I am thoroughly enjoying sharing (and reading) all these wonderful guest blog posts from some of the great wedding businesses listed on the directory. On the blog today it’s one of my favourite subjects – edible flowers.  For me there is something rather romantic about the idea of eating flowers, perhaps it’s in my DNA because as a crawling baby I was often found in the garden eating flowers.

Today’s blog post on edible flowers from Jan at Maddocks Farm Organics is much more sophisticated, sharing some great ideas for using edible flowers in your wedding cocktails and drinks. The perfect grown-up use for edible flowers for the girl who enjoyed snacking on them as a child. I’m sure I can’t be the only one who loves the idea of a scrumptious cocktail adorned with edible flowers?

Over to Jan to share her suggestions for adding edible flowers to your wedding drinks (and here’s a feature she did on edible flower wedding favours)…

Above left: A dark and stormy rum cocktail with a twist of lime and citrussy tagetes; Above right: a non-alcoholic mojito with fresh mint, a squeeze of lime and stunning mallow ‘heart’ petals

Edible flowers work brilliantly in wedding drinks irrespective of whether your wedding is a formal ‘champagne all the way’ kind of do or whether you are casually pitching a teepee in the back garden and opting for the DIY route.

Bring a touch of glamour with edible flowers

Edible flowers come in all shapes and sizes and add a wonderful sense of glamour and celebration to weddings and other special occasions.  Pimms has long been associated with the beautiful blue stars of borage flowers and tagetes work well citrus based drinks.

Above: A summery punch filled with mint, fruit and edible flowers

Snapdragons are wonderful at ‘snapping’ onto the rim of glasses and work particularly well with very fizzy drinks such as champagne.  A confetti of lovely petals will make any drink look appealing and brides should opt for smaller rather than larger blooms with drinks so that they compliment rather than compete with the drink.

Above: Stunning bride Carla and her wonderful mum Marion sipping champagne garnished with cream snapdragons

Transform non-alcoholic wedding drinks

As important as adding ‘class to the glass’ they can also make the poor drivers’ non-alcoholic offering a lot more interesting and appealing.  It’s lovely to be able to really push the boat out for the designated drivers and also for children by making lovely fruit based punches.

To be fair over the past few years the quality of the ready made soft drinks that you can buy in the supermarkets has improved dramatically but there are also many recipes online for lovely non-alcoholic punches and cocktails and adding fresh herb, fruit and edible flowers transform these into something really special.

Above: Lovely Carla and her mum Marion getting stuck into the jam jar punch

As well as using flowers whole to garnish drinks, petals can also be crushed with salt or sugar to coat the rim of glasses for cocktails. They then form little jewels of flavour and colour that are just stunning.

Unusual ice cubes

Edible flowers are also wonderful set in ice either on their own or with mint to add some lovely colour and flavour to drinks and these can be done well in advance to be added to the drinks at the last minute.  It is worth noting that ice cubes don’t have to be made purely of water that just dilute the drinks as they melt.

Above: Cream snapdragons ‘snap’ beautifully onto champagne flutes or cocktail glasses

I had a wonderful Gin based cocktail a few weeks back which had ice cubes made from Elderflower Cordial that released its wonderful flavour and fragrance as it melted changing the drink from one thing to another.  Lemon juice can be added along with the flowers or lime or ginger.  It’s entirely up to you.

Thank you to our lovely real life bride Carla and her mother Marion for allowing the photos.  All photos (apart from main image) taken by Maddocks Farm Organics using our edible flowers which have also featured in cocktails at Chelsea Flower Show and on Channel 4s Sunday Brunch. Details of our edible flowers can be found at www.maddocksfarmorganics.co.uk.

Maddocks Farm Organics are a recommended supplier of The Natural Wedding Company.  Based in Devon, Maddocks Farm Organics produces edible flowers and award winning organic salads using fantastic seasonal blooms, leaves, herbs & wild foragings. They supply a range of edible flowers to decorate wedding cakes & platters/boxes of beautiful floral salad to wow your guests. Visit www.maddocksfarmorganics.co.uk for more details or contact them at maddocksfarmorganics@gmail.com.

Images: (1) Martha Stewart Weddings; (2 – 6) Maddocks Farm Organics