Saturday, 11 August 2012

Amy and Chris' wedding at Coltsford Mill with photos by Rachel Luckhurst


A little while back we were lucky enough to be part of the most lovely, colourful and friendly wedding at Coltsford Mill.  We met Amy at a wedding fair a while ago and her Mum remembered us from our shop when it was open in Maidstone.  We clicked straight away and had great fun planning flowers to work with the venue and with Amy and Chris' bubbly personalities.  We decided on a vibrant and fresh colour scheme of purple, hot pink, lime green along with the sunflowers.


Whilst we will use some of our own photos here, the majority are from the lovely and talented Rachel Luckhurst (www.rlphotography.co.uk).  She managed to capture the fun, the friendliness and the overall atmosphere of the day with her photos, and got some beautiful natural shots as well as the more posed shots...so stunning.  Thanks to Rachel for letting us use her photos.

Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk
Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk
 Amy's favourite flower is the sunflower and wanted them incorporated into her wedding flowers.  She'd chosen an aubergine / purple dress for her bridesmaids and hence we wanted to bring some of that colour through into her flowers as well.  So the final choice of flowers was sunflowers, picasso calla lilies, sweet peas, greentrick, lisianthus, gerberas and germini with china grass along with anthuriums and liatris for more texture and interest in the tablecentres.


Amy's gown was FABULOUS!  It was so elegant, so different and just perfect for Amy.  Loved the pleating and neckline...stunning.  Amy wore a lovely half band in her hair which was styled beautifully..elegant yet soft.  We decided upon a hand-tied bouquet using all the colours for Amy and used calla lilies, sunflower, gerberas, greentrick, sweet peas and china grass.  On paper it sounded like an unusual mix, but as you can see from the photos, it really was lovely.  We think Amy looked stunning all around.

Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk
Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk

Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk


For the elder bridesmaids, we were providing sunflower hand-tied bouquets, but thanks to the lovely weather we've been having this year (NOT!), they were really disappointing at the smaller size we needed for bouquets, and so decided to use the closest matching gerbera.  The bouquets looked lovely and were lighter than sunflower bouquets.  Amy and the girls loved them, and loved the fact that we could also provide matching flowers for the hair having used gerberas.


Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk
Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk

Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk
For the little Flower Girls, we scaled down the size of the bridesmaids' bouquets and provided gerbera posies wrapped in organza...how cute do they look and they seem so well behaved!


Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk
Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk
Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk
Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk
Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk
 We provided a mini sunflower, gerbera, greentrick, lisianthus and china grass buttonhole for Chris and then mini sunflowers, lisianthus and greentrick for the rest of the boys.  For Mums, we tailored corsages to match their outfits and also provided corsages for Nans.  We also provided more contemporary front facing arrangements for the Mums.

Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk





To welcome guests to Coltsford Mill, we dressed the railings with organza and added sunflowers and hot pink gerberas to each upright stanchion.  It really set the scene for guests along with the martini vase arrangement we put on the reception desk.


Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk

Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk

As Amy and Chris were getting married in the same area where they would hold their reception, we used the tablecentre martini vases to provide an aisle for their entrance...so stylish and colourful.  We also provided an elegant and contemporary arrangement on the celebrant table.  It really added lots of lovely colour to the area and set the scene for guests.



Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk

Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk
Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk
 After the ceremony, the tables were re-set and the large martini vase arrangements were placed on a central mirror on each table.  The top table was dressed with a long and low arrangement and we added clusters of sunflowers and gerberas to the place settings for Amy and Chris.
Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk

Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk
Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk
Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk
Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk

Finally, we added a small group of flowers to the cheesecake tier that was made for Amy and Chris by a family member.

Photo courtesy of www.rlphotography.co.uk
I think you can tell by the lovely photos from Rachel Luckhurst at www.rlphotography.co.uk that Amy and Chris had the most perfect day...relaxed, fun, vibrant and elegant.  They loved the day and we loved working with them.  Thanks to them for being so easy and fun to work with.  We're so glad Amy's Mum loved the shop all those years ago! 

Monday, 6 August 2012

Holly and Chris' wedding at Eastwell Manor


Holly and Chris's wedding at Eastwell Manor was always going to be striking and memorable with deep purple, ivory and black as the colour scheme.  Although this may sound quite stark, with Holly using pearls and lace and our choices of flowers including hydrangeas and sweet peas, it was going to be stunning and not at all stark...very contemporary and elegant.  Holly and Chris are the most lovely couple and couldn't wait to be married to each other.  Chris sent Holly a romantic bouquet on the morning of her wedding and made us all teary eyed with his message (and we're all hardened to messages...so we thought!).


Holly chose a lovely A-line gown with lots of pleating on the bodice and fabulous applique work down through to the skirt.  With the pretty edged veil, she looked beautiful as you can see thanks to the photos they have sent. Love the shoes too! Chris looks so handsome too as we knew he would.  He and his groomsmen were so friendly and welcoming and we knew they were going to have the best day.



For Holly's bouquet we used Picasso and Schwarzwalder calla lilies along with Maroussia roses for scent and then used loops of bear grass, some threaded with pearls.  We also added strings of pearls looped between the flowers in the bouquet and wrapped the stems in ivory, with a deep purple ribbon crossed over and finished with pearls.



For the bridesmaids, we provided hand-tied bouquets of roses and deep purple Sweet Peas along with loops of bear grass.  We wrapped the stems to match Holly's bouquet.  We then provided a Flower Girl rose "wand" surrounded with spriggy feathers and pearls and wrapped to match the other bouquets.




Chris wore a Picasso Calla lily buttonhole with bear grass loops, some threaded with pearls.  This matched Holly's bouquet whereas the remainder of the grooms' party wore rose buttonholes to match the bridesmaids.  Corsages were provided for Mums and Grandma with each personalised with ribbon to match their outfits.






For the ceremony in the Maids Garden at Eastwell Manor, we dressed the bridge with deep purple hydrangea attached with black lace ribbon and draped pearls.  We then added two large and striking pedestal arrangements at the front of the aisle and finished the celebrant table with a long and low arrangement.  Each of the arrangements included oriental and calla lilies, gladioli, lisianthus, hydrangeas, roses and foliage including palms, folded leaves and grasses.







For the Rose Garden room, we provided tall slim black lily vases on small mirrored bases for the guest tables.   We added a full but open top level arrangement using calla lilies, hydrangeas, lisianthus, sweet peas, roses and foliage.  Once again we threaded pearls onto the grasses to fit with the theme and added black sisal to bring in a touch more of the black colouring.





For the top table, we provided a long and low arrangement to match all the guest tables and to keep low in front of Holly and Chris for speeches.  We then added black glass cubes to either end of the table to take the bridesmaids' bouquets for the reception. 



We know that Holly and Chris had a wonderful day and despite the threatening clouds in the distance, the sky remained blue for them to enjoy the beautiful gardens at Eastwell Manor.  We know they'll be extremely happy together and we wish them all the very very best.