses finished with crystals in the centre and edged in a foliage collar to offset them against the dress.  For her bridesmaids, we provided lovely wrist corsages and for her Flower Girls, posies of spray roses and bouvardia worked perfectly.  Such a lovely wedding for a lovely family.





Moving into November, the colours became more autumnal for Charli's wedding to Mark at The Knowle.  Earthy, mossy, and with the added luxury of peacock feathers, we provided a really natural hand-tied bouquet that Charli could carry pretty much any way she wanted (in front, by her side, over her arm or in fact trailing downwards).  I felt a little sorry for the bouquet, as it was really obvious that not many people would notice the flowers with Charli as the bride....she looked truly amazing!  For her bridesmaids, we chose wrist corsages to match the natural style of Charli's flowers and added additional dendrobrium orchids on the ribbon trails for a little extra interest.  Lovely!



Staying within November, Lisa and Richard married at Cooling Castle Barn.  Although having relatively recently had a child, you would never had believed it of the lovely Lisa...she looked fab as we knew she would.  Being relatively petite, her hand-tied bouquet was kept compact and worked perfectly with her aubergine and ivory theme...with a splash of lime green to really "pop" the colours.  We used Picasso Calla Lilies, roses, spray roses, freesias, hypericum berries and Greentrick with foliage.  We then provided a slightly smaller version for Lisa's bridesmaid and then designed smaller posies for the Flower Girls.  A lovely day was had by all, and we were thrilled to get to know Lisa and Richard.



Whilst I could add lots of other weddings in, I think this is probably long enough, but as it's Christmas I thought I better end with a seasonal bouquet for the lovely Cara for her wedding to Dan at Cooling Castle Barn earlier this month.  We used calla lilies, ranunculus, lily of the valley, anenome, hypericum berries, pussy willow and all manner of lovely flowers in her frosty styled bouquet.  Whilst Cara carried a teardrop bouquet, her bridesmaids had hand-tied bouquets to match and her Flower Girls had small posies.  All had a touch of sparkle added and hopefully it will get you in the mood for  Christmas, although given the weather, not sure if I should call this seasonal at all!  I'm going to go with "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" instead.
 
 




Happy Christmas to you all and we'll see you in the New Year.

Monday 9 December 2013

Jemma and Craig's Eastwell Manor Wedding with a vintage edge



I can't believe that approaching Christmas I am sitting here writing about one of our wonderful June weddings...I also can't believe it was that long ago.  I know I say it a lot, but we are really lucky to work with the most fab couples and families and Jemma and Craig would be right up there at the top.  It's not often the groom walks into a room you are dressing and says "wow...I really didn't think flowers could look that good or make such a difference", and then independently phone you a little while after the wedding to add his thanks to those already given by Jemma, her Mum, Craig's parents...what a complete delight. 



 emma and Craig wanted a soft pretty mix of pastel colours including lilac, pink, lemon, ivory and lime green.  They wanted their wedding to be slightly vintage in style and to be relaxed and yet striking.  They were so very easy to work with and went with all our suggestions, from the flower choices to the tableplan mannequin, wishing tree etc hence allowing us to be let loose with a studio full of lovely flowers.  We chose pale pink and ivory peonies, roses, trachellium, guelder rose, bouvardia, astrantia, stocks, flowering mint, veronica, and soft foliage.


Jemma knew from when she met us at a wedding fair that she wanted her bouquet to be filled with non matching brooches as well as soft flowers.  We chose roses, trachellium, guelder rose, astrantia and half open peonies to keep their more rounded shape.  We added lots of different shaped brooches throughout which gave a very unique look and gave Jemma lots of little keepsakes from her wedding day.  Her bridesmaid had a similar bouquet minus one of the rose varieties and the brooches, although we added one on the stem for her. Jemma also had three flower girls who we gave rose "wands" with feathers, beads and pearls.







The boys buttonholes were soft and textured and used a rose (La Belle for Craig and Green Tea elsewhere) along with various combinations of veronica, astrantia, flowering mint and eucalyptus.  Mums and Nans also had corsages to match their outfits.









For the ceremony in the Maids Garden, we attached clusters of peonies to the bridge and added a selection of jugs etc to the celebrant table for the signing of the register.





To welcome guests to the wedding breakfast, we used a mannequin dressed with flowers as a table plan, and also added a wishing tree with flowers and a basket of confetti cones to the table.  It set the scene beautifully for the Rose Garden Room.




The mantelpiece was dressed with bunting provided by Your Beautiful Day and with a variety of silver and crystal vintage vases, jugs and jam jars filled with flowers.   The top table was similarly dressed with bunting and various containers of flowers.  For the guest tables we decided upon mixed vintage vases with a specific "theme" for each table.  One was birdcages, one was jugs, one was teapots, one was watering cans, one was cake plates and platters, one jam jars and the last being afternoon tea.  We added a cream wire heart tablename holders to add their special dates for each table.  Each table also had buttons, pearl strings and dried rosebuds sprinkled around all the flowers.  Beautiful vintage china was provided by Idyllic Days.




















All the containers were moved to the Pavilion for the evening reception.  We can't leave without mentioning the fabulous cake made by Craig's Mum...how gorgeous is that.


We had a lovely time working with the flowers and with Craig, Jemma and their family.  We know they had a fabulous day and wish them all the very very best for the future.