Ria and Steve's wedding at Cooling Castle Barn - updated with some photos of the happy couple!

Having just had some lovely photos through of Ria and Steve on their wedding day, I just wanted to add them to the photos we took below.  These are from family and friends, not the professional photographers, but I have to say, they look great.  They just show how perfect Ria and Steve looked, how fabulous that dress was, and how well the flowers worked.  Hope you love them as much as we do!  Thanks to Ria and Steve for sending them through. 

 -

We've been looking forward to Ria and Steve's wedding for a while now, and looking forward to all the wonderful Cox and Cox and other goodies Ria had sourced for her Vintage Glamour theme.   Ria's dress was an Enzoani dress and was AMAZING!  Totally beautiful lace, shape, detailing etc and it set the scene for the day.  Laura and Jody at Lollypop (http://www.lollypopphotography.co.uk/) were the photographers so we know we will see some gorgeous photos in due course all prepared with the love and sparkle they apply to all their weddings.  All in all with the theme, the outfits, the venue, the suppliers and most of all the lovely Ria and Steve, it was always going to be a wonderful wedding.  Even the weather decided to be on its best behaviour after a decidedly unhelpful stage....I'm thinking Ria booked it well in advance!

So, with the theme of Vintage Glamour and a palette of muted pinks, greens and ivories, we used soft flowers (Peonies, Roses, Spray Roses, Lisianthus, Hypericum, Bouvardia, Ammi Majus and Freesia) along with scented eucalytpus and rosemary for the foliage.  We wanted everything to be kept soft and pretty and for Ria's bouquet we provided a hand-tied textured mix of flowers, tied very simply with double bows and finished with a brooch.  Stems were left out to add to the natural feeling.

For the bridesmaids, we went for smaller versions of Ria's bouquet and just omitted the peonies and the brooch.  They were wearing soft empire line dresses in a sage green, which were lovely and perfect for the theme of the day.

Buttonholes followed suit with Steve wearing a single rose with Ammi, Hypericum, eucalyptus and rosemary, and the groomsmen having roses and foliage.  Corsages were soft and scented as well using spray roses and freesias.

To welcome guests into the first barn, we provided a birdcage for the coffee table decorated to match the wedding, and a smaller one for the bar.  We also provided a wire three tier cake stand complete with cones of rose petal confetti (some of the cones were made from handmade paper including rose petals and others had a lace overlay.

For the ceremony, we decorated the dais with organza and added bows at the front, complete with peonies through the centre.  We also added one to the newel post at the bottom of the stairs.  We then dressed the celebrant table with an eclectic mix of vintage vases filled with the wedding flowers.  These were then going to be subsequently moved onto the top table around the base of the candelabra.  Down the aisle we provided single freestanding candlesticks topped with a soft arrangement of the wedding flowers and a trailing bow.  All really pretty and perfectly dressed for a wedding.

For the tables in the main barn for the wedding breakfast, we used tall silver candelabra but designed the arrangements to cover the candelabra arms as candles cannot be used at Cooling Castle Barn (for obvious wood and heritage barn related reasons!!).  Ria and Steve had a very sociable circular top table and we therefore provided an extra special version of the tablecentres for their table, complete with gorgeous peonies.  Once the vintage vases were placed around the base, it would have looked magnificent.  For the finishing touch, we added fairy lights to all the beams for an extra evening sparkle.

The cake was goregous...nothing at all to do with us, but was so exquisite I thought I'd add a photo to show you the level of detailing included.

Finally the chairs were dressed beautifully with lovely sage green organza bows to match the bridesmaids dresses by Lesley and Steve at Confetti Connections (http://www.confetticonnections.co.uk/) and were then finished with a single rose. 

I think you will agree that it is a truly lovely wedding, and we are looking forward to seeing Ria and Steve in their fabulous outfits.  I'm sure Laura and Jody at Lollypop will let us have some images when they are ready, so watch this space for another blog!  I know Ria and Steve had a fabulous day as they have been in touch and are just letting all the memories sink in now...hopefully this will help and provide a few interim photos until the professional ones are ready.

The Wedding Experience at the Kent Showground

After all the excitement and anticipation of the Royal Wedding (and my crazy idea a while ago of replicating the Royal Wedding Flowers only days after!), the Wedding Experience arrived yesterday and allowed us to talk weddings to literally hundreds of people.  At one point we three florists (we decided that just two of us wouldn't be enough....thank goodness) were stood at the opposite side of the aisle talking to people about flowers because we couldn't get near our own stand.  We think that boded well although I know we missed talking to so many people including some of our current brides who came to say hello and couldn't get to us....sorry!

So, down to the theme for the fair.....Royal was central to the day with a section of soft greens and whites including a pomander (as per the Royal Bridesmaids), a smaller (and much cheaper) version of Katherine Middleton's lily of the valley bouquet, a rosebowl, a royal dog called Duke resplendent with dog collar, a candelabra, a suggested Flower Girl posy, a cup of tea and a teapot, a centrepiece of roses, kermit and a crown (of course!).  Whilst we wanted to replicate the precise royal bouquet for all to see, we decided the cost of the lily of the valley and the final cost of the bouquet was too prohibitive all around (which I know surprised a few people who thought it must be cheap as it was small).  Noone seemed fed up with the Royal Wedding and I know many people were keen to work with a green, white and natural theme.  Everything was set off beautifully with the royal bunting kindly donated by Past Times in Maidstone.  It really was the nicest we've seen with old fashioned buttons, crowns, corgis, London buses etc in fabulous muted colours....time for another street party just to use it I think.

For those who love the natural, soft, country look, we designed a Vintage section which was altogether more rustic and textured and incorporated roses, peonies, lisianthus, centaurea, scabious, wisteria, mint, rosemary, eucalyptus and other such lovely garden style flowers.  Using vintage glassware, vintage china and lots of cake related accessories, we showed a little of what we think looks lovely in country houses, country marquees and just generally with lace and a hint of shabby chic.

But for those who just aren't inspired by the softer and more vintage side, we showed our contemporary styling to best effect with some unusual framed bouquets, simple, yet striking tablecentres and lots of lovely vibrant colours.  The bouquets in particular look fabulous against more contemporary styled dresses and look amazing in photographs.  We couldn't decide which was our favourite and as is usual with a team of florists, we can't decide what bouquets we'd carry if we married again....I think each of us would have to have several for the day....perhaps one from each of our sections???

We hope that everyone finds something they like from amongst the styles we produced, but remember it is only a small taster of what we can provide.  Thanks to everyone for their lovely comments...the nice weather seems to have put a smile on everyones' face yesterday and people were just so nice to us all day.  We even had couples and groups coming back several times for a look, a chat and a few photos.  For those who tried to see us and couldn't see us in the crowds, apologies.  Come and see us again soon and we'll promise to make ourselves available.