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Palette on a Plate from an English Summer Wedding

By on November 22, 2017 in Blog, cornflowers, Larkspur, Polytunnels, roses, Sweet Peas, Weddings

When I asked if they had any colour preferences for their wedding flowers, keen foodies Gaenor and Paul presented me with a picture on their phone of an amazing plate of salad…

 

They certainly had food at the top of their list when they chose Michelin-starred Caldesi In Campagna in the village of Bray, Berkshire for their reception celebration.

Their wedding was in June, in the midst of a heatwave, it certainly felt like the hottest day of the year…

Fantastic Foodie Wedding in Bray - Clare West Photography

I was so pleased when they chose Clare West as their photographer, as I knew her love for photographing flowers would mean there would be more than the normal quota of flowery pics and I would get a good idea of how well my flowers stood up to the extreme conditions.

I never guarantee specific flowers for a couple’s wedding day, that would be a dangerous game when you are relying on our unreliable weather to play along. But I always work with colour choices and in this case I had a plenty to conjure up – blue, lilac, pink, peach, coral, oh and of course, green were all on that inspirational plate.

June is the peak flowering time for hardy annuals,  so sweet peas, cornflowers and nigella ticked most of the colour boxes, whilst the annual quaking grass briza added movement and a wildflower meadow feel.

I love arranging with sweet peas –  they come in such a range of colours, are wonderfully fragrant and if picked with some of the vine, create a lush, untamed feel. We grow about 30 different varieties both indoors and out so that they are available from May through till July.

Sweet pea jungle in our tunnel, seasonal British flower grown by Green and Gorgeous

The high temperatures had brought my roses on all at once so they were centre stage in the bouquets and table flowers, providing plenty of scent along with the sweet peas.

Tall spire shaped flowers for the milk churn and church pedestal arrangements were provided by larkspur in an unusual smokey lilac, blush pink delphiniums, peach chantilly snapdragons and a punchy coral penstemon.

These grow to extraordinary heights in our tunnels sheltered from the wind and the rain.

I was pleased to see that even the flower girls crowns stood up to the high temperatures, a testament to using freshly picked, seasonal flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And being next to a picturesque stretch of the Thames, the guests were able to have a chance to cool off at the end of a perfect day…

 

 

 

The Friday Buzz – getting ready for a summer weekend

By on December 11, 2015 in Blog, Cut flowers, dahlias, Weddings

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During the season Fridays tend to be rather frenetic with weddings to arrange and flowers to be picked for our Saturday shop, last minute pick ups and arrangements to be made for all the Saturday goings on and of course there are still the plants themselves that need looking after.

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I am fortunate to have a more than capable team of both growers and florists to help me make all of this work possible in just one day.

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Back in September I had the pleasure of being visited by photographer Mark Lord who was keen to record all these activities and capture a few good animal shots at the same time.

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I first noticed Mark’s work whilst looking at Waterperry Garden’s website where he spent the last two years capturing some sublime images of their gardens, flowers and gardeners. Mark has both a garden photography blog in which we appear and a website for his wedding and portrait work.

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I have to confess I particularly like his animal portraits and I am always keen to get my whippets photographed as much as possible!

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Mark arrived bright and early which is always the perfect time lighting wise to photograph the garden but perhaps not my most attractive hour – oh well, as ever the flowers must come first!

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We always pick for a Saturday wedding on a Thursday apart from some of the key blooms, in this case dahlias and roses which I want to look as ‘vital’ as possible.

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So my first job is selecting specific flowers for the bouquet work. I am a bit of a control freak when it comes to picking roses and unless I am really up against it always cut those precious blooms myself, despite the thorns it is a job I savor.

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Everyone else is sent to the field to ‘walk the line’ as we affectionately call our 100 metre long dahlia row. Flowers are picked into our trusty dutch buckets which we buy in from Holland by the pallet load. Once back at the packing shed they are conditioned and stored in our walk in chiller.

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A coffee break….followed by lots and lots of floristry……

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Lucy and ‘Scratch’ are on buttonhole duty and I take up my usual spot at the bouquet table.

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I have quite a structured approach to making bouquets especially when there are multiple bridesmaids. Each bouquet has a bucket in which the prepared ingredients go into, that way I can ensure everyone has their fair share and all the arrangements are consistent.

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Once assembled I tie them off with raffia which will be replaced in the morning with tape and silk ribbon, this helps to loosen them up and achieve the wild, ‘grown in’ look I am after.

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Ash brings in the Saturday shop haul from the field in our back-saving harvesting buggy – it’s saved us a lot of walking this year. Looking like it originates from a pre-atomic era, it is a lot of fun to drive and there’s space for a lucky passenger. The one wheel at the front results in a nifty turning circle and it makes quick work of harvesting, essential on hot days.

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Everything Ash and I do is centered around my mantra ‘minimum effort maximum results’ with six acres to cultivate and seventy weddings to supply and arrange it is the only way to make it work.

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I am working on a new series of full day floristry workshops at the moment, some I hope will be collaborative and all will focus on capturing the essence of each season. I plan to release the dates in the New Year with my next blog post.

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Talking of seasons I have always claimed to be a Spring girl, I love the freshness of everything and I guess I feel pretty good at the beginning of the season too. But I am becoming increasingly fond of the end of the season when there is a lot more to play with in both our cutting fields and beyond on my regular dog walks.

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Tablecloth Bride – seasonal snapshots from summer weddings

By on December 13, 2014 in Blog, Cut flowers, Floristry, 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.

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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…