Melanie and Mark's blessing in their orchard in Appledore

Melanie and Mark married in Rye last week and had a small and personal reception at Richard Phillips at Chapeldown.  To celebrate with a wider group of friends and family, they planned the most wonderful blessing in their orchard in Appledore followed by a marquee reception.  We were thrilled to be involved in such a beautiful day, especially as Angel (Melanie's gorgeous dog) was to have her collar completely dressed with roses.

White roses, peonies, chincherinchee, lisianthus, eucalyptus and rosemary provided the most stunning scent in the marquee.  Large silver candelabra, fluted votives, napkin dressing and chair backs transformed what was already a lovely marquee in the most stunning setting (you couldn't paint a more beautiful backdrop).  We also dressed all the trees in the orchard with hanging glass baubles of different shapes and sizes, all containing fresh flowers, and added balls of flowers around the house on existing hooks (interesting to transport for anyone thinking of asking for them!)

A warm welcome on a scorching day in a stunning setting, whilst being able to throw balls for the lovely Angel....it's a tough job.....by the way, Angel is the only dog we've met that can carry two balls or Kongs in her mouth at the same time, whilst chasing another ball....and that's from a team that have a shop hound with a flip top head!

Sarah and Barry's wedding at Boughton Monchelsea church with a marquee reception

Yesterday was the eagerly awaited wedding of Sarah and Barry. Sarah had been planning her wedding for a while and and ensured all details were covered in the run up to the day. She used Isis Events as her wedding coordinators for the day, and it was a dream to turn up to a marquee that was ready to work in, with no obstacles in the way, everything set and ready and Toni from Isis ready and willing to help if required. It made our set-up very easy to manage. Even sprinkling the crystals on mirrors was an easy job as they were measured out in advance to ensure each table had an equal amount.

Sarah and Barry wanted an elegant, crisp and contemporary feel to their wedding and their colour palette was white and silver. Sarah particularly dislikes roses at weddings, and hence we decided on a range of orchids for her special day. Crisp white phalaenopsis orchids in a contemporary design were used for her bouquet, and unusual overarm cymbidium orchids were used for her bridesmaids, designed to follow the natural arc shape of the phalaenopsis orchid stems.

For the church, we kept the flowers very simple and a little more structural in appearance. There had been a rose festival the week before, but Sarah was keen not to have roses included in her special day, and so the flowers were kept to white cymbidium orchids along with ornithogalum arabicum along with grasses and palms, and we think looked quite striking and not overpowering in such a lovely setting.

We decided to use both phalaenopsis and cymbidium orchids for the marquee to tie in with all the bridal flowers, and persuaded Sarah and Barry to have tablecentres with an additional arrangement on the top to give height and a touch more "wow" to the marquee. We also thought it would be nice to have orchids cascading from the top table forwards to give an additional element to the front of the top table....we think they worked really well.

Despite the heat of the day, the marquee looked cool and sophisticated and reflected the New York, New York theme that flowed through all the table names. I think you'll agree the attention to detail and the intricate planning paid off and I know Sarah and Barry had a wonderful day...can't wait to see their photos as I only saw Sarah mid make-up with exquisite hair, and I've no doubt she looked amazing in her dress.

Susan and Matthew's wedding at Nettlestead Place and a marquee at home

We always knew that Susan and Matthew's wedding would be a glamorous and gorgeous event and we'd looked forward to providing the flowers for quite a while. Susan had fallen in love with one of our favourite flowers, the Blue Magic Vanda Orchid, and as her bridesmaids' dresses were a pinky purple / purply pink (we didn't quite decide which was the best description!), we knew the orchids would work. Combined with phalaenopsis orchids and a profusion of Hot Pink and white flowers, we were guaranteed to be able to create the "wow" factor that Susan and Matthew were looking for.

After an intimate ceremony at Nettlestead Place, the guests were treated to a reception to remember in a beautiful marquee. The planning that Susan and Matthew put into their special day really showed, with finishing touches such as the coloured wine glasses, the purple lighting around the marquee and the light coloured carpet (slippers were a necessity when setting up!). We even added fairy lights to the martini glasses for extra sparkle in the evening to match the dance floor.

We loved working with Susan and Matthew and were so pleased that everything went according to plan on the day and I think you will agree that it was a beautiful and glamorous wedding, yet with a personal and particularly intimate ceremony...the best of both worlds.