Wedding with a Wow!

This weekend was the wedding of Sally-Anne and Ian. I met this lovley couple last september at a wedding exhibition in Bromley. Both Sally-Anne and Ian had strong ideas of what kind of look they wanted for their wedding at Sundridge Park Mansion.

I love this venue- the drive through the golf course feels like it is never going to end and then finally you arrive at the gorgeous house and grounds. This time the ceremony was held in the Blue room, with the amazingly high ceilings. I had the chair covers to do as well as the flowers so had a busy morning! I had Dan (new hubby- who is now very keen on weddings after having his own!) helping me.

The theme was deep purple and Ian (being a graphic designer) had designed some amazing stationary and invites which had their initials on and a flock pattern. The bridesmaids wore deep purple knee length dresses and this set the scene for the flowers.

Sally-Anne held a hand tied bouquet of white calla lilies with deep purple lisianthus. I created a twist by adding beads to bear grass which bounced beautifully as she walked! I found the perfect ribbon, which I bound the stems with. It had virtually the same pattern on it as Ian had designed!

The flowers had to be modern and striking to work as a contrast to the House and therefore I choose a vivid lime green to go with the purple and white. After a bit of persuasion towards Ian-as to which flowers would work the best- the modern look began to come together. Structured foliage and clean cut glass, lined with wire, were sentences to used to describe the look.

The flowers were based around the striking Alliums with arum lilies, roses, and lisianthus. The above displays were set on the ceremony table and then moved to the top table. I think the ideas of having vases is great as so many bride and grooms tables have a traditional oval shape arrangement whilst all their guests have stunning centrepieces!

The boys all began to arrive- cool, calm and collected....They didn't stay cool for long as it was getting hotter by the minute and they were wearing morning suits! They looked great and Ian's buttonhole had a wicked "barbed wire" finish.

The reception was held in the garden room and this is where the WOW was. Tall glass lined with wire held arrangements of flowers from the theme. They were nearly 2 metres tall and filled the room with drama. It was a great colour against the pale walls and looked stunning.

I loved the personal touches that this couple had at their wedding and they had spent a lot of time getting it right. eg they had made cd's of their favourite songs as favours and wrapped them up in matching paper. and each table was named after a band that they had seen with the guests. I must mention the cheeseboard to- love it!

The new "Mr and Mrs Cole" sent me a lovely thank you card and was over-whelmed with her bouquet. I am soooo glad you had a wonderful day- you deserved it. Congratulations. x

My Wedding

I have also been a bride to be for the last 6 months and on the 30th March tied the knot with my gorgeous husband. We married at Buxted Park Hotel in East Sussex. To everyone's surprise I did do my own flowers!

I wanted the flowers to be elegant and timeless, with a pretty vintage feel. I chose blush pink sweet avalanche roses, with vintage pinks, mochas and soft green. I managed to get peonies (my favourite flower) which was really lucky as they are really out of season. My Bridesmaids Gemma and Lee, my best friends for over 15 years wore mink satin dresses from Karen Millen, with blush pink bowed shoes. They also had hand tied bouquets of vinatge inspired blooms.

Amber, our beautiful niece was our flowergirl. She wore a tiered ivory chiffon dress with a mink shrug. Amber held a posy of matching flowers to the girls. She was the first to walk down the aisle to "your so cool" from true romance at only six- she took it all in her stride! Thats when the tears began.

After a very emotional ceremony in the beautiful Orangery, where we had readings and Daniel just about managed to say his vows through the tears! We were announced as Mr and Mrs Crush! and we moved onto the ballroom. Our tables were domes of fabulous blooms on martini vases which I swagged with lengths of crystal chains to match the chandelier's that were around the room.

We then went onto the ballroom where the fabulous Adam was signing all our favourites from Frank, Dean and Michael! Everyone loved him. Although it was freezing we managed to get ouside for a few photos. Lisa brough these amazing umbrellas and took ths shot which is our favourite out of all of them.

After a few more pics we went in for dinner, followed by speeechs, more crying and more laughing. I wanted the room to look amazing and opulent. The stunning chandelier's in the ballroom was my inspiration for our centrepeices. I created domes of fabulous blooms on martini vases which I swagged with lengths of crystal chains and droplets to match the chandelier's. I made our favours myself and filled them with mini eggs saying "happy easter love Mr and Mrs Crush" (as it was easter weekend)

It was such an amazing day and would love to do it all over again. My photographer Lisa Devlin is amazing and has some great shots. She has published some of them along with an interview with me on the site Rock my Wedding.

I would like to recomend the following proffesionals who helped make our day truly memorable.

Singer and Entertainment: Adam Chandler http://www.adamchandler.co.uk/

Videographer: Padgham Productions
DJ: Apollo Funk

In love with lilac

Today I had the pleasure of arranging the flowers for Clare Chitty. It was a very pretty spring wedding, with the most gorgeous colour bridesmaids dresses. It was called Victorian lilac, a shade that I hadn't seen before, but was the perfect shade to compliment the spring flower theme.



Clare wanted a classic bouquet of ivory garden roses but to soften the look and make it more garden looking, I introduced a soft green viburnum. To bring through the lovely lilac, I used soft lavender freesia Clare said "this is my Nan's favourite flower" and wanted to incorporate it into her bouquet. The fragrance from the flowers and foliage was just delicious






The Bridesmaids held hand tied bouquets of mixed spring flowers in the colour theme, introducing a more zingy lemon. I used a beautiful rose called Ocean song which was made for that colour dress....it even had the perfect texture to the petals that matched the chiffon fabric.
I used lemon ranunculas to give them a lift and they looked delightful.





When I delivered the flowers, Clare was getting her hair done, I saw the Bridesmaids finished look, and there stylish "up do"of high buns on smoothed back looked stunning.

Nice day for a White Wedding

Being passionate about flowers- there are so many colours and textures to choose from- but there is something about a "white wedding" whether its the crispness and clean lines that appeals or prehaps it just shouts out BRIDE!

This is a classic combination of white bridal flowers, which oozes traditional romance. The shower shape bouquet never really dates and looks so elegant with a aline dress.

Here a classic look follows onto the reception flowers, cake and pedastals. I just love the contrast of the whit with the lime and dark greens

.

Spring Has Sprung.... and it smells so nice! April 10th 2010

Yesterday was the wedding of Marie, a Church service followed by a reception at Birchwood Golf Club. Marie wanted a rustic spring look of the lovely seasonal flowers including daffodils and tulips. The vibrant yellows were off set with zingy lime green and soft ivory. The perfume from the roses along with the sweet daffodils and narcisscuss was just lovely. I arrived at Marie's house to be greeting by her Dad all proud and excited in his Morning Suit. The Flower Girl was also ready and looked realy pretty in a cream dress and matching shrug and lots of curls.

The table centres were simple glass cubes filled with compact domes of spring yellows and lime- it smelt amazing! I wrapped raffia around the cubes to give a rustic contrast to the glass. Another lovely touch was placing a cluster of daffodils tied with raffia on each napkin place setting. Cute.
It was a gorgeous sunny spring day and the views accross the grounds was so pretty.

I have to mention the gorgeous cake by Nicola at Hall of Cakes - truly beautiful. The lace effect on the icing was intricate and just lovely

Trends for 2010=

Hot Trends for Brides= Now that this wedding is in full swing the themes and trends for the season are underway. So far, Blue seems to be the colour, whether its sky, midnight, moonstone or auqa..its got to be blue. In terms of matching up bouquets its a challange, however it makes way for all those lovely details like crytsal tipped grasses, binding blooms and adding accessories.

Paula's wedding had an auqa blue theme and so I used beads and wire to bring the colour through to an all white selection. Chair backs, and ribbons will then pull it all together.

Here are a few other ideas for this colour scheme, using ribbon and glass beads and my very own Bridesmaids wands!