Finn and James' wedding at Chapeldown

Well what a wet, cold and blustery day it was for Finn and James' wedding.  But nothing could dampen the spirits despite my getting soaked to the skin several times setting up this morning, and then subsequently delivering.  It was all worth it to hear Finn's comments about the bouquet and Tabitha's face when she held her "wand".  And being a dog person, it was nice to meet Baldrick, Bob and Golly.  

I've really been looking forward to Finn and James' wedding, ever since Finn and I sat down and talked through her plans.  Finn had chosen a cream linen dress with a pashmina scarf in lovely graduated shades from palest pink to deep lilac.  Her accessories were silver.  This formed the colour palette for the wedding and whilst we agreed on certain flowers such as Amnesia and Sweet Avalanche roses and Previa Anthuriums, Finn largely left it to me to choose the most appropriate flowers which is always lovely.  I knew she liked hyacinths and deep lilac / purple hydrangeas.....being out of season they were a little trickier to find, but looked (and smelt) lovely. 

We chose Sweet Avalanche, Vendella and Amnesia roses, lisianthus, hydrangea, anthuriums, chincherinchee, bouvardia, ranunculus, eucalyptus and silver bear grass.  For Finn's bouquet we provided a textured hand-tied bouquet using all flowers except the anthuriums.  For Tabitha, we made a Sweet Avalanche rose "wand" surrounded with bouvardia and with a few small dusky pink feathers and a few sparkles to match her sparkly shoes.  For Jess, we provided a wrist corsage.

James wore a lovely deep grey three piece suit and looked extremely dapper with his Sweet Avalanche buttonhole finished with silver bear grass and eucalyptus.  The groomsmen wore Vendella roses and significant ladies in the party had corsages tailored to match their outfits.

For the ceremony in the bar (the herb garden was just not an option in the horizontal rain!), we framed the stairs with tall vases of flowers and then provided an arrangement to fill the front of the celebrant table.  The window ledges were dressed with small votives with a selection of the flowers used elsewhere and side tables were dressed with small cubes of flowers.  Even the snazzy toilets were dressed for the occasion with small cubes of flowers.

For the tables we decided upon mirrored cubes with hand-tied massed bouquets of flowers which were arranged in small aqua packs rather than in foam to allow them to be given to guests at the end of the day.  We added to the tables using hyacinth pips around the vases and added Sweet Avalanche roses to napkins.  As Finn and James wanted a more relaxed feel to their wedding, the tablecentres worked perfectly as they fitted the surroundings, didn't obscure the view and provided the colour required to match the wedding theme.

Once we'd finished and put everything in place, I'd completely forgotten about the weather as everything looked so cosy and inviting, which is exactly what Finn and James' wedding would be to anyone lucky enough to be invited.  Working at Chapeldown always makes me smile as Kate and the team ensure everything is just perfect...Kate even warmed me up with a coffee and a chat about fab shoes.  What more can you ask from a Monday than a lovely wedding and fab shoes!

Oakwood House Wedding Fair

Yesterday was Oakwood House, Maidstone Wedding Fair where we provided a tablecentre for their showpiece table and also an arrangement for the Bridal Suite in addition to our stand. 

We showed a range of bouquets and tablecentres in a more contemporary black, aubergine, purple and lime green style.

We then used muted pinks, lilacs and ivories in vintage inspired range of bouquets and tablecentres with additions such as lace and buttons.

Thanks to all the lovely comments from visitors yesterday, and I would just like to reiterate to everyone who asked (and wasn't sure they believed me) that each and every flower used was real, and not silk!  I had to encourage some customers to "feel" the flowers to believe me!.  Whilst we may occasionally design silk bouquets for brides, especially if travelling overseas, we generally work with fresh flowers including at wedding fairs.

We look forward to meeting and hearing from a range of customers, even if their weddings are planned for 2012 and 2013 as we have already started taking bookings for future years beyond 2011.

Happy flower planning!

Janina and Steve's wedding at Combe Bank School

We first met Janina and Steve last year just after Steve had proposed to Janina at the end of the New York marathon....which they'd both run!  Both Janina and Steve were focussed on having a lovely wedding day but without going over the top with details.  They knew they wanted orchids to feature, wanted a relatively contemporary look and the colour scheme to be a warm, autumnal one to match pot pourri Janina had already bought.  We therefore decided upon cymbidium orchids, calla lilies, anigozanthus (kangaroo paw), skimmia, hypericum and light foliage. 

To welcome guests to Combe Bank School, we provided slim lily vases with arrangements of orchids, anigozanthus and hypericum for each of the alcoves in the entrance hall.

For the wedding ceremony in the chapel, we provided two slim candlesticks to frame Janina and Steve taking their vows each with a contemporary arrangement of orchids, calla lilies and skimmia.

Janina chose a truly stunning Ian Stuart dress and we therefore decided to provide a wired shower bouquet, but designed in a more contemporary style.  We used red vanda orchids, Charlie Brown cymbidium orchids, calla lilies and grasses for the bouquet which would set off Janina's dress perfectly.

For the bridesmaids, we decided upon more unusual over-wrist bouquets designed to be held in the hand and curved elegantly over the arm at wrist height.  We used orchids, hypericum berries and a few touches of skimmia along with grasses and they looked really elegant.  For the young Flower Girls, we decided upon fun orange gerbera "wands" surrounded with burgundy feathers.

Steve wore a calla lily buttonhole to tie in with Janina's bouquet and we then used the cymbidium orchids for the remainder of the buttonholes and corsages.

Janina and Steve provided the hurricane lamp arrangements for the tables, so we just added a small arrangement for the cake table to bring in the flowers used elsewhere and finally we provided thank-you bouquets for the Mums which echoed the flowers used throughout the wedding, presented in a more contemporary style.

I'm not sure Janina will have sprinted down the aisle in her fantastic dress, but I do know that both Janina and Steve were so looking forward to getting married and just wanted to have a great day with family and friends.  We hope they enjoyed every second of it.