Lorna and Alex's English Tea Party wedding at Chiddingstone Castle

There's vintage, and there's vintage.....and this wedding most certainly fit the bill with hand-made bunting, vintage crockery and plates, vintage vases, jars etc, a birdcage with birds (not real...don't panic)  and lots of gorgeous country garden flowers.  Some vases and crockery were from us, some from Vintage Flair (http://www.vintage-flair.co.uk/) and some belonged to Lorna and Alex.

Lorna and Alex had a very strong sense of the English tea party theme they wanted for their wedding, and their attention to detail was fabulous.  They knew exactly what they wanted it to look like, had chosen truly gorgeous outfits for themselves and quirky teadresses for the bridesmaids and hence all that was required to finish the picture was flowers....queue us!  We spent quite some time working through the best flowers and rose varieties to use and decided upon La Belle, Sweet Avalanche, Amnesia, Carousel Illusion, Snowflake and highly scented English garden roses.  Mix it all with mint, rosemary, lavender, lisianthus, freesias, hydrangea, astrantia, veronica and lots of other goodies, and it made for a perfect day.

Despite being very petite, Lorna wanted a full, blowsy bouquet with lots of varieties of blooms for texture and that just picked look.  We finished it with rustic raffia and a horseshoe vintage brooch.  Clusters of spray roses and astrantia heads were wired to add to her hair and to her bridesmaids' hair too.

For Lorna's bridesmaids, we wanted a similar look, but much paler in colour with a slight hint of blue as their dresses were made from a print fabric with lots of colour included, hence we wanted the bouquets to contrast against them.

For the boys, we chose roses with astrantia and lavender and Mums had corsages using chincherinchee and foliage.  They looked lovely, but you'll have to take my word for it as I forgot to photograph them!

At Chiddingstone Castle, we decorated the lovely Orangery with foliage garlands with roses, spray roses and raffia bows interspersed.  We then added two standard hydrangeas in terracotta pots to frame Alex and Lorna.  We then added some lovely jugs and pots full of flowers to the beautifully dressed celebrant table.

Being dog lovers, we couldn't leave the hounds out.....don't they look grand!  Wish ours would sit as still to model floral collars!

Within the Great Hall, we had a wonderful time deciding which vases and arrangements went on each table ..there are too many photos to show, but we've included a selection below.  All tables then had a few votives with tealights included to be lit later in the day for extra glow.  All tables were finished with dried rosebuds and pearls, and each napkin was to be dressed with a single purple veronica tied with a raffia bow (but we finished too early to show this final touch in the photos).

The mantelpiece was similarly dressed with a range of vases and containers, with pearls and rosebuds  and votives with tealights.

The top table was going to have the lovely teapot added from the celebrant table but it was dressed in the meantime with lots of other cups, saucers, jugs, cakeplate etc.  The gorgeous bunting on the front of the table actually says "hooray", which we thought was a lovely touch.

We also added flowers to the cake to tie in with the theme.

It was a true English Tea Party and the weather was perfect...not too English thank goodness, but dry, warm and with a lovely warm sunlight.  We think the attention to detail makes this look like a magazine shoot....so perfect in a fabulously mismatched way.  We love it!  We know Lorna and Alex had the most perfect day and when their professional photos are ready, we'll be able to show you how gorgeous they looked as well.  They are such a lovely, well matched couple and I'm sure their happiness is going to shine through in the photos.  In the meantime, hope you like our contribution to their special day.

Carrie and Stuart's fabulously colourful wedding at Chapeldown Winery

Carrie is a customer of ours from back in the day, so when we met to talk about her fabulous wedding, it was no surprise that Carrie wanted a different, contemporary, eclectic look.   I think the photos are going to say it all for this fab wedding.  As well as multi- coloured turquoise, orange, pink, purple and green, Carrie wanted a messy, unstructured look and to bring in some of the Chapeldown surroundings, which we did with roses, rosemary, ivy and lavender.

Carrie's dress is a fabulous fitted ruched strapless gown with a very full bottom and with her figure, it's going to be a show stopper.  She wanted a bouquet that reflected the rest of the wedding, and we decided on a partly hand-tied more European style bouquet with wired extensions using all the colours and flowers used elsewhere.

For her bridesmaids, we decided hot pink, purple and orange was the order of the day with Cherry Brandy roses, Serena gerberas, Vanda orchids, ivy and grasses.  We wrapped the stems in orange ribbon and then criss crossed hot pink ribbon over the top.  The Flower Girls carried Serena gerbera wands surrounded by turquoise feathers and then wrapped the stems in colours that they chose themselves, with one being hot pink and gold, and the other being purple and turquoise.

Stuart wore a Vanda orchid buttonhole with orange chincherincee and foliage, with the Groom's party wearing Cherry Brandy rose buttonholes along with purple lisianthus, rosemary and ivy.  Stuart's Mum wore dendrobrium orchids, chincherinchee, eryngium and foliage.

For the ceremony in the beautiful Herb Garden, we provided a very full and colourful arrangement for the celebrant table in the gazebo with the entrance dressed with a messy ivy garland with lots of colourful flowers wired in.  The aisle chairs had different coloured organza bows with non matching flowers through the back...lovely!  Even the sunshine came out to see it all, which was a very different look from when we arrived in torrential rain....thank goodness it decided to behave itself for Carrie and Stuart.

Now to the marquee....a fantastic burst of colour featuring roses, anthuriums, orchids, eryngium, gerberas, gloriosa, chincherinchee, celosia and loads of other flowers.  We provided bows for the backs of the chairs as an alternative to the normal chair covers and sashes and I have to say I loved the look, with each having a different flower through the back of the bow. 

Each table then had a full floral surround to a chrome candelabra.  We used different coloured candles in the candelabra, attached different coloured bows to the top, draped each with messy ivy and wired flowers and finally finished them with delicate invisible wire trails of cerise pink dendrobrium orchids that looked as though they were floating over the tables.

For the top table, we went to town with a full and fabulous arrangement in the middle of the table extended out along the length of the table with a messy trailing ivy garland with flowers wired in at intervals.  A bit of a show stopper!

We then added a candelabra to the present table and a low arrangement to the wine vat by the bar.  Finally we added a few random flowers to the cake table so as to complement and not to detract from the wonderful and unusual cake designed by Stephanie at Posh Puds Patisserie (http://www.poshpuds.com/).  Their attention to detail and dedication was great and we've thoroughly enjoyed working alongside them.

I know how much work and thought Carrie has put into this very special day (including making the homemade jam for each guest, made to her Mum's recipe), and also know that it will be an emotionally charged day for all, but just hope that it lives up to her and Stuart's expectation.  We think it is an unforgettable wedding set-up and hope the rest of the day is just the same.