Rustic Wreaths

Seems the rustic country wreath is the most popular this year.

All natural woodland evergreens gathered locally.

Mossed wreath base decorated with fresh fir branches forming a circle to signify eternity and represent happiness and luck for the coming year.

Each wreath is designed to be hung outside on either your office or home and last well into the New Year.

Rustic Christmas Designs

Happy to be able to stay in my workshop for more than an hour today as the temperature has finally risen here in Brighton to a staggering 6 degrees!

Ploughing on with wreath bases for more traditional rustic designs.

I'll be foraging the countryside at the weekend for pine cones and 'pruning' some of the shrubbery in the gardens of willing friends and neighbours (my own included)!

Lots of orders to fulfil next week, so hoping (and praying) for the weather to be kind!

Out of the Snow

Some of the flowers saved from their frozen buckets in my workshop

Can't continue with wreath designs outside today - the ends of my fingers are numb with the cold!

The survivors are Red Carnations (very hardy), Leucadendron Safari Sunset, Eryngiums and fragrant Eucalyptus (I love the aroma this creates in the room)

A pretty green 'Gainsborough' Wedgewood & Co coffee pot, purchased for a pound in the local charity shop (sans lid).

Traditional Christmas Door Wreaths

A tradition thought to have started in ancient Rome, 

Christmas wreaths are usually formed in a circle 

to signify eternity and are hung on the front

door to represent happiness and luck for the New Year.

My traditional wreaths are all individually made by hand

onto a wire frame, bound with fresh moss and decorated with 

fresh evergreens. 

I blend fresh seasonal foliage with herbs such as rosemary 

and bay with wintry fragrances from spice sticks such as cinnamon
and dried fruit and fir cones.

Each wreath is designed to be hung outside of either your office

or home and last well into the New Year.

Carnations are making a comeback

 

It's official, carnations are making a comeback!

Regarded as a poor relation and relegated to station forecourts, the carnation is now appearing on designer dresses and hailed as a versatile long lasting bloom by America's queen of good taste, Martha Stewart.

Teamed with spray roses and fragrant foliage, they continue to be the perfect bloom for a simple country summer wedding - I wouldn't be at all surprised to see these starting to appear more and more in 2011.

Good old fashioned blooms, never let you down!

Tea and Nuptials

Stopped off at  Bateman's - National Trust house in Burwash - for lunch on Saturday.

Very tasty Pumpkin Soup.

This was after delivering the flowers for Hannah and Ryan's wedding at The Flackley Ash Hotel in Peasmarsh.

Smart venues; smart boys; smart flowers

Autumn Colour

Bride & Bridesmaids flowers for Hannah & Ryan's wedding

Middle Farm Apple Festival

Morris Dancers at Middle Farm

Flowers: Fuchsia Christine

Photography: Sue Marshall Media

Autumn Wedding Flowers

Flowers for Hannah's Wedding bouquet;

Red Germini

Blue Hydrangea

Safari Sunset Leucadendron

Vivienne White Spray Roses

Wedding Marquee Flowers

Caroline and Elliott's Wedding in Hove

Sweet Avalanche Roses, Pink Garden Roses, Mimi Eden Spray Roses, White Gladioli, Eucalyptus

Cake Table Display with Cup Cake wedding cake

Sweet Avalanche buttonholes

Traditional Brazilian Sweets 'Bem Casados' (means 'nicely, well married' in Portugese)

Aisle Flowers using simple bunches of Gyp

Today's wedding at St. Philips Church, Hove
Aisle flowers with simple white Gypsophila bunches tied with Satin Ribbon

Simple Gypsophila and vintage roses for an Autumn wedding

Picked up some gorgeous old fashioned garden roses and pretty Mimi Eden Spray roses this morning for Caroline and Elliott's wedding on Saturday.

Also, 150 stems of White Gypsophila.

Gyp has been out of fashion for many years, used abundantly for weddings back in the 70's, it is now making a comeback following the current trend of Vintage style weddings.  
                                          

Simple bunches tied with ribbon and attached to the chairs, will line the Aisle at St Phillips Church in Hove.

Old fashioned roses, with Sweet Avalanche and fragrant Eucalyptus for the marquee flowers at the reception afterwards.

Simple.

Informal.

Stylish.

Florists don't get flowers. . . .

In my experience, it is true that florists are never given flowers as a gift!

Until I decided to become a florist in 2003, the usual birthday, thank you or anniversary gift would, nine times out of ten, be a bunch of flowers. Once I'd qualified they stopped. . .  chocolates, books, wine, anything but flowers - why?

I love flowers, that's why I decided to become a florist.

Just because I'm surrounded by flowers in my workshop most of the time, doesn't mean I don't want to get a surprise delivery,  or a bunch of Daffs to say thanks for supper!

Sending and receiving flowers gives me tremendous joy - being a florist doesn't mean we don't appreciate the odd bunch of seasonal flowers from the local supermarket.

So, I was thrilled recently when a friend from London turned up for the weekend, armed with a huge bunch of deep red Alstromeria, which sat on my kitchen windowsill for 2 weeks and cheered me up every time I did the washing up!

Thanks Liz. . . .  you can come again!

Why do we have flowers at a wedding?

Since ancient times, Bridal flowers have been an essential part of the wedding. Different flowers had different meanings: lilies for virtue, tulips for love, irises for warmth and affection and a range of emotions and values for the many different colours of roses. 

Generally, wedding flowers are used because it is believed they help protect the bride from evil spirits that intend to snatch her from the groom! Nowadays brides choose their bouquets according to the wedding theme or their significance in the relationship.

Flower traditions throughout the world

In Sweden and Denmark, tiny pouches of strong-smelling herbs like chives, rosemary and garlic are sewn into grooms' clothes for good luck. 

In Thailand, mothers drape flower garlands (puang malai) on the bride and groom's shoulders to wish them a life of prosperity and good fortune.

In ancient times in Rome, brides held bouquets of strong smelling herbs & spices to scare and ward off evil spirits. The bride and groom also wore floral wreaths on their heads to represent new life and fertility.

Today in India, a brother of the Groom showers the couple with flower petals, to protect them from harm.

In ancient Greece bridal bouquets contained sprigs of ivy to symbolize fidelity and unending love. It was popular in Victorian times, for brides to plant the ivy from her bouquet after the wedding, so she could pass on its offshoots to her daughters and granddaughters for their own bridal bouquets. 

Tossing the Bouquet

Started in Victorian times the tradition of tossing the bouquet is still practised today. 

Originally, the bride would have tossed the bouquet to her friend when she left the festivities, to pass on the protection (from evil spirits) to that friend and to wish her luck. 

Today, the bride is more likely to keep her bouquet and either have it dried or pressed, or more commonly place it in remembrance on the grave of a close relative.

If she does decide to carryout the tossing tradition, it is more likely to be a substitute bouquet made from inexpensive flowers which is tossed backwards towards the guests. If a single woman catches it, she will be the next one to marry!

Bridal Flowers for a Late Summer Wedding

Getting ready in the Thistle Hotel, just a few steps to walk for the ceremony at Brighton Register Office. 

 

A short walk via Brighton seafront with guests in tow,  Victoria & Wayne partied into the night at The Terraces Restaurant.

 

Ceremony: Brighton Register Office
Reception: The Terraces Restaurant, Brighton
Flowers: Fuchsia Flower Design
Photography: George Rutter Photography
 

A REAL VINTAGE WEDDING

Had they still been alive, this year would have been my parents 64th Wedding Anniversary.  Seeing all the images for the Jubilee Celebrations I was reminded of their special day back in 1948, when I came across some black and white photos of their wedding.

They married during the period just after the 2nd World War, in a small village in North Yorkshire, when times were hard and Britain was still recovering from rationing.  They met at work, during the war years.  My father was a steel worker and a key part of the manufacturing industry at that time.  My mother joined the ironworks where my father worked, and trained as a welder - part of the re-deployment of women whilst the menfolk went off to fight. 
It was over a sparking blow-torch that their eyes met and they eventually married when peacetime resumed!

The wedding took place at All Saints Anglican church in Easington, North Yorkshire on 14 August 1948.  The bride wore a simple slipper satin fitted dress with long sleeves and a sweetheart neckline, with a full length trained veil (I still have these items wrapped in tissue in a shoebox)!

The bridesmaids were the bride's youngest sister (who subsequently wore the dress at her own wedding some years later) and two of the groom's nieces - all wearing long pink empire line dresses.  The bride's traditional shower bouquet had scarlet red standard carnations and maidenhair fern, the bridesmaid's bouquets were in pink.

All the guests were invited back to my grandmother's house in Far Foulsyke, North Yorkshire for tea and a home-cooked spread of goodies - sadly no photos to mark this occasion, but I suspect there was a bit of a sing-song and a spot of dancing long into the night!

Flowers - Who? What? Where?

Unsure of what flowers to have, who should have them and which ones to choose?   Gone are the days when the bride carried only white flowers up the aisle!  You can get married wherever you like and have whatever you like in your bouquet, on your tables, at the venue or in the church.  It's completely up to you.

A mood board is always a good starting point, to create an overall theme.  I recently went to see a potential bride who presented me with a folding board dotted with magazine pulls showing blocks of colour and actual fabric swatches and images of all the elements she wanted to include in her wedding.
I was overwhelmed!  And very pleased, as this made my life extremely easy.

If you're going to stick with tradition, here's a general guide as to who, what and where.

BRIDE
What you wear on your big day will influence what style of bouquet but there's 3 basic types:
Hand-tied, Trailing and Overarm

GROOM
Buttonhole - usually he'll have something a bit special, using the main themed flower and another which matches the brides bouquet

BEST MAN/FATHERS

Can be any flower from the wedding theme.
All worn on their left lapel
MOTHERS
Although it's traditional for Mums to wear a corsage - this can be too overpowering and to be honest, out of all the weddings I've done this year, I haven't been asked to provide one!

BRIDESMAIDS

Usually carry a smaller version of the Bride's bouquet or a simple representation using either one or more of the main flower
CEREMONY
Depending on where you are getting married, this is a blank canvas including garlands, pedestals, columns, walls, windowsills, chairs. . . .  the list is endless

RECEPTION

I would normally recommend that any moveable flowers (those not fixed to columns or arches) to be moved on to the reception venue to save money.  In addition to that, table designs which could be anything from extravagent candelabras to simple vases or pots with a mixture of all the themed flowers.

GIFTS

As a thank you for all their help and support in planning your wedding, I'm sometimes asked to provide a 'living' bouquet for presentation to the Mothers of the Bride and Groom.  They then have something to take home as a reminder of your special day.