Hazel and Andy's stylish winter Eastwell Manor wedding

 On Twelfth Night, Hazel and Andy celebrated their wedding at Eastwell Manor, with a link across the internet to Hazel's family overseas (very clever eh).  We looked forward to this wedding as we loved spending time with Hazel and her daughters Clarissa and Dixie planning their wedding.  They are such a lovely family and we loved the theme of blue and snowflakes (which were kept as a surprise for Andy).

Hazel wanted an elegant and wintery blue and ivory wedding with a different twist.  She loves lilies and hence we decided to incorporate oriental lilies, longiflora lilies and calla lilies along with the unusual Honeymoon tulip, blue eryngium thistle, hypericum berries and lots of snowy branches / pussy willow etc.

Hazel's bouquet was a structural overarm bouquet of lilies, eryngium, freesias and pussy willow with rolled leaves and spriggy foliage.  Hazel is tall and slender and this bouquet was perfect for her stature and to show off her dress.  We finished it with a sparkly butterfly brooch to match the brooches on the Flower Girls' bags.  We also provided a range of spray roses and hypericum berries for Hazel's hair which was being dressed by the lovely Nina (a former bride of ours) who is an ace hairdresser!

For Clarissa, Hazel's bridesmaid, we decided to design a wrist corsage to extend up her arm.  This tied in with Hazel's overarm bouquet but was easier to manage, and not at all itchy!!  We added snowflakes to the ribbon trails to tie in with the theme.  Lovely!  We also provided roses for Clarissa's hair.

For Dixie and Mac the gorgeous Flower Girls, we designed floral handbags in silk so that they could have them as a keepsake.  We added blue detailing to the handle and in between the roses.  We then finished them with butterfly brooches front and back.

For the buttonholes, we used a calla lily for Andy with an eryngium thistle and pussy willow to tie in with Hazel's bouquet.  We then provided a tulip buttonhole for Dad and corsages for the Mums to tie in with their outfits.

For the ceremony table, we decided to keep it relatively simple with three different height cylinder vases with hand-tied honeymoon tulips with spriggy foliage.

We then designed rather unusual square tablecentres for the tables in the Rose Garden room using a more contemporary grouped approach and added raised glass tealight holders.  We also added snowflakes to the arrangements and to the wine glasses on the top table.

We loved the elegant simplicity of the wedding with the odd quirky detail such as the snowflakes, the diamond shaped cake with snowflakes cascading from the side, and the fabulous wellies.  We hope that despite it not being a frosty day (misty and grey unfortunately) that Hazel and Andy had a wonderful day.  They put so much thought into the details and the planning and I hope it was all perfect for them.

Charlotte and Andy's wedding at Cooling Castle Barn

After all the wintry weather we've been having recently, it was quite ironic that we provided the flowers for Charlotte's snowflake themed wedding on probably the nicest day in the year so far.  It was an unseasonably gorgeous, warm and sunny day...perfect for a wedding and drinks on the lawn.  Charlotte had chosen an elegant and strikingly simple colour scheme of white / ivory and platinum with lots of sparkles and it looked wonderful against the brick and wooden beams of Cooling Castle Barn.   If anything, the sunshine showed it off even more.

Charlotte and Andy chose a very simple and streamlined selection of flowers with white tulips as the main flower with lots of silver willow, birch and hazel.  We added lots of other lovely small headed spring flowers in the top table such as ranunculus, paperwhites, chincherinchee, bouvardia along with long stemmed french tulips and parrot tulips.  Crystal droplets were added everywhere along with snowflakes and scatterings of glitter.  It all worked so well.

For Charlotte, we provided a massed white tulip bouquet with lots of spriggy diamantes and glittered silvered decorative birch.  We wrapped the stems in platinum ribbon to match the bridesmaids' dresses and finished them with clusters of diamante pins.  Extremely elegant and different...on the day people were asking what the flower was which shows how different tulips look when massed together.

For the three adult bridesmaids, we provided smaller hand-tied tulip bouquets with glittered silvered birch and wrapped the stems in ivory ribbon to contrast against their platinum dresses.  For the three younger bridesmaids, we scaled down the hand-tied bouquets and provided smaller versions of the adult bridesmaids' bouquets.  Once again we wrapped them in ivory ribbon as their dresses were ivory with platinum sashes.

And just so you can see how stunning Charlotte and her girls looked (what a great choice of dresses and the hairstyles are beautiful), here's a photo courtesy of www.ianboothphotography.co.uk.

For the boys, who were wearing morning suits with platinum cravates, we provided tulip buttonholes.  Whilst not the strongest or longest lasting of flowers, they matched the girls' bouquets perfectly.  We provided a double tulip buttonhole for Andy with silver bear grass and birch.  For the rest of the groom's party, we provided single tulips with silver bear grass and birch.  For the four main female family members, we provided lovely spring hand-tied thank you bouquets full of all the flowers used in the top table.

For the ceremony room, we dressed the celebrant table with a long and low, full spriggy arrangement of spring flowers and silver birch, willow and bear grass with additional crystals.  To frame Charlotte and Andy taking their vows on the dais, we provided two tall glass vases with tulips, willow, birch and grasses with hanging crystals and snowflakes.

For the main barn for the reception, we dressed the tables with mirrors and tall lily vases with tulips down the stem in testtubes, some hung with metal snowflakes.  We then added a tall and striking hand-tied arrangement of silver willow, birch and hazel branches with white tulips and silver bear grass with added crystal droplets and snowflakes to catch the light.  Each was hand-tied with platinum ribbon as a final finish.  The crystals, snowflakes and glitter on some of the branches really caught the light and the whole room glittered.

Photo courtesy of www.ianboothphotography.co.uk

The top table had a long and low arrangement of spring flowers in front of Charlotte and Andy.  To finish www.your-beautiful-day.co.uk wrapped the beams with fairy lights and dressed the chairs with white covers and platinum sashes.  They also tied the napkins with platinum ribbon and finished them with a slightly larger crystal droplet to match those in the arrangements.  All done beautifully ensuring the guests would be wowed wherever they looked.

Finally, the cake was a lovely four tiered cake in white with platinum ribbons and with delicate snowflakes cascading all down the front.  It was really beautifully and worked so well with the rest of the decoration.  It was placed on a mirror to reflect the light and show off the snowflakes even more.  It was made by Debbie Downing on 01474 850952.

All in all I don't think there could have been a more perfect contrast for a February day...sunshine, sparkles, spring flowers and snowflakes.  We hope Charlotte and Andy enjoyed every second of their lovely special day.