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

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Day in the life of Pyrus

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…

Late summer seasonal bouquet with cosmos, nigella seed heads and blackberries by Pyrus

Natalya and Fiona from Pyrus flowers in Scotland

Scabious

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.

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An ethereal harvest photoshoot with a dove grey vintage wedding dress and wildflower bouquet

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Natural harvest bridal shoot

We may grumble about the days getting shorter, the air colder, and the nights darker, but there is something truly magical about this time of year.  With a desire to capture some of this beauty, this harvest inspired bridal shoot was dreamt up by photographer Rebecca Douglas and make-up artist Suzanna.  It’s got some lovely inspiration for anyone planning an autumn wedding.

Natural bride in soft silver 1950s wedding dress

Wildflower bouquet

Natural bride with wildflower bouquet

Harvest bridal shoot

“We wanted to capture the pure essence of young love at its most beautiful, in the most stunning of settings – our quintessential Kent countryside.  With the cascading colours of late summer call us to capture the moment, what could be more beautiful than to celebrate this montage of golden evening glows with the glory of young love?”

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A breathtakingly beautiful wildflower wedding cake with sugarpaste flowers

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Wild flower wedding cake

Couples planning your weddings – I’m so envious of you!  I know, I’ve been there, planned and enjoyed an utterly wonderful wedding day (which I wouldn’t change for the world), but I get a tiny bit jealous when I come across all these wonderful new businesses and ideas.

Wildflower wedding cake with sugarpaste flowers

This stunning wedding cake is from one of our new TNWC businesses – Amy Swann Cakes. Isn’t it just breathtaking!  Each of those tiny flowers are handcrafted by Amy from sugarpaste – handcrafted!

Amy Swann wildflower wedding cake

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Heavenly midsummer photoshoot in a field of cow parsley with pink rose flower crowns

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Cow parsley field

Today’s blog feature is just so pretty and I’m delighted to be able to share this series of photos from photographer Svetlana Batura (who you may recently remember from this gorgeous Lithuanian family farm wedding).  I spied them on her blog and asked if I might share them, as I know there is a good following amongst you who love cow parsley as much as I do.

These images take me back to an imagined childhood and provide some nice inspiration for bridesmaids for a relaxed wedding – long skirts, pretty blouses, flowers in their hair and a bouquet of cow parsley.  Bliss.  Enjoy…

Cow parsley bouquet

Rose flower crown

Bridesmaid cow parsley inspiration

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A rustic Lithuanian village wedding celebrating old traditions and a simpler way of life

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Lithuanian natural farm wedding wedding

Rustic Lithuanian village wedding

It’s always nice to get inspiration from other countries and cultures when it comes to all aspects of life, but in particular I love seeing the way the other people celebrate their wedding days.  I am so excited that I get to share with you this gorgeous Lithuanian wedding shot by photographer Svetlana Batura (who also captured this timeless autumn wedding I featured).

Bride in a vintage dress

Svetlana took the time to tell me all about the wedding of Irminta and Artur and what they were inspired by, I particularly love the horse drawn cart ride for the bride and groom and their friends – more about that below!

Horse and farm cart wedding

Svetlana Batura Photography

Bride and bridesmaids white dresses

Irminta and Artur were inspired by their love of nature, old traditions, the naturalness they feel is missing from everyday life, and of their grandmother’s stories of village weddings.  They wanted to combine old and new styles to create a wedding day that was beautiful, fun and that celebrated their family traditions.

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Rhiannon and Richard’s wild and natural Welsh wedding with a midnight canoe send-off

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Wild and natural Welsh wedding

Wild and natural Welsh wedding

I’m in-love with today’s wedding for its laid-back and relaxed attitude – for me, Rhiannon and Richard seem to have really captured what your wedding day should really be about: love, family, friends, good company and delicious food.

They got married in September 2011 with a beautiful weekend-long wedding held at Fforest, just outside Cardigan in Wales.  Rhiannon and Richard really did their wedding their way – with no photographer, no over-the-top details, just lots of fun and a super relaxed weekend surrounded by their family and friends.

Tiny coastal Welsh church

Rhiannon is a freelance journalist who writes about all things green, community, and outdoor travel related, and Richard runs Greentraveller, so it’s not hard to see why their wedding embraced all things natural.

They got married at Mwnt Church, a tiny white building perched on the Welsh coast.  Rhiannon wore a oyster coloured dress from Donna Karan and carried a gorgeous bouquet of cornflowers and herbs.

BareBlooms wild and natural wedding bouquet

“My flowers were by Chloe at BareBlooms, who I found through The Natural Wedding Company, and were exactly what I wanted.  They were a mix of wild-looking flowers and herbs.”  The flowers for the buttonholes they picked themselves from the garden at Fforest.

Seasonal cornflower and herb wedding bouquet

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Wild and natural looking wedding flowers with grasses and country garden blooms

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seasonal wedding flowers with wild grasses and berries

Following up from my post about using grasses in wedding arrangements and bouquets, I wanted to share some pictures of from Susanne at The Blue Carrot in Cornwall, one of the businesses listed in the flower section of the directory.  She got in touch with me after the original blog post to say that she loves using grasses in her arrangements and to share a couple of pictures.

Thought you’d all like to see some on a dreary January afternoon!  Any favourites?

The Blue Carrot seasonal wedding flowers

I love these deep wine colours with the silvery green grasses and foliage, and the spray of blackberries too.

Seasonal wedding flowers in Cornwall

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Mariette and Benjamin’s natural French countryside wedding ~ part two

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natural French countryside wedding

Natural French countryside wedding (part two)

If you missed part one of Mariette and Benjamin’s natural French countryside wedding yesterday, get over there now and immerse yourself in an utterly gorgeous wedding.  Today it’s the second part with some gorgeous photos in woodland and around the stone villa, and their fun reception and rustic decorations.

>> View Mariette and Benjamin’s natural French countryside wedding (part one) here <<

countryside woodland wedding

rustic natural woodland wedding

What a happy looking couple – and those gorgeous lace sleeves and floral headband.  Everything is just so fitting about this wedding, nothing seems out of place or contrived – just simple, natural and beautiful.

antique lace wedding dress

It always helps to have a beautiful rustic backdrop to create romantic wedding photographs, like an old French villa with mint green shutters and a rambling rose (oh France how I miss you!)…

French wedding in an old stone villa

rustic French countryside wedding

stone villa wedding in the French countryside

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Mariette and Benjamin’s natural French countryside wedding ~ part one

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Natural French countryside wedding

Natural French countryside wedding (part one)

It goes without saying this might possibly be one of my favourite weddings ever.  Shot by American photographer David Blair, this oh-so-pretty wedding of Mariette and Benjamin took place at a family-owned, rustic stone villa in the French countryside.

>> View Mariette and Benjamin’s natural French countryside wedding (part two) here <<

Rustic French countryside wedding

French wedding rustic villa

If you’re regular readers of the blog, it won’t come as any surprise that the brides dress is one of my absolute favourites – I’m not sure I’ve seen many more that I think are more exquisite.  I even told Nick that I might have swapped my own wedding dress for it – he was shocked!

Antique lace country style wedding dress

Antique lace wedding dress

I love the delicate lace sleeves and the way the front is loosely draped and edged with more lace.  I love the ribbon sash around the waist that is fastened in a bow at the back and the way the skirt falls simply to the floor – the lace hem full of dainty detailing.  It seems quite Edwardian inspired – one of my favourite eras for wedding dress inspiration.

French wedding dress with lace sleeves

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A wildflower meadow grown especially for a wedding on an organic farm

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Can you believe it – this stunning wildflower meadow was grown especially for a wedding on this pretty organic farm?  I’m a bit bowled over and hadn’t even considered that a florist might be able to grow you a wildflower meadow especially for your wedding.

I’m sure ordinary florists can’t, but this is what I think is so fantastic and special about the wonderful businesses listed on the directory.  Some of them can grow you a wildflower meadow, like this one which was grown by Charlie Ryrie of The Real Cut Flower Garden for a bride who wanted colourful meadow flowers sweeping up to their reception in that stunning dome.

I’m in awe.  And wishing I could get married again, to Mr Rigg of course, but just do it all over again and steal these wonderful ideas.  Nothing more can be said.