Zoë first contacted us almost a year ago to start thinking about the flowers for her wedding taking place in The Black Barn, Rushall Farm. The barn is stunning, set in the middle of the Berkshire countryside with fields as far as you can see. With this stunning backdrop, we took full inspiration from the barns surroundings when designing the bridal bouquet and table centres for the wedding.

Zoë's wedding bouquet was filled with English grown roses, scented stocks, sweet peas, lisianthus and hints of scented Baby Blue eucalyptus, it certainly smelt amazing!

Collections of old glass jars filled the long banqueting tables in The Black Barn, each filled with a miniature hand-tie of flowers. Queen Anne's Lace is complimented with scented stocks, English grown roses, garden sedum, alchemilla mollis, eucalyptus, mint and agapanthus to create these wild, garden inspired wedding table centres.

The final touches involved winding ivy and fairy lights around the rustic centre pillars in the barn.

Gorgeous

As soon as we had our first consultation with Samantha and Kevin way back in the deepest depths of winter, we knew this wedding would be right up our street! The brief: country elegance. The colours: creams, ivory and zesty green. The venue: Lodge Park a completely gorgeous National Trust property near Cheltenham. HEAVEN!

Samantha knew from the start that she'd love hydrangeas and peonies to feature heavily, and scent was important too. I'm such an advocate for splashing out a little more for a wedding bouquet with scent. Freesias have to be one of my favourites, their heady citrus scent instantly transports me to a tranquil holiday somewhere in the south of France.

With a rather regal entrance with stunning, uninterrupted views across the Chiltons, Lodge Park needed something to bring a splash of Samantha and Kevin's day to the venue for the ceremony. We toiled with heaps of ideas, but after much deliberation (and a sign from him upstairs) we decided on bay trees, decorated elegantly with white Avalanche roses.

I'm not a pedestal girl, I have never been convinced of their beauty. A vase filled with gorgeous spring and summer flowers ... great! A hefty black iron pedestal stand ... not my bag. Lodge Park needed something light, clear glass and plain unassuming plinths. Just perfect. We filled the vases with scented eucalyptus, white hydrangeas, peonies, viburnum opulus, white delphiniums, and white Avalanche roses in a simple hand tied arrangement, which complimented the stairway perfectly.

The venue: Lodge Park and The Bay Tree

The flowers: Avalanche and Snowflake spray roses, white delphiniums, white hydrangeas, white peonies, scented white freesias, viburnum opulus, scented eucalyptus and ivory stocks.

There is something about white wedding flowers that I love. Perhaps its there timeless elegance and the fact they can be a complete chameleon! Able to transform from crisp modern orchids right through to a relaxed, English country garden theme, they retain their simplicity and grace of style no matter what venue, vase or dress they find themselves near.

I personally love white flowers in a relaxed country feel, a look that suits Bradfield College perfectly, complimenting the dark wood that is present throughout the Main Hall and bringing a taste of the buildings gorgeous grounds inside. Filled with Avalanche Roses, white Veronica, scented Eucalyptus, Majolica spray Roses, Astilbe and Waxflower these glass cylinder vases work perfectly with the relaxed but elegant brief we were given!

I had to take a snap of the Bride and Groom's cake of cheese, the woodblock is amazing! and the theme of the white flowers become a little more obvious.

Anyone who reads a few of our notes will know that I have a huge amount of love for kissing balls! This one is a particular favourite of mine, the heavy oak door leading to the Main Hall in Bradfield College would not be out of place in a Harry Potter film is the perfect backdrop for a kissing ball filled to the brim with scented Eucalyptus, Ammi Majus, white Veronica, Majolica and Avalanche roses. Yum!

Sometimes you get the opportunity to meet a bride who wants something a little different for her wedding day, and is willing to put in the time to make it happen.

It was such a joy to meet Alice (the Bride) and Penny (Alice's Mum who just happens to be handy with a needle and thread and growing flowers amongst other things!) way back at our first meeting in deepest darkest depths of February. As soon as they started describing the theme for their wedding, relaxed elegant English country garden with a fete, party feel in the afternoon. Perfect! Its exactly how I'd have my wedding.

Alice's dress sounded perfect - lace with an elegant vintage feel and was having a birdcage hat specially made, their ideas for the marquee they were erecting in Mapledurham Estate just outside of Reading, Berkshire were getting more elaborate and ornate by the day.

I always have images of Penny sitting there surrounded by mounds of pastel coloured triangles ready to be made into the pretty bunting that adorned the interior of the marquee and definitely will never forget the amount of jam jars they collected ready to house the pretty table flowers that ran the entire length of the marquee. I think if you flashed a jar in front of them, to this day they would be able to identify exact content of the containers. Filling them with small hand tied arrangements was an absolute joy and I love the en mass look they create effortlessly. Less is definitely more.

At one of our first meetings Penny informed me of the plan to decorate the church, St Celement in Ashampstead, Berkshire, themselves. So a few weeks before the wedding I was invited up to Penny's house in the blazing summer sun to take a look at all the flowers she has been growing ready to be cut and arranged by her and her sister on the Thursday before the wedding. I was greeted with a garden full of lovely goodies including Ammi Majus (one of my all time favourite flowers) as well as Molucella with their lime green zest bringing the garden alive!  At this stage, been in complete awe of her talents I decided that I want Penny to plan my wedding!

We set to work on creating the bespoke flower decorations for the big day, using all the wonderfully shaped jam jars and filling them with an abundance of seasonal flowers. Each jam jar was individual and so the flowers reflected this too, really adding to the mismatched relaxed look that the day was all about. I really think spreading the arrangements across the entire length of the table, scattered between cutlery, cake stands and, later on, storm lanterns created a pretty, country tone to the marquee, and I always think its lovely when your guests can leave with a little floral gift. The flowers reflected the time of year with some of my personal favourites including Peonies, Roses, Eycalyptus, Scabious, Ammi Majus, Molucella, Sweet Peas and Guelder Rose.

My favourite item however had to be the large kissing ball that hung from the central point of the marquee. Filled to the brim with a whole host of Eucalyptus, Ammi Majus, Avalanche and Deep Water Roses and Guelder Rose, it suited the theme and venue perfectly! I love having an unexpected twist in marquees and the kissing ball fits the bill perfectly.

They also hired an aeroplane stunt man to draw a heart in the sky.

There is nothing better than receieving an email/thank you card/letter from a Bride to say thank you for all of your hard work, and most importantly that they loved what you did! and when the email/thankyou card/letter is packed full of images it literally makes my day.

So imagine my excitement at opening an email from Sarah (you know who you are !) and letting me sneak a peek at the photos of our flowers. I love them!

Its wedding day! so another early start and croissant for breakfast (secretly I like getting up early, the pastry at 7.00am is worth it!)

Am really excited about white rose and freesia bouquet! Have them all lined up on the counter and the shop smells amazing! The girls made the table centers late yesterday ... can't wait to see them on the tables in the marquee at Basildon Park.

Finally have managed to take some pictures (hurray!) click to make them big!

An early start but does it matter when I get to use my favorite roses in a wedding bouquet and pomander this morning?!

Whats in - Juliet roses (perfect, the brides name is Juliet!) Patience roses, scented sweet peas, Peach Avalanche and Sweet Avalanche roses, peonies and a good dollop of creativity.

Enjoy!

I just want to bury my face in the scented marshmallows sitting in a vase on the counter! David Austin roses just take my breath away, I can't wait to use them in the bridal bouquet I get to make tomorrow.

ttfn x