Happy Christmas from all at Distinctly Floral

Well it's nearly Christmas and it's been looking pretty festive here.  We've been pretty busy with delivering Christmas cheer as well as a few events and weddings, and haven't had much time to blog....oh and playing in the snow has disrupted things a little!

We've decided to have a little "blog holiday" now until next year.  Whilst we still have weddings, funerals and other deliveries until the end of the year, we're going to take some time off in between orders and re-charge the batteries for what looks as though its going to be a busier than ever year next year! 

We'd all like to say thank you to our customers and friends for their kind words, cards, support and orders through the year and wish everyone a VERY HAPPY FESTIVE SEASON.

Love

Amanda, Vincent, Jane, Claire, Wendy, Wallace and Gromit

Weddings at Chapeldown - press launch

Whilst Chapeldown have been hosting weddings in their beautiful surroundings for some time now, Richard Phillips at Chapeldown have purchased a new grand marquee which allows them to cater for larger weddings and make the most of the space available.  To launch the new website http://www.weddingsatchapeldown.co.uk/ , selected members of the media and wedding couples were invited along to see the marquee dressed for a special occasion.  Amidst the vines and rolling countryside, Chapeldown is a fantastic location for any wedding, and combined with the culinary skills of Richard Phillips and his team, along with fabulous wine, what more can you want.

Whilst the marquee is large enough to seat 150 guests, we dressed 5 tables around the dancefloor area to demonstrate what it can look like.  We used large martini vases to give a "wow" factor and worked within the white and lime green theme we had agreed upon in advance.  These particular vases work well given the height of the marquee, and yet are so slim stemmed, that they are perfect for guests to converse over dinner.  We decided to add a touch of red to the arrangements and added exotic, tropical flowers for extra impact.

To finish the tables, we tied napkins with lime green ribbon and added an ornithogalum arabicum as a talking point.  We then used mirrors, mirrored crystal flower sprinkles and smart candles to finish the tables and make the most of the light available.

During the evening, we switched on the smart candles and the fairy lights in the base of the martini vases and the marquee took on a completely different look, with an almost magical feel.  The photos for the evening were taken by Laura Martel, who is the preferred photographer at Chapeldown and who is guaranteed to make anyone feel at ease and bring out their very best in photographs (contact her on http://www.laura-martel.co.uk/).  Laura's photos show how little additions can change the overall look and are great to signal a different feel for the evening celebrations.  It also made the marquee a warm and cosy place despite the wettest November on record!

Whilst Chapeldown is an obvious choice for a summer wedding, with the use of the herb garden and the huge amounts of photographic opportunities, I think the event this week showed just how well the marquee works for winter weddings.

We met some fantastic couples and their families this week, all looking for a stylish, memorable and slightly different venue for their special days, and we look forward to working with them in the future.   

Anna and Trevor's wedding at Chilston Park

Amidst all the awful weather, Anna and Trevor got married at Chilston Park.  After lots of rain and surface water, the skies broke and the sun came out.  They must be blessed.  Anna's bridesmaids' were wearing dark blue dresses and as they were going to Scotland on their honeymoon, we decided to use the Eryngium thistle as the accent flower, which looked really striking.  Anna wanted a touch of colour to add to the ivory and blue and hence yellow roses were added for that extra touch of winter sunshine.

Anna's bouquet was a mix of the beautifully scented Maroussia roses along with eryngium thistle, finished with a collar of eucalyptus. Her bridesmaids had a mix of Maroussia and Rimini roses again with a collar of eucalytpus.

For the groom's party, we kept the buttonholes simple and elegant using Maroussia roses along with eucalyptus and added some eryngium thistle to Trevor's buttonhole. The Mums corsages were a mix of freesia and spray roses along with chincherinchee which worked really well with the other flowers

For the celebrant table, we provided a quite simple long and low arrangement of roses, thistles and mixed foliage along with chincherinchee and tulip. 

Guest tables for the reception were circular floral surrounds with a hurricane lamp and chuch candle in the centre.  These would be suffused with soft light when lit later in the day and were being moved from guest tables for the midnight feast!   Sounds lovely.

Christmas Wreaths

We're now well and truly into the Christmas spirit!  Carols have been played and our fingers are now all black with pine and spruce and our faces are shiny with glitter.  It all smells lovely and festive with cinnamon, orange, apples etc all playing a part.  We thought we would share with you some of our Christmas pine wreath designs, some of which have been designed to hang on doors (some internal, and some external) and others to be placed on graves to remember loved ones during the festive season.

We design wreaths to meet our individual customers' needs and colour schemes and also do just a few to inspire people.  Some are very natural and rustic in appearance and we've used crab apples, chilli peppers, dried lotus heads and vine balls as well as the usual dried fruits, spices and nuts.  Here are a few of the more rustic designs.

We have also designed some wreaths to tie in with particular themes or colours, e.g. butterflies or the ever popular and on trend purple...and don't forget black and white to match the black Christmas trees that have been around for the last few years.  Here's a few of our more contemporary wreath styles.

We have also used some nordic Christmas tree decorations, such as the felt gingerbread men and women along with added fairy lights on some of our wreaths, which can then be saved for the following year (as long as they're not inadvertently thrown in the bin, as one of our customers did with their lights!)  Waxed apples are also proving very popular and with an added touch of snow or glitter, bring a little sprakle to any front door.

Whatever your needs, or your theme, we can design a wreath to suit and will really enjoy the festive scents in the process.  It's just as well you can't hear us singing the carols at the same time!!

Sympathy Flowers

As well as the happy events we get involved in on a weekly basis, we also provide floral tributes for a large number of funerals.  Whilst they are sad events, they are so important to family and friends and it is imperative that the flowers are just right for such an occasion.  We work to understand whether there were any favourite flowers, any particular colour schemes that worked, and also whether there were any particular styles that the individual would have favoured.  We also think it is nice for the family to include their own personalities and thoughts in the flowers...e.g. we made a hornet for one family as the gentleman was a Watford FC fan, but we had to make sure that it looked grumpy as he was never happy watching them play!

As the main family flowers, we often provide coffin sprays which are a focal point during the funeral.  They are generally 4 - 5 ft in length, but can made to any size.  They also vary in style and in colour according to personal choice.  Some people prefer the more contemporary styles we provide, whereas others want them to be soft and flowing.  Colours can be muted and simple, or vibrant and noticeable...the one multi-coloured coffin spray at the top of the blog was designed for a gentleman who loved buying flowers, but always chose one of this colour, one of that etc and ended up with mixed and vibrant vases full of flowers.  We've included a variety of styles and colours below from some recent funerals.

Some families prefer to all follow a theme and yet provide their own tributes as can be seen with the sunflowers below.  We may even have multiple tributes to place onto a coffin top to ensure that each member of the close family has a tribute they feel comfortable with.

When designing names or words, it is important to remember that these have to be placed alongside the coffin, rather than on top, and hence are not usually the main floral tribute.  We always take great care in adding stylish and unusual top sprays on the letters and once again using flowers that have a special meaning for the family.

All manner of shapes can be provided and we have provided teapots, butterflies, a 3d cats and teddy bears, daleks, tardis, steam train etc....the list is endless.  They all take a little time to prepare but can look stunning.  Our recent favourite was the multi-coloured textured butterfly...the raised hydrangea body looked very striking and as a large piece, it was one that really stood out.

Finally, we provide tributes of smaller sizes for friends and for more distant family.  Often we will follow the colour scheme or style used elsewhere but sometimes, customers will just have an idea they would like to work with, or will see something they like in our portfolios and we will adapt them to suit.  We have included a few different items below.

It is well to remember that all our sympathy flowers are designed individually and with great care and attention.  This is the last thing that can be done for someone, and it is important to get it right.  We will spend as much time as is needed to ensure that this is the case.  We hope you like the work featured.