Valentine’s Day and red roses go hand in hand – or at least, that’s what we’ve been told. But if you’re looking for flowers that are actually in season in the UK in February, the classic bouquet of red roses just isn’t it.
Most supermarket and high street bouquets come from far-flung places like Kenya and South America, clocking up huge air miles before they even land in your hands.
So, what should a seasonal Valentine’s bouquet look like? And what are the best options if you want flowers that are both beautiful and genuinely sustainable? I asked British flower farmers and florists from across the UK to share their thoughts – and their alternatives to imported blooms.
It’s British Flowers Week 2024 and I am hoping to inspire you throughout this week to choose seasonal British flowers for your wedding – whatever the season (yes, even Winter!).
Today I’ll be showcasing the best of British flowers for a Winter Wedding. For the purpose of this feature, Winter is considered December, January and Febraury.
All of the wedding bouquets and floral arrangements you see created from British flowers.
Winter in the UK might seem like a tricky time of year for a beautiful wedding bouquet of British grown flowers, but I hope this post will show you its not! You just need to expand your notion of what makes a wedding bouquet a wedding bouquet (tip: it doesn’t mean roses, peonies and dahlias).
So be inspired by this variety of seasonal British winter wedding flowers – from bouquets and buttonholes of exquisite dried flowers, grasses and seedheads, to lush winter bouquets featuring hellebores, anemones, early blossoms and interesting foliage and berries.
Don’t forget to check out the Wedding Flowers category of our eco wedding directory to find our recommended suppliers.
Why should you choose seasonal British winter wedding flowers?
Tread lightly on the planet – flowers are grown mainly outdoors without need for additional light and heat; no chemicals needed to extend the flowers life once cut; and the flower farmers care and enrich the soil and land they grow on.
Reduce flower miles – flowers grown in the UK travel much shorter distances than those coming from abroad by boat or plane, some coming from as far as South America, Africa and Asia.
Character and charm – British flower farmers grow small quantities of lots of different varieties, and sometimes that aren’t uniformly straight, but this gives interest and uniqueness to the arrangements they create.
Buy local – support your local economy and community!
Bring the outdoors in – seasonal flowers really capture a moment in the British seasonal year and for a wedding I think that’s pretty special.
Because you’re a flower lover – this is about a love for flowers that look AND smell divine, something you will struggle to find in the commercial flower supply chain.
Important things to remember about seasonal British winter wedding flowers
Each of the bouquets and arrangements featured comes from a flower farmer or florist from all over the UK. It’s important to remember that different places will have different flowers available in season – what’s growing in Cornwall in summer will be different to what’s growing in Scotland.
There are also seasonal variations year to year depending on the weather. When choosing British flowers you need to release some of your expectations and be open to going with whatever is blooming best when you get married.
It’s been a little quiet on the blog, we’ll have more details to share on that soon. But today we are delighted to be sharing with you this very special Celtic wedding inspiration shoot from TNWC photographer Emma Stoner.
I love the wild and natural styling from Emma Stoner and The Prop Factory. It is earthy and organic, with the most beautiful natural colour palette that reflects the surroundings. For any couples who are looking for Celtic wedding inspiration, this is a truly beautiful styled shoot to give you lots of ideas. These Celtic wedding ideas are subtle, refined, and elegant.
We might be headed into summer but this cosy winter wedding held at River Cottage in Devon reminds us of all that is great about a winter wedding done well. Louise and Andrew had an intimate wedding with just 50 of their friends and family, with excellent local food (obviously!) and seasonal touches that embraced the farm venue. I also particularly love the attention they put in for the babies and children at this wedding – some great ideas. Plus gorgeous photography from Larissa Joice who we’ve featured previously here.
What better way to kick off the New Year than with a seasonal appropriate earthy woodland wedding shoot. It’s full of winter wedding inspiration – think feathers, seedheads, foliage and pine cones. Plus the most exquisite animal masks we’ve ever seen. These are proper grown up masks, perfect we reckon if you want a quirky detail to add a twist to your wedding photos.
So what do I love most about this earthy woodland wedding shoot? I love the attention to seasonal details like the pine cone and pheasant feather hair decorations. It’s over to photographer Megan Duffield to tell us more about what inspired the shoot…
The ultimate party season is fast approaching so surely there is not a more perfect time to check out a book solely focused on creating beautifully themed parties. Decorate for a Party by Holly Becker of the fab Decor8, design and lifestyle blog and Leslie Shewring of the charming blog A Creative Mint provides an abundance of ‘stylish and simple ideas for meaningful gatherings.’
With such brilliant creative minds behind the book you can find the sort of inspiration and DIY suggestions you would expect. And you know we are a sucker for a good DIY project especially if it involves re-using or recycling items that you already have around the house. With this in mind we pawed over the lovely pages and selected a simple DIY wedding menu wall hanging to make to find out just how easy the suggestions are for you.
So check out our version of their DIY wedding menu wall hanging followed by our review of the book.
DIY Wedding Menu Wall Hanging
Now we couldn’t just review a DIY book without testing out an idea and giving it a go to see how simple they really are. With a friends winter wedding fast approaching, I selected an idea that I felt would work with the look and theme she is going for – a DIY wedding menu wall hanging.
Today’s inspirational shoot is like something out of a fairytale, a laid-back modern fairytale but a fairytale woodland wedding nonetheless. Think little red riding hood, with a touch of Hansel and Gretel and a whole dose of an intimate love story to rival any Snow White or Sleeping Beauty.
Set in a secluded forest, this stunning Austrian shoot provides an abundance of autumnal and winter wedding inspiration, with gorgeous shades of green, berry and cream, incredible fashion and a to-die-for candlelit first-dance.
Here’s the film from the shoot to give you a little taster of just how beautiful it is:
Stefanie who created the shoot told us: “Summer might be a classical time for a wedding but in autumn, when it’s cooler outside, a wedding can be equally beautiful. With furs, blankets, candles and fire bowls the wedding party can easily spend unforgettable hours outside. Natural materials, homemade cakes and other sweets turn the party in something unique and personal.”
Stefanie of Mademoiselle Fee explains the dreamy vision behind the shoot: “Our idea was to accompany a newly wed couple on a romantic walk through an autumnal forest. The two have just exchanged vows, maybe in a chapel close by.
What we wanted to show was a couple, close to nature and grounded, spending this most beautiful day where their hearts are drawing them – to the forest with a little secluded house.”
Well what a week it’s been full of wreath idea – and nothing Christmassy in sight. Alice from Lock Cottage Flowers has shown us how to create a January moss wreath, seasonal Valentine’s wreaths, and today she’ll be showing us how to make a table wreath with potted violas and ivy. If you’d like to see all the posts in this feature series then you’ll find them here at Wreaths Throughout The Seasons.
I’ve really loved her use of living plants in her wreaths, and creating living centrepieces is something we’ve previously shared on the blog. I would love to see more weddings using them in creative ways, and as these ideas show they would work beautifully for a woodland inspired wedding or an eco-chic city wedding perhaps.
Today it’s all about creating seasonal Valentine’s wreaths – I particularly love Alice’s wild and twiggy heart with its bright red berries. These could be used to decorate your door this weekend or the smaller heart wreath would make a great DIY project for a wedding.
This first Valentine’s wreath is made from British parvifolia (small leafed eucalyptus – smells divine) and dried lavender which isn’t too visible here, but is very fragrant. These smaller wreaths are terrific for hanging on a small space in the kitchen, or hanging on a doorknob. For weddings they make terrific chairbacks.
I used heavy duty garden wire – the kind used for wall training roses – a coat hanger could be taken apart and used as well. Don’t worry if the heart is slightly wonky – this is preferable.
I am delighted to be kicking off a brand new feature series on the blog this week on seasonal wreaths – I’m calling it wreaths throughout the seasons. Back in my teens I spent a couple of years living in America and it seemed that every season or holiday celebration houses would be decorated with wreaths. I have often thought it sad that we don’t do this more in the UK, and I found out my friend Alice at Lock Cottage Flowers shares my thoughts on this.
So we’ve decided to do something about it – Alice is going to be creating some lovely wreaths of all kinds to take us through the different seasons and holiday celebrations, and I’m going to be showcasing them here to inspire you on the blog. I even want to set myself a personal challenge to decorate my front door at least in some way to fit in with Alice’s posts, so watch this space.
Alice has even set up a hashtag on Instagram #11monthsofwreaths where seasonal wreaths can be posted that fit with our project guidelines below. We’ll be posting all of the wreaths shown here to that hashtag and hopefully more wreath makers will tag theirs as well – please join in.
Valentine’s – I’m sure many of you are well aware that this coming weekend is Valentine’s Day, so this week Alice has created a series of seasonal spring wreaths that are fit for Valentine’s Day or to bring a little cheer to your home this damp spring.
So over to Alice for more details…
Wreaths are not just for Christmas
Wreath making is my favourite form of floristry and one of the oldest so I think it’s a shame to just do Christmas wreaths and the occasional memorial wreath. Fortunately, a lot of brides order flower crowns (a type of wreath) or I’d go bananas waiting until December to be allowed to make them.
My rules for this project are:
No floral foam
Only British flowers and foliage used
Wreaths must be seasonal
Christmas wreaths will be excluded from this project
The first instalment that I’ll be sharing this week covers late winter and early spring:
Charlie
