If your a regular reader of this blog, or a customer who frequents the shop you will know there is nothingI love more than a vase of sweet peas! They are just one of those flowers that I could stick my face in for hours and keep on breathing in their heavenly scent. For that reason alone they are one of my all time favourite wedding flowers.
If they are in season they will be in for a mention in a wedding consultation. I don't think I've met someone yet that doesn't like them!
When I met Kathleen and Jay to talk wedding flowers back in gloomy January, the sweet pea was mentioned as one of their must haves. I won't go into the ins and outs of seasonality, but the beginning of April is a touch early for my most favourite wedding flower. We somehow managed to get in these lilac beauties pictured above in Kathleen's wedding bouquet and I think you'll agree they are absolute stunners!
Teamed with scented seasonal muscari, deep purple lisianthus, Amnesia roses, Ocean Song roses, fresh lavender and scented eucalyptus, this wedding bouquet really smelt absolutely divine.
Watch this space for more of my adventures with sweet peas soon x
What do you get when you leave three florists with a bucket of leftover flowers.... dress up time of course! It was flower crown central on Monday afternoon in the shop much to the surprise of our visiting customers - i think secretly they all wanted to join in!
With a few wayward stems left over from Mother's Day we totally and unashamedly indulged our creative sides. It was such a pleasure to just go wild. Flower crowns are all over pinterest and instagram right now and it was the perfect excuse to do some in-house training with our lovely trainee Brittany, developing her own ideas and core floristry skills such as wiring and taping.
Perhaps daydreaming of warmer climes, I went for a somewhat tropical design. Vibrant apricot toned Tulips, a soft marshmallow pink blousey statement Rose and a helping of cerise Rose buds for good measure went into my asymmetric number, finished of course with neon green ribbon! All I needed to complete the look was a grass skirt and a pina colada!
Emma's design had much more of a refined and vintage air. With textures of Sweet Williams, threaded Hyacinth pips and cloudy Gypsophila, not forgetting the beautiful open Anemones. I think her headdress was very elegant and wouldn't have looked at all out of place on set in a 1920's film.
And last but definitely not least - what a stunning piece from Brittany! And a first attempt to boot! She was inspired by the electric blue Delphiniums running through her crown. The Anastacia bloom is used like a living pompom with romantic swirly Lisianthus and Rose buds clustered above - I think it looks great and she wears it so well!
Donning our floral masterpieces I think we were all pretty chuffed with the results and a mini photo shoot ensued. Well it would have been rude not to!
I wonder what next weeks leftover blooms will bring....
Spring definitely feels like it has sprung, finally! I'm not wishing the season away but I'm already starting to think about summer flowers, sifting through all my seed packets deciding on what to plant first.
I love the hope that a seed packet brings, the excitement when you tuck them into their soil nests, the daily check to see if anything has happened! I always get over excited about the promise of planting, often slipping another seed packet or two into my basket.
Some of my all time favourite flowers are out and about at the moment.
How can you not fall head over heels for delightful ranunculus flowers. Every time I see them I think about marshmallows and cloud of pillows (like in the movies when the pillow bursts in one of those epic pillow fights) They are a must for my garden plans next year, I've got the perfect spot for them in our soon to be built cutting patch.
The poppy like anemone, with its deep blue/black centres is another garden essential. I have filled my patch with wood anemones, a delicate variety, which would look completely gorgeous tumbling out of a bridesmaids posy.
Every season is filled with beautiful flowers, however after a long winter none are more enjoyed than spring flowers
ttfn x
We love love love setting up wedding flowers at Rivervale Barn. Such a gorgeous venue, with (amongst other things) the most beautiful bridal suite!
Our beautiful Bride and Groom, Lindsay and Craig, also fell in love with Rivervale Barn and kicking off our wedding season in style they chose our favourite colour palette of creams, whites and greens with a big dollop of seasonal zesty green. Spring has definitely sprung with these gorgeous arrangements - I hope your with me on how gorgeous Lindsay's bouquet was!
the wonderful setting and lovely staff at Rivervale Barn and
we were lucky enough to be involved with their wedding flowers.
Filled with tons of seasonal ranunculus, gorgeous succulents, Akito roses and (another!) one of our favourite's ... guelder rose! The bridal bouquet was bound in a lime green ribbon to tie in with the bridesmaids dresses. Such a perfect mix, blending rustic elements with an elegant wedding.
Succulents we're definitely the star of the show! These little posies sat along the top table between vases to hold the bridal and bridesmaids bouquets. Its one of my top tips if you've opted for a long top table, use the whole length and if you can re-use your bridal and bridesmaids bouquets here with a few smaller vases scattered between. Its a perfect way to create those full looking tablescapes that you see on so many wedding blogs at half the price.
Rivervale Barn has gorgeous almond shaped tables, making it really easy for your guests to converse across the tables. Lindsay and Craig chose a central table centre designed to tie in with the bridal party flowers using lots of the super zesty guelder rose, white hydrangeas, white Akito roses, clusters of (ahem!) carnations and ranunculus. I love the clean lines of the cylinder vases for weddings, and you can give the arrangements away as gifts to your guests afterwards!
We received this wonderful testimonial from Lindsay just a few days after her big day. We loved arranging their gorgeous wedding flowers and can't wait to see the team at Rivervale Barn soon!
Today we are bringing you some vintage wedding flower loveliness from Louise and Andrews big day at The Mill House Hotel, Swallowfield.
You can't get much more vintage than these gorgeous Amnesia roses, complimented with ivory Majolika spray roses, scented eucalyptus, hints of lisianthus and scented eucalyptus. Louise really wanted the old Hollywood vibe to her day, and subtle pearls, wound throughout the flowers provided the finishing touches to her romantic rose filled bouquet. I love the subtle colours, they make the most perfect wedding flowers.
Louise (and family!) got to work crafting lots of jam jars for table centres, wrapped with pretty lace and adorned with a few pieces of jewelry. I love these little home-made touches and I have to say the attention to detail on these little jars were second to none. The jars were filled with flowers designed to compliment Louise's wedding bouquet, with vintage Amnesia roses, lisianthus, veronica, ivory Majolika spray roses and scented eucalyptus. I think you'll agree they looked perfect on the tables.
Congratulations to Louise and Andrew - we had such a ball making all your flowers!
We were lucky enough to work with the super talented (and also very lovely) Hannah McClune back in May 2013. I know, its taken us forever to blog the amazing images she took of Tracey and Simon's big day, but, we're sure you'll agree they are worth the wait!
We know once you take a look at Hannah's images below you'll be hooked. As well as shooting fabulous weddings, she also takes baby portraits and family shots. Hannah's definately one to watch, after scooping the Wedding Industry Expert award for " Best new photographer, Berkshire" we're pretty sure she'll be on to even greater things in 2014.
The men wore succulent and herb buttonholes. Here's simon getting pinned, the succulent is the perfect match next to his charcoal/blue suit. I love playing with textures on buttonholes, for any regular readers of our blog you'll know I've done an extensive post on boutonniers ... get the lowdown here
Tracey's bouquet was filled with Sweet Avalanche roses, peonies, Majolika spray roses, scented eucalyptus, succulents and heavily scented sweet peas. Gorgeous soft pastel colours were chosen to compliment the flowers girl dresses. Each wore a different pastel tone from soft powder blue, through to pink and a subtle lilac. Beautiful!
I think you'll all agree, Hannah's photographs are wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing them with us. We're really looking forward to working with you again in 2014
Getting married? Flower crowns are my must have for 2014. Boho meets vintage meets garden meets etherial. Go large using peonies, roses and dahlias or create a dainty woodland vibe with nigella, gypsophilia and clematis buds.
Our super talented wedding team would love to create you your own bespoke floral crown for your big day, or if you fancy a little bit of DIY take a look at our tutorial here: floral crown tutorial
We'd love to hear what your planning for your hair flowers! Let us know your must have trends below
We have a little obsession with anything green and as a continuing trend for 2014, mint tones perfectly suit spring/summer weddings. If you want to update this look, combine shiny metallic silvers, burnt bronze tones and a myriad of emeralds, sage grees and deeper leafy tones for an elegant, up-to-date flapper inspired wedding day.
For me capturing the colour green is all about textures, tints and tones. Gather lots of different foliages, using handfuls of eucalyptus (try populus, nicholi, cinerea and baby blue) combine with dusty millar, flowing winter jasmine (or as a summer alternative clematis would work wonderfully) and hellebores for a striking, natural look.
If your after the glitz and glam, keep your flowers simple, again lots of foliage combined with soft domes of ivory ranunculus. This style would work perfectly next to a detailed flapper style dress or the gorgeous Vera Wang number featured above.
Weddings are all about YOUR detailing. Every little bit you add transforms the flowers, the venue ... everything into YOUR day and not the normal wedding. Try adding detailing to your bouquet; I love the sequinned ribbons you get in most haberdashery stores, how wonderful do they look tied around a bouquet for a glitzy streamer look!
Book an appointment with our wedding co-ordinator for more top tips and floral inspiration for your big day www.greenparlour.com
Firstly I have to give a huge shout out to the rather wonderful Kathryn Edwards Photography, who provided all the wonderful images your about to feast your eyes on. As you can see from the gorgeous pictures of Kuofi and Matthews big day at The Olde Bell, Kathryn manages to capture all those details and beautiful intimate moments. One talented lady!
Kuofi's bouquet was filled with David Austin Patience roses (divine scent!) poppy like anemones, bombastic spray roses, viburnum berries, scented rosemary, ranunculus and vintage pink amnesia roses. I think this has to be one of my favourite colour combinations at the moment, especially with the petrol blue viburnum berries! I love the simplicity of the bouquet, its a gorgeous mix of vintage tones with soft ivory and rustic hints. Kuofi's bouquet was bound in twine, reflecting the gardens at The Olde Bell, Hurley.
Thank you again to Kathryn who sent through these images, you must go and see more of her work on her website here. See the full feature on Rock My Wedding
Forget diets ... January is all about THE CAKE! We've been getting our Bake Off grove on, but I have to admit that our efforts are not a patch on these beauties above.
Style Me Pretty have done it again featuring my favourite wedding cake, possibly ever! Made by the super talented folks at Charm City Cakes (I've been browsing their site for at least 2 hours looking at all the deliciousness, its filled with tons of inspiration) and shot by Evelyn Alas Photography for a Peter Pan inspired photo shoot.
Get ready for your goldspiration wedding cake extravaganza ...
Ladies (and gentlemen of course), gold is going to be BIG in 2014! We'd love to know your latest trend watch for 2014, drop us a note below xx
