Blog: wedding bouquet
Charlie Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal blooms for your spring wedding – in support of British Flowers Week 2015

Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal blooms for your spring wedding // The Natural Wedding Company

Choose seasonal blooms for your spring wedding

Well what a lovely positive week it’s been following all the goings-on of British Flowers Week 2015 – I hope you’ve been following along on Instagram and Twitter. This week we have covered why you should choose seasonal flowers for your summer wedding, autumn wedding, and winter wedding – now we are finishing off with inspiration for a seasonal spring wedding.

It was evident when I started collating images for this seasonal spring wedding flower feature that is such an incredible selection of British grown flowers available, I think the most difficult part as a bride should be choosing, not deciding whether to choose British or not.

Apple blossom, lilac and cow parsley

Spring wedding bouquet of apple blossom, lilac and cow parsley // BareBlooms // Cloud9 Wedding Photography
BareBlooms (photo by Cloud9 Wedding Photography)

Mixed tulips, blossom and dusty miller

Spring wedding bouquet of tulips, blossom and dusty miller // The Garden Gate Flower Company
The Garden Gate Flower Company

Peonies, larkspur and love-in-a-mist

I would love this one, it’s my own bridal bouquet!

Spring bridal bouquet of peonies, larkspur and love-in-a-mist // The Real Cut Flower Garden // Mark Tattersall Photography
The Real Cut Flower Garden (photo by Mark Tattersall Photography)

Violets and more violets!

Spring wedding bouquet of violets // Bramble and Berry
Bramble and Berry

Clematis, verbena and peonies

Clematis, verbena and peonies for a spring wedding bouquet // Blue Poppy Florist
Blue Poppy Florist

Read more

Charlie Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal blooms for your winter wedding – in support of British Flowers Week 2015

Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal blooms for your winter wedding // The Natural Wedding Company

Choose seasonal blooms for your winter wedding

I know that on a warm sunny day like to day it seems a bit mad to be talking about winter wedding flowers, but it’s a topic that I feel quite passionate about. When it comes to weddings held during December, January and February, I think it’s easy to assume that there are no flowers growing in this country, and therefore if you want wedding flowers they’re going to be imported.

I’m here to show you that it’s just not true!

And if you’re planning a spring, summer or autumn wedding, we’ve also written posts about these, just click on those links or the ones at the bottom.

With this selection of seasonal winter bouquets, I hope I can encourage some winter brides to fully embrace a truly British grown wedding when it comes to the flowers. So say no to the red and white roses, and fill your bouquets and arrangements with hellebores, anemones, catkins, narcissi, and more!

As with all naturally grown flowers, there will be seasonal and locality variations, depending on when and where you are getting married. We would always recommend choosing a flower farmer or florist who specialises in British grown flowers, and ask for their advice.

Hellebores and silver foliage

Hellebores and silver foliage buttonhole // The Garden Gate Flower Company // Taylor & Porter Photographs
The Garden Gate Flower Company (photo by Taylor & Porter Photographs)

Rosemary, narcissi and lichen covered twigs

Winter bouquet of rosemary, narcissi and lichen covered twigs // The Flower Field // Jennie Hill Photography
The Flower Field (photo by Jennie Hill Photography)

Hellebores, foliage and narcissi

Winter wedding bouquet of hellebores, foliage and narcissi // The Real Cut Flower Garden
The Real Cut Flower Garden

Berries, paperwhites and anemones

Winter bouquet of berries, paperwhites and anemones // Common Farm Flowers
Common Farm Flowers

Hellebores, ferns and foliage

Green winter wedding bouquet of hellebores, ferns and foliage // Blue Poppy Florist
Blue Poppy Florist

Read more

Charlie Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal blooms for your autumn wedding – in support of British Flowers Week 2015

Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal blooms for your autumn wedding // The Natural Wedding Company

Choose seasonal blooms for your autumn wedding

In the UK we are pretty lucky to have such defined seasons, and when it comes to weddings I think it means your quite spoilt – it also makes it harder to choose which time of year you want to get married in!

This week we are supporting our many flower farmer florist friends across the country for British Flowers Week, and the best thing I think I can do is just inspire you with what’s available throughout our different seasons (here’s our posts on winter, spring and summer flowers).

The autumn months – September, October, November – still offer an incredible selection of British grown blooms and foliage (as you will see below), and so shouldn’t always be overlooked in favour of summer.

Do remember that there are variations year-to-year and across the country. Here’s to being inspired for an autumn wedding

Cosmos, rosehips and blackberries

Autumn wedding bouquet of Cosmos, rosehips and blackberries by The Garden Gate Flower Company // The Natural Wedding Company
The Garden Gate Flower Company

Zinnias, snapdragons and grasses

Seasonal autumn wedding bouquet of Zinnias, snapdragons and grasses by Mayfield Flowers // The Natural Wedding Company
Mayfield Flowers

Leaves, scabious and cosmos

Autumn wedding bouquet of Leaves, scabious and cosmos by PYRUS // Kitchener Photography // The Natural Wedding Company
PYRUS (photo by Kitchener Photography)

Delphiniums, ammi and verbena

Autumn wedding bouquet of Delphiniums, ammi and verbena by BareBlooms // Owen Howells Photography // The Natural Wedding Company
BareBlooms (photo by Owen Howells Photography)

Dahlias, ammi and ivy

Autumn bridal bouquet of Dahlias, ammi and ivy by Wild Bunch Flowers // The Natural Wedding Company
Wild Bunch

Read more

Charlie Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal blooms for your summer wedding – in support of British Flowers Week 2015

Charlie

Why you should choose seasonal blooms for your summer wedding // The Natural Wedding Company

Choose seasonal blooms for your summer wedding

In case you missed yesterday’s post, this week we are celebrating homegrown seasonal blooms by supporting British Flowers Week 2015. We are hoping to inspire you each day of this week with a feature on each of the seasons, and provide you with loads of ideas for your own wedding flowers.

Without further-ado, let’s launch into this seasonal round-up of wedding flowers with summer, because that’s where we’re up to in the year. The summer months I’m focussing on here are June, July and August, so if you are looking to have a wedding during one of those months, here are just some of the seasonal flowers you can expect to find in the UK.

(And if it’s other seasons your looking for, do check out out seasonal flowers posts for autumn, winter and spring).

Cosmos, cornflowers, borage flowers

Summer wedding bouquet of cosmos, cornflowers, borage flowers by The Flower Hive // The Natural Wedding Company
The Flower Hive

Poppies, dahlias and dill flowers

Summer bridal bouquet of poppies, dahlias and dill flowers by The Garden Gate Flower Company // The Natural Wedding Company
The Garden Gate Flower Company

Garden roses, sweet peas and ivy

Summer wedding bouquet of garden roses, sweet peas and ivy by Common Farm Flowers // The Natural Wedding Company
Common Farm Flowers

Love-in-a-mist, ammi and larkspur

Summer bridal bouquet of Love-in-a-mist, ammi and larkspur by Fletcher & Foley // The Natural Wedding Company
Fletcher & Foley

Grasses, lavender and gypsophila

Summer wedding bouquet of Grasses, lavender and gypsophila by Catkin Flowers // The Natural Wedding Company
Catkin

Read more

Charlie Charlie

A May wedding bouquet of apple blossom, cow parsley and other exquisite English wildflowers and spring flowers

Charlie

A May wedding bouquet of apple blossom, cow parsley and other exquisite English wildflowers and spring flowers // Common Farm Flowers // The Natural Wedding Company

May wedding bouquet of apple blossom and cow parsley

If you’ve been reading this blog long enough you’ll know by now that I’m an absolute sucker for a May wedding. In fact, just the month of May in general. I love it for so many reasons – it’s my birthday month, it’s the month we got married, it’s the month of bluebells, cow parsley, hawthorn blossom, and so much more. So I am always excited when this month arrives to see what creations my fabulous flower farmer and florist friends create for May weddings.

This bridal bouquet from Common Farm Flowers caught my attention immediately at the mention of May bouquet with apple blossom – really, what could be lovelier?

A May wedding bouquet of apple blossom, cow parsley and other exquisite English wildflowers and spring flowers // Common Farm Flowers // The Natural Wedding Company

Read more

Izzy Izzy

Holly and Laurie’s English picnic wedding in Shropshire with country garden flowers and handmade details

Izzy

Holly and Laurie's English picnic wedding

English picnic wedding

I have got some truly lovely exclusive real weddings coming up for you on the blog, so I do hope you’ll check back over the coming weeks to soak up all the wonderful inspiration these brides and grooms have to share.

Today’s real wedding is beautiful.  I feel like I’ve got to know bride Holly over the past year or so as she emailed me a couple of times in the lead up to her wedding – not only was she inspired by my own wedding stationery, but she also won her wedding photography via a competition that I’d promoted on the blog!

Holly and Laurie got married in Shropshire on the 15th of September 2012 with a wedding ceremony held at Ludlow Castle, and followed up by a picnic wedding reception at Henley Farmhouse on the Acton Scott Estate.

Over to Holly to tell us all about their wonderful day…

Seasonal September country wedding flowers

Rustic place names

Picnic wedding wrapped with greaseproof paper and twine

“We both just wanted a really relaxed wedding where all our guests could just have fun.  We wanted a day that was personal to us – we didn’t have a huge budget so we knew from the start that we would probably be doing lots of the work ourselves – with the help of our friends and family.”

“We actually found searching for a venue one of the most stressful parts of planning, we were looking for a blank canvas without lists of suppliers we had to use and we didn’t have lots of money to spend so we struggled to find somewhere.  I grew up in Shropshire and loved the idea of a Shropshire country wedding.”

Photo frame table plan

Country garden flowers

Blackboards

Wedding picnic and menu

Read more

Charlie Charlie

An ode to snake’s head fritillary – wedding inspiration using this unusual native British spring flower

Charlie

Bridal bouquet of spring hellebores and snake's head fritillary

Here at The Natural Wedding Company I love to promote seasonality, and to encourage and inspire couples to choose to plan their weddings fitting in with the season whether that be flowers, food, or decorations.  Choosing seasonal blooms for your wedding flowers is one way to reduce the environmental impact of your big day (rather than imported flowers), as well as reflecting the beautiful and varied times of year.

Recently on my Facebook feed I’ve been seeing one particular spring flower popping up in bouquets from various TNWC flower businesses – the snake’s head fritillary.  This very dainty bell like bloom is a native English flower that makes it appearance during the spring months.

Following on from my previous floral ‘odes’ (‘an ode to violets’ and ‘an ode to old-fashioned roses’) today I’m going to showcase the snake’s head fritillary.  From bouquets and buttonholes to table centrepieces, I’m going to show you how you can incorporate it into your spring wedding.

Snake's head fritillary
Image: The Garden Gate Flower Company

I’m delighted to have put together this feature on the snake’s head fritillary with the help of some of my talented TNWC flower businesses.  As I know many of you are planning your wedding and searching for a florist who grows their own or sources local British blooms, I’ve included their details and where they are based in the country as all of them provide stunning flowers for weddings.

Bouquets and Posies

When it comes to wedding flowers what better place to start than with bouquets.  Every bride needs a bouquet and I have a beautiful selection here to showcase all featuring the dainty snake’s head fritillary.

First up this seasonal spring bouquet from Susanne at The Blue Carrot based down in Cornwall. Along with the snake’s head fritillary, Susanne used the following homegrown flowers: parrot, double and single tulips from her tunnel; hellebores; narcissi, ranunculus; and feverfew.  She also added a few sprays of jasmine, which she bought as a plant from B&Q and used the cuttings.

Pastel spring bouquet with tulips and snake's head fritillary by www.thebluecarrot.co.uk
Flowers: The Blue Carrot

Here’s a close up of this beautiful bouquet – I particularly love how Susanne combines colour, with the sweet shop pastels set off by the addition of those deep, velvety purple hellebores.

Seasonal spring bouquet of tulips and snake's head fritillary by www.thebluecarrot.co.uk
Flowers: The Blue Carrot

Read more

Charlie Charlie

A seasonal winter wedding bouquet of garden grown hellebores, succulents, ferns and magnolia buds

Charlie

Seasonal winter hellebore bridal bouquet

Angela who runs Petal and Twig, on of our TNWC recommended florists, sent me these photos of a winter bouquet she recently designed.  Made completely from garden flowers and foliage it is cleverly constructed on a handmade moss pad with a handle of dogwood.

The bouquet itself contains hellebores, succulents, variegated Euonymous, variegated Box, ferns, Skimmia (both pink and green berried varieties), Mahonia Japonica flower sprays, Spirea, Magnolia twigs and buds, and ivy.  I think it’s a really unusual and beautiful example of a winter wedding bouquet that celebrates the season.

Hellebore and winter garden wedding bouquet

Angela also created this posy of Paperwhite Narcissi (one of my favourite winter flowers) from the Channel Islands surrounded by two types of ivy.  The green ivy leaves each wrap an individual stem of narcissi to protect their delicate heads and ensure they all face ‘up’.  The bouquet is finished with a piece of antique cotton lace, a brown satin ribbon, and vintage pearls.

Winter Paperwhite wedding posy

I am so pleased to be able to share with you these lovely examples of seasonal wedding flowers. If you like these, take a look at this pretty spring bouquet of white tulips and hyacinths or these spring arrangements in vintage teacups.

Read more

Charlie Charlie

A heavenly seasonal spring wedding bouquet of white tulips and hyacinths

Charlie

White tulip and hyacinth bridal bouquet

Today I have some gorgeous spring arrangements from TNWC recommended florist Campbell’s Flowers based in Sheffield.  Owner Tracey sent me pictures of these exquisite arrangements she’s done, all of which would be available during the spring months (just ask your wedding florist or flower grower to check specifics).

Seasonal spring white bridal bouquet

I’m not usually a fan of all white bouquets, but these are pretty stunning and have completely won me over to the idea.  The bouquet above is a simple but heavenly arrangement of white tulips and white hyacinths.  If you’ve ever bought or been given a pot of hyacinths you’ll know the incredible fragrance they give off, so just imagine carrying a bouquet with them in – wow!

Spring bouquet tied with lace

Read more

Charlie Charlie

Beautiful floral arrangements from an autumn hedgerow inspired wedding with rosehips, teasels and old man’s beard

Charlie

Autumn hedgerow inspired bridal bouquet

The lovely Alicia from Grace & Green recently got in touch with me to share photos of the autumnal wedding flowers they did for a bride who found them via The Natural Wedding Company.  Getting emails like this are guaranteed to make my day, not only because there’s lots of beautiful pictures but because I was able to match up a bride with a TNWC business to make their vision come true.

Having seen the photos I really wanted to share them with you all too, so very kindly Alicia from Grace & Green is here to share some more details on the brief for this wedding along with the pictures of her creations:

“The original brief for the wedding was wildflowers, but given that the wedding was in November we knew that there wouldn’t be many ‘wildflowers’ available at that time of year.  So I started thinking about what you do see in the wild in November, like old man’s beard, teasels, seedheads, rosehips and lots of other lovely berries, and suggested the idea of ‘hedgerow‘ style flowers instead.”

Jam jars of hedgerow berries

“The bride and groom had been to a lot of weddings already this year, and really wanted the flowers at their wedding to be a bit different.  The bride’s mother, who I met with, and who organised the flowers, really loves flowers, as does the bride’s grandmother, so she really wanted to give her daughter something very special on her wedding day with the flowers.”

Read more