Emma and Dan's stylish navy blue and ivory Cooling Castle Barn wedding

 

 
When we met with Emma and Dan, it was very clear that their wedding had to be stylish and elegant.  Their timeless colour scheme was navy blue and ivory and Emma liked a soft and pretty, realtively neat style.  They married in Bexley with a reception at Cooling Castle Barn last November and whilst people tend to assume that dark blue flowers are difficult to source, they are in fact relatively easy at that time of year thanks to eryngium thistle and viburnum tinue.  We teamed these beauties with roses, spray roses, tulips, ranunculus and oriental lilies for a very striking wedding.

Emma is very petite and slim and hence her shower bouquet had to be designed with that in mind, so that the bouquet didn't wear her!  We kept to a slimline profile and used just roses, spray roses, ranunculus, eryngium and viburnum, with very light foliage.  The handle was wrapped in ivory satin ribbon with a neat navy bow at the top.

For Emma's bridesmaids, we used the same flowers, but combined them into hand-tied bouquets which were also wrapped to match the bridal bouquet.

For Dan, we chose a striking rose buttonhole with viburnum tinus berries and eryngium to match Emma's bouquet and then used spray roses for the rest of the boys.  Mums' corsages followed the floral theme of the wedding but with detailing added to match their chosen outfits.

For the top table at Cooling, we designed a central cascading arrangement using all the flowers used elsewhere and then added some empty vases to take the bridesmaids' bouquets along with votives, tealights and lots of lovely sparkly clear and blue crystals to add colour to the front of the table.  We also added roses and ranunculus to the place settings to finish it all off.

For the guest tables, we provided central mirror plates and large martini glass vases filled with fairy lights and navy blue sisal.  Into these we placed arrangements designed to match the rest of the wedding.  We thought they looked really striking and pretty and so did Emma and Dan...here's what they said when they spotted their flowers on our Facebook page... 

These are our flowers!! Beautiful and smelt amazing!!! Thank you so, so much for all your hard work and brilliant passion from the moment we met you two years ago. We couldn't have got better flowers! xx

Claire and Lu's wedding at Chapeldown

We first met Claire and Lu at Chapeldown's Open Evening in 2009 where Claure loved the venue and Lu was not so sure (we thought!).  Little did we know that Lu had planned the whole wedding day and venue as a Christmas surprise for Claire...how lovely is that.  So Chapeldown it was and we started planning a theatrical themed wedding.

Both Claire and Lu had chosen gorgeous ivory dresses but wanted their flowers to be different yet complement each other.  So for Claire we provided a hand-tied bouquet of deep red Black Baccara roses along with ivory roses, finished with a simple looped grass edge and with crystal pins added.  For Lu, we decided on ivory calla lilies in an overarm style, finished with a burgundy feather.

Both Claire and Lu had bridesmaids, so we decided to use a single calla lily with feather for Claire's bridesmaids so that they tied in with Lu's bouquet and contrasted Claire's roses.  For Lu's bridesmaids we reversed the flowers and used a single rose to tie in with Claire's bouquet.

Buttonholes were simple calla lilies with loops of grass and aspidistra leaf.

For the tables, Claire and Lu had already seen one of our exotic martini vase arrangements and were completely "sold" on them straight away.  We therefore provided large martini vases filled with ivory sisal and fairy lights.  We then added an exotic arrangement of monstera leaves, palms, aspidistras along with red and ivory oriental lilies, Black Baccara and ivory roses, anthuriums and grasses.  Each had dramatic ostrich feathers added and the mask table name provided by Claire and Lu.  We finished the tables with a mirror and rose petals for the final touch of drama. 

We then dressed the gazebo in the herb garden with a loose foliage garland with wired roses, anthuriums and lilies to reflec the flowers used inside.

Despite being extremely nervous, Claire and Lu both had a wonderful day with friends and family and all their hard work, planning and surprises paid off.  They are a fantastic couple who look after each other wonderfully and we hope their gorgeous wedding day is the start of a long and fabulous life together.

Beth and Simon's wedding at Chapeldown Vineyard

This week's featured wedding is Beth and Simon's glamorous wedding at Chapeldown Vineyard.  I think their consultation last year was one of the most enjoyable in a long time.  Beth and Simon had so many lovely ideas and all of these ideas showed through on their wedding day, with place names being heart cards in corks, table names being champagne names on blackboard hearts, hearts being attached to tables etc.  A wonderful attention to detail from a fabulous couple.  Despite Simon and I ganging up on Beth with regards to the original hot pink and orange colour scheme (whilst lovely, it wasn't right for the overall feel of the day ... glamorous white tie Hollywood), the pink, lime green and white theme we decided upon worked fabulously with the duck egg blue chosen for the bridesmaids.

Beth is extremely glamorous and last time we met was chanelling the "Marilyn Monroe look" beautifully (are you sensing envy here...)  Her dress lived up to expectation being white, encrusted with sparkles across the fitted bodice, and being very full at the bottom.  With her gorgeous long blonde hair, this was always going to look fabulous, and we needed a fabulous bouquet to match.  Hence, we designed a full white phalaenopsis orchid shower bouquet.  We added crystals and diamantes throughout the bouquet along with knotted grasses, lime tips and folded and rolled aspidistra leaves.  We then wrapped the handle with white ribbon and added a beautiful beaded section taken from Beth's dress.

All of the bridesmaids were wearing duck egg blue and we provided a range of different flowers to complement different roles and outfits.  For the Maid of Honour, we provided a small bouquet of Greentrick, pink Phalaenopsis orchids, knotted grasses and crystals.  She also wore a wrist corsage to match the other bridesmaids.  Each of the other adult bridesmaids wore wrist corsages on duck egg blue ribbon using greentrick, phalaenopsis orchids, dendrobrium orchid buds, lime tips and crystals.  For the flower girl, Beth found a wooden heart to which we attached a duck egg blue ribbon wrist loop along with a spray of orchids, sparkles and grasses (all silk so Chloe could keep it as a long term reminder).  Each of the bridesmaids also wore a pink orchid with grasses in their hair (not photographed).

We provided a range of buttonholes and corsages depending upon the role of individuals within the Groom's party.  For Simon, we provided a white phalaenopsis orchid buttonhole with grasses, lime tips and diamantes.  For the Best Man, we provided a similar buttonhole to Simons, minus the sparkle.  For the ushers, Dads and Page Boy, we provided pink orchid buttonholes with grasses and lime tips.  For other male members of the bridal party, we used chincherinchee, grasses and lime tips.  For the Mums, we used a range of dendrobrium orchids, chincherinchee and foliage along with ribbon loops to match their outfits,  For Nanna and Grandma, we provided slightly smaller corsages with no ribbon.  For Beth's Confetti Angels plus sisters and other members of the party, we used chincherinchee and a single dendrobrium orchid along with foliage.

Beth and Simon married in the Herb Garden, and a bespoke sign dressed with silk orchids, sparkles, foliage and ribbon pointed the way for guests.  We then added simple fishbowls with sprays of phalaenopsis orchids, grasses with crystals and lime green water to the celebrant table.  We also added a lovely wicker heart dressed with orchids, sparkles, grasses and duck egg blue ribbon to the front of the table.  To frame Simon and Beth in the gazebo, we added simple bunches of celosia, anthuriums and greentrick along with sanderiana to the posts.

For the circular tables in the marquee, we provided large martini glass vases filled with an exotic arrangement of eye catching flowers in shades of strong pink and lime green, including anthuriums, celosia, curcuma, greentrick, alpinias, calla lilies, dendrobrium orchids, pandamues, typha and lily grass and sanderiana.  We added pink phalaenopsis orchids to the place settings on the top table.  To direct guests to their tables, we added tall blackboard hearts to the tablecentres, each with the table name (a champagne variety) added.  Very appropriate and a lovely way of bringing hearts and champagne together.

Beth and Simon had chosen a wonderful tiered cheeses cake, for which we provided wired floral sections to dress the cake.  As the cheeses needed to be brought out nearer the time of the wedding breakfast we couldn't photograph it, but have included a photograph of the wired sections.   Beth and Simon were also provided with a single tiered cake made by their family as  a surprise.  It had been dressed with icing orchids in white, to which we added a silk phalaenopsis orchid and some greentrick just to tie it into the overall theme.

We know that the guests will have looked extremely glamorous in their long dresses and white ties, but I am absolutely convinced that Beth and Simon will have stolen the show (as they should have) and will have looked sooooo fabulous.  I just hope their day is everything they dreamed of and planned and that it didn't fly by too quickly.  We think all their decisions were fabulous and hope you like them too.  I'm looking forward to seeing all their photos in the future, over a glass of something sparkling!  Well, it is appropriate given the table names!