seasonal wedding flowers Archives - Page 5 of 10

Blog: seasonal wedding flowers

Charlie

TNWC Real Brides Married! Stephanie’s back to tell us all about her homepsun vintage fiesta wedding by the sea

Charlie

Here we are with our final blog post from our 2013 TNWC Real Brides. Today we are back with Stephanie, our lovely bride in the USA, to share all about her wonderful wedding day.

It has been such a lovely journey with last years ‘real brides’ it is somewhat sad to say goodbye to them with this final post. But, we are about to embark on a whole load of new wedding planning adventures with our 2014 TNWC Real Brides! So excited!

So it’s over to Stephanie to tell you all about her wedding – it’s more like a real wedding feature with all the stunning photos she’s sent me from her photographer Red Anchor Photo…(and don’t miss the skateboarding groom!)

Okay, maybe I’m slightly biased, but I’d have to say my wedding weekend goes down in history as the greatest weekend ever. About four months later and I am still buzzing with the love and beautiful energy my (now) husband and I felt that weekend surrounded by family and friends. The day of our wedding also happened to be the windiest day in history, but more about that later.

Charlie

Colette and Simon’s vintage eco wedding with an original 1950s wedding dress, homegrown flowers and a vegan feast

Charlie

Vintage eco wedding

Such a pretty wedding today! Do I say that every time? But each and every wedding is beautiful, and yet so different and personal to the couple. Colette and Simon got married in August on the Cornish coast (you might recognise their wedding venue from last week’s wedding), with a real vintage-cum-eco feel.

Colette told me that for her and Simon, “it wasn’t too much about the look, rather more about the feel we wanted to create which was, beautiful, relaxed, sustainable, vegan and fun, fun, fun!”

I’ll let you see for yourselves – over to Colette and exquisite photography from Mark Tattersall (TNWC recommended wedding photographer and Colette’s brother-in-law!)…

“We wanted a kind of a mixture between an eco wedding, a vintage themed wedding – 50s style and a handmade really relaxed wedding. This kind of just reflects our favourite kinds of weddings and our personal likes and dislikes. We wanted everyone to be comfortable and to have lots of fun.”

Charlie

Caroline and Gareth’s spring wedding on their farm with a rustic barn reception and pretty homemade details (part one)

Charlie

Spring farm wedding (part one)

I have a super special real wedding to share with you today. For regular readers or those who’ve been following last year’s TNWC Real Brides you probably remember the lovely Caroline who was planning her wedding with a real focus on homemade details and supporting local businesses.

Back in May last year she tied the knot with her Mr-to-be Gareth, on their farm in Nottinghamshire, and today I have the delight of sharing all their official photographs from their beautiful day. Caroline has also shared so much of what went into their day and how it went, I’m sure that many brides-to-be out there will find not only creative inspiration but reassurance ahead of their wedding day.

>> View Caroline and Gareth’s spring farm wedding (part two) here <<

Before I hand over, I want to start with this wonderful quote from Caroline, that I think is so beautifully worded about what your wedding day is really all about:

“At times it was hard work and with the weather not on our side we were really tested (big puddles all over the barn floor after a torrential downpour 2 days before the wedding worried us a little!) but on the day, none of it really matters. You’ll always have the best day ever, surrounded by all the people you love the most and at the end of it all you’ll be Mr and Mrs, and at the beginning of an amazing adventure through life together – and that’s really what its all about.”

Over to Caroline to tell you all about her wedding day…

“We knew what we definitely didn’t want was a traditional, formal, wedding day feel to the day and the style was most definitely a handmade, relaxed, informal country wedding and just a jolly good knees up really! We were both bought up in the country, for our second date Gareth bought me a pair of wellies and we took his dogs for a long walk around the farm which I think was pretty much the moment I knew he was ‘the one’, so it seemed quite fitting to have a wedding that gave us a chance to get our wellies on!”

Charlie

This Valentine’s Day buy seasonal blooms grown in Britain with love and say no to the imported red rose

Charlie

Just 5 days until Valentine’s Day! My plan today is to convince you to buy or ask for a bunch of beautiful, British grown flowers for Valentine’s Day this year. I had wanted to dedicate more time and promotion to this wonderful campaign that is happening, but a sweet baby is consuming oodles of my attention and time.

The main objective of my message is simple: Buy British flowers. There are so many wonderful flower farmers growing stunning, seasonal British flowers (yes, even in damp dark February!), and lots of florists who buy British grown blooms. Let’s support these fab small growers and businesses, push aside that bouquet of imported and rather stiff looking red roses, and celebrate this year with a bunch of something seasonal and grown with a whole lot of love.

Still not convinced that there are pretty seasonal blooms to be bought from Britain this Valentine’s? Well now I’m going to bombard you with a whole stream of pretty pictures of what these skilled flower farmers are growing right now. They include tulips, anemones, narcissi, snowdrops, iris, pussy willow and more!

(I’ve included links below each picture to the flower farmer/grower/florist who’s flowers they are, where they’re based – in case you’re local – and do visit their website as many of them delivery nationwide)

The Flower Mill Cornwall :: Cornwall

Cherfold Cottage Flowers :: Surrey/West Sussex

Charlie

Modern vintage inspired bouquets for brides who want more than a hand-tied from Petal and Twig

Charlie

Today I have another lovely treat from one of our recommended wedding suppliers. This guest post has been put together by Angela who runs Petal and Twig, a Lancashire based floral designer with an emphasis on seasonality, locally grown flowers and ethical sourcing.

Over to Angela to tell us all about these wedding bouquets she’s created, each one inspired by a vintage bouquet…

The majority of wedding bouquets we do these days are hand-tied and I have always loved the informality of this style compared to the rather stiff, wired bouquets that dominated weddings from the 60s to the late 80s. I remember staying up late with my mum almost every Friday night in my teens, wiring flowers within an inch of their lives. Looking back, it seems utterly mad to deconstruct and then reconstruct flowers but I never questioned it at the time.

In recent years the availability of “antique” shades in roses have inspired beautifully subtle colour schemes for weddings and we have rediscovered the potential of garden plant material and more natural styles. The peach, gold and soft pinks of an antique jug are brought out in the “Faith” roses and garden plant material of this simple hand tied posy. It certainly looks very vintage, although I don’t think my grandmother would have thought much of this as a wedding bouquet – she would have put it straight in the vase.

Charlie

Jo and Dom’s natural and relaxed Scottish wedding with a ceremony in a ruined chapel, picnic on the beach, and foraged flowers

Charlie

Relaxed Scottish wedding with a beach picnic

A real wedding feature has been long overdue, and what nicer way to kick off 2014 than with the exquisite wedding of Jo and Dom. They got married last July in Scotland with a ceremony in a ruin chapel amongst the dunes, a beach picnic for all their guests, swimming in the sea, foraged and wild flowers for the bouquets and table arrangements, and a beautifully decorated tent – phew!

I could go on and on and on about everything that I love about this wedding, but it’s better than I just let you immerse yourself. Go get lost in Jo and Dom’s wonderful day…

“We wanted our wedding to be as natural and relaxed as possible. We wanted to be able to enjoy it, and for everyone else to have a good time too! We had a humanist wedding in a tiny ruined chapel on the east coast of Scotland, just down the coast from Edinburgh followed by a picnic on the beach.”

“I grew up there and every Christmas my family walk down the beach to the ruin with some friends and hold an informal Christmas ceremony where we sing carols and have readings and generally acknowledge that its Christmas.”

“Dom proposed on boxing day 2012 on a rock just beside the chapel and there was never any question that we would marry anywhere else. It’s a very important place to me. Our wedding guests had to walk over the dunes for half an hour to reach the chapel so the weather was definitely a concern! But no, we didn’t have a wet weather plan!”

Charlie

A Day in the Life … Pyrus: growing seasonal and organic wedding blooms in a Scottish walled garden

Charlie

I am so thrilled to be back with this ‘A Day in the Life’ feature on the blog. Embarrassingly it’s been over a year since I did my first one (have a read here) but I do hope that I can bring it as a more regular feature. The idea behind it is to give you a peek into the lives of some of the fab wedding businesses that you can find on our directory.

Today I’m handing the blog over to Natalya and Fiona who are the dynamic and creative duo behind Pyrus, flower farmers growing seasonal and organic blooms from their walled garden near Edinburgh and weaving them into the most fantastic floral arrangements.

Over to Natalya and Fiona…

Earlier this year we invited the wonderful photographer Nic Rue to spend the day at the Pyrus flower garden and studio outside Edinburgh, documenting us as we prepared for a late summer wedding.

We first met Nic when she came to one of our flower classes with friends and knew we wanted to work with her on a project. We were nervous about opening our doors to be photographed but we needn’t have worried, in fact it was a pleasure to share our studio with her for the day. She brought a plethora of cameras in her kit bag and the results are a combination of digital and film shots which captured the Colstoun estate we are based on beautifully.

Charlie

Get a vintage, rustic or festival look for your wedding flowers with ideas and inspiration from Fletcher & Foley

Charlie

I can hardly believe that Christmas is so near now! This year has gone by in such a whirlwind for me what with having little Tilly at the end of the summer, and I imagine all of your brides- and grooms-to-be who are getting hitched next summer will be feeling like it’s not long now once the New Year is upon us.

Today I have another lovely treat from one of our recommended wedding suppliers. This guest post has been put together by Joanne of Fletcher & Foley (a fab Manchester based florist) using the same selection of flowers and foliage, but in three quite different styles: Rustic, Vintage, and ‘Wedstival’. I love the selection of old pots Joanne’s used for the vintage styling, but I most like her use of colour for the ‘Wedstival’ theme, perfect for all of you inspired by summer festivals for your wedding day.

Over to Joanne…

Get the look

Getting the styling right for your wedding can be a daunting prospect. So much to think of. In fact writing this blog I’m a little worried myself as to where to start. Ok, let’s start with a little inspiration, and this can come from anywhere. Without rambling too much, a visit from my mother-in-law means a whole heap of glossy magazines will be left behind. A trend piece in Vogue. It screams autumn.

Using key words may help. For this little project I’m going to break it down into three wedding trends. Rustic, Vintage and Wedstival.

See what we’re doing here? Building up a picture of the overall feel for the big day by taking it slowly. Not getting bogged down in too much detail. No micro managing. Giving yourself a break so you can enjoy it.

The flowers

From a florist’s viewpoint, it doesn’t matter if you know nothing about flowers. Give us some idea of colour and seasonality or if you prefer a particular flower and let us do the work. Or even just tell us what you don’t like. That can often guide us in the right direction too.

I used the following flowers and foliage for the three wedding themes: Amaranthus, Dahlia, Free Spirit and Coffee Break Roses, Sedum, Hydrangea, Elder Berries, Nigella (Love in the Mist), Rosemary, Aster, Cornflower, Eryngium, Hawthorn, Scabious Seed Head, Mokara orchid, Rowan, and Virginia Creeper.

Charlie

A handmade bride’s guide to growing your own wedding flowers for a rustic country garden feel from Lucy Says I Do

Charlie

We’re back today with the lovely Lucy from Lucy Says I Do, who is sharing with us some of the wonderful DIY projects from her own country wedding. If you missed her first guest blog on designing and creating her bridesmaids dresses, do check it out here. Over to Lucy…

We wanted to embrace the location of the wedding and play with the English Country Garden idea. I love flowers and plants that are found in wild flower meadows and old walled gardens, and I wanted to incorporate these into our wedding. We were also heavily inspired by the wonderful Petersham Nurseries, and their beautiful plants and flowers.

We decorated the area outside of the marquee with a multitude of plants and flowers, many of which we grew from seedlings specifically for the wedding. We decided on the plants and flowers we wanted, and made sure they were likely to be flowering or at least alive at the time of the wedding and set to work planting and potting them up.

Izzy

Country garden and dreamy meadow inspired bridal bouquets full of seasonal blooms and a necklace made of flowers

Izzy

What a beautiful feast of floral design we have for you today! If you are planning a summer wedding and have just started thinking about your wedding flowers, then grab of cup of something warm and settle down to soak up some inspiration from one of our florists, Campbell’s Flowers.

Over the summer Tracey and her team at Campbell’s Flowers had a lovely intern – Kate – working for them. To celebrate the end of her internship they put together a shoot of stunning seasonal blooms, and my gosh are they heavenly. Kate also works as a second shooter for a wedding photographer so she’s pretty nifty with a camera, capturing this beautiful floral collection at Sheffield Botanical Gardens.

Here’s Kate to tell you more about what they did…

To mark the final day of an amazing internship with Campbell’s Flowers, we ventured off to shoot some beautiful British grown bouquets. While taking shelter from the summer showers we made use of the beautiful light in the Pavilions in Sheffield Botanical Gardens and got some lovely soft shots of the interchangeable flower necklace and flower crown, crafted from locally grown seasonal flowers.

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