Tablecloth Bride – seasonal snapshots from summer weddings

I have done some requests for wedding photos from some of our brides this year as we often don’t get to see full story of their day amid all the bridal hustle and bustle of the summer season. Afterwards, it’s great to observe how many plans were fulfilled and dreams achieved, especially as many of our brides do some arranging themselves. So, I just thought it would be fun to see some of the real brides with their bouquets from this year.

Photo by Craig and Kate
PHOTO BY CRAIG AND KATE

I did become rather attached to hurriedly pinning on a linen tablecloth from Habitat to photograph my bouquets before they rushed off to a busy dressing room. The bouquet looks better when held, retaining its shape and the oatmeal tablecloth set off the flower colours very well. The resulting silhouette is not terribly flattering though, maybe it is about time I bought a real dress or perhaps it’s high time I made one.

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Anyway, back in the real world, here are a few of the brides from this year with their bouquets.

Kate decided upon whites and greens for her wedding in May, her bouquet included my favourite ivory Peony ‘Duchess de Nemours’ and a lacy umbellifer called Orlaya which were also used in the hair and table centre flowers which the family arranged into our Weck jar selection.

STEVEN CARTER HEWSON

Meg chose corals and yellows for her wedding which was perfectly timed for Peony ‘Coral Dawn’ and Icelandic poppies combined with golden Philadelphus and honeysuckle.

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Kate Townshend’s bouquet had a base of Spiraea and Jasmine with sumptuous Peony ‘Kansas’ and Sweet Williams for the deep pink element and scent from a Japanese Sweet Pea variety called ‘Oyama bicolour’. To complement the lace on her dress I also included Astrantia and Orlaya.

PHOTO BY GEORGI MABEE

I like to include as much variety, scent and texture as possible in my bouquets – it is hard not to with so much in the garden to choose from. Consuelo’s brief was soft corals, pinks and creams with silvers and greens. I included a few different varieties of roses and dahlias with some peach Hypericum, dusty miller and pineapple mint. Panicum ‘Frosted Explosion’ and Jasmine combined to give the bouquet a wild finish.

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Cecilia’s bouquet in September was a ‘pick of the garden’ creation. She did not have a colour theme and just wanted a very natural, spontaneous combination. The week before we wandered around the garden and she pointed out some favourites and left the rest to me. This is my favourite way to work and what we are really all about.  I call it ‘going with the garden’ and it often produces the most stunning results.

Photo by Craig and Kate www.craigandkate.comPHOTO BY CRAIG AND KATE

Thanks for those brides who got back to us and shared images of their special day, watch this space for more Real Brides…

A Vintage Season

I know it has been an age since my last post, I guess I have been busy with the doing rather than the thinking or writing about it. Anyway, now things have slowed to a respectable part time (!?) pace I have some reflecting and planning to do.

Delphiniums at Dusk

2014 will go down in my memory as a vintage year for growing cut flowers, the weather was almost perfect – come on no farmer ever says perfect! We got off to the earliest start in our 7 years in business with an abundance of spring flowers for Mothers Day.

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Our April and May weddings had plenty to choose from, with June varieties flowering early to close any tricky gaps.

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Rain and wind held off and there was very little damage overall, the flowers just soaked up the sun and bloomed their socks off. At the other end of the season the mild autumn meant further extension of flowering, with no signs of frost for a good month longer than normal.

Fortunately I had plenty of demand to keep the G&G team busy with the cycle of sowing, planting, picking and arranging.

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And there was plenty of subject matter for Clare West whose seasonal photographic diary enabled me to view the garden and flowers with fresh eyes.

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There will be more from Clare in the coming months, we are presently planning a flower photography course for next year, so watch this space!  It will be aimed at growers and florists who want to ‘up their game’ with breathtakingly beautiful images for their websites and learn more about how their cameras work.

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Our weddings this year included lots of our popular ‘buckets and bouquets’ option which has urged me to run a new course next year for DIY brides who want to brush up on their arranging skills (DIY Wedding Flowers).

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Speaking of courses I was amazed at the popularity of my two new ones this year – Flower farming for Beginners and Flower Club – it certainly demonstrates a rising trend for local, seasonal flowers whether as a business venture or just for fun.

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I am also toying with the idea of running a monthly practical workshop called a ‘Grow Along’. Attendees will join our team for a half day of hands on seasonal tasks in the cutting garden. There will be tips on everything from propagating techniques, favorite varieties, timings for continual flower, effective watering and feeding, support, best tools and equipment and much more.

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It will be a great opportunity to learn as you grow, whether for profit or pleasure.

Thank you to Clare West for the images in this post.

60 More Flower Farmers & Counting….

Our Flower Farming courses have proved very popular and we have been surprised by all the interest this year. There have been a wide range of people with hugely different life stories and dreams of growing flowers to make a living. We recently completed two days with great weather and lots of interest in the garden to show everyone what is possible (or maybe to show people what hard work it is!). We try and send out a short questionnaire a week or 2 before to focus everyone’s minds and to gauge where students are coming from before they arrive. The course handout now stretches to 30 pages……

 

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LOTS OF FLORISTRY JOBS TO DO BEFORE STUDENTS ARRIVE

 

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TOILET ADORNMENTS

 

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 VIOLET GETTING READY FOR A HARD DAY OF CONCENTRATION

 

After a short introductory session, Ashley took everyone outside to have a look at setting up your dream plot, covering protected cropping, layout, shelter, cultivation, machinery, fertility, weeding  and irrigation. After that lot, it was certainly time for a tea break, with some tea bread to go with it…

 

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 NEW TUNNEL JUST TAKEN OUT OF THE BOX

 

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HONDA FG205, AKA ‘THE TICKLER’

 

Rachel then took over to get down to the nitty gritty of discussing potential markets and the flower palette to grow for each, and the major pitfalls to avoid.

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FRIENDLY CATS ALWAYS GUARANTEED

 

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‘NINJA’ DATE SLICE FROM OUR NEW KONDITOR COOKBOOK

 

With all the abundance of September, Ashley used tomatoes and squash as the main ingredients of a hearty North African Stew. To avoid the post lunch lull, we were able to discuss other topics outside including adding value, branding, social media, continuity, pricing, costings and skill set required. We try and keep the groups small, so that we can ideally cover everything that people want to know and answer any burning questions.

 

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 TALKING TOOLS

 

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 DELIVERIES FOR A BOOK LAUNCH IN THE AFTERNOON

 

Here is some lovely feedback we recieved from Clare Spiller at Garden and Wild.

“Thanks for this! I had such a lovely day, thank you to you both so much for making it so brilliant and being so free with your advice and information. The food was gorgeous too! I always feel so inspired when I come to you!”

 

Ashley and Rachel

 

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