Sunflower Wedding Theme

by Cindy on August 5, 2011

In the photos here you can see one of our recent weddings with a sunflower wedding theme.

bride holding a wedding bouquet featuring sunflowersI was delighted this morning to receive these wonderful wedding photos from Emma, it’s always so nice when people take the time to send us through their wedding photos, and I love seeing them.

When Emma initially contacted us to arrange her wedding flowers she knew that she wanted to feature sunflowers in all aspects of her wedding flowers.

Sunflower Wedding Bouquet

For Emma’s bridal bouquet I combined sunflowers with white bouvardia, freesias and pieces of wheat to produce this beautiful natural handtied posy bouquet (photo left).

sunflower centrepieces for a wedding in the long gallery at Ettington Park HotelSunflower Wedding Centrepieces

The sunflower wedding theme continued into the wedding breakfast. I created tall wedding centrepieces with sunflowers and long stems of steelgrass.

The wedding was held at Ettington Park Hotel and Emma’s wedding breakfast was in the long gallery. This room really suits the long table set up that Emma chose. The tall sunflower centrepieces ran down the centre of the table and were linked with scattered yellow rose petals (photo left).

A Sunflower Wedding Theme

Sunflowers are such a popular flower, I don’t know whether this is because of their vibrant colour or the fact that we all know them so well. I can certainly remember growing them in my garden at home with my Dad.

Sunflowers add impact and can brighten up any reception room, so if you are planning your wedding flowers you might like to think of having a sunflower wedding theme.

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Wedding At The Manor House Hotel – Moreton In The Marsh

by Cindy on July 16, 2011

a photo of the front enterance of the manor house hotel in motonI really enjoyed working on Lucy and Simon’s wedding flowers at the Manor House Hotel in Moreton in the Marsh.

The hotel has a very old historic frontage, which hides a stylish contemporary hotel at the back.

As the décor was so neutral Lucy decided to go for lots of colour in her wedding flowers and chose a vibrant shade of cerise pink teamed with white, which looked fabulous in the reception room.

Below you can see the wedding table flowers that Lucy chose, we decorated half the tables with tall centrepieces (see photo below left) featuring pink ostrich feathers, lilies, freesias and roses.

On the rest of the tables I arranged the same wedding flowers in our mirror cube vases as low centerpiece (see photo below right). The room looked fabulous and smelt wonderful with the fragrance from the lilies and freesias.

tall wedding centrepieces in cerise pink and white featuring feathers flowers arranged in mirror cube vases for a low wedding centrepiece

For Lucy’s bridal bouquet I arranged white calla lilies, freesia and cerise pink roses in a shower bouquet that featured a curving calla lily (see photo below left).

calla lilies and roses in a shower bouquet a handtie posy bouquet of calla lilies, roses and thistle

Her bridesmaid held a handtied posy bouquet of white calla lilies, freesias, cerise pink roses and blue thistle to link in with her navy blue dress (see photo above right).

a photo of the outside ceremony building at the manor house hotelAt the Manor House Hotel, Moreton in the Marsh, you are able to have a civil ceremony outside which is rather unusual for the U.K. In the photo here you can see the thatched building where the ceremony is held.

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Pollen in Lily Wedding Flowers

by Cindy on June 30, 2011

It is essential that all of the pollen is removed from lily wedding flowers. Any of you will know that if you’ve had lilies in the house the pollen from these beautiful flowers is lethal. They can literally stain anything from clothing, furniture, hands and carpets. So the best policy is to remove the pollen as soon as the lily flowers opens.

cutting out the pollen from lily wedding flowers
Here you can see me cutting out the pollen, the easiest way to keep the pollen from staining your fingers it you cut it out.

Collecting Pollen

When I’m working on a wedding with a lot of lilies I can spend a lots of time collecting pollen over the days before the lily wedding flowers go out to the bride and the wedding venue. Here you can see how much pollen I collected from Hayley’s wedding flowers, as all of her table arrangements were a mass of lilies.

pollen collected from lily wedding flowersNo Staining

It’s essential that we remove any pollen in a bridal bouquet, as the last thing you would want is pollen staining on a wedding dress.

It’s also important that all the pollen is removed from lilies in table centrepieces, pedestal arrangements and top table flowers as they could stain guest’s clothes or table linen.

It’s also useful to remove the pollen in lily wedding flowers so that it doesn’t effect people that suffer from hay fever or allergies.

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Wedding Cake Decorations

by Cindy on June 20, 2011

shopping in marks and spencers for wedding cakesOver the years we have added wedding cake decorations to many Marks and Spencers cakes. If you didn’t already know M and S now have a great range of wedding cakes.

You can choose the size, flavour, number of tiers and of course the decoration.The thing that I really like about their cakes is you can literally design your own wedding cake.

Here you can see me in the Leamington Spa Marks and Spencer with their iced fruitcakes. You can literally pick your cake off the shelf including accessories like the pillars.

You can also order their cakes online and get them delivered straight to your wedding venue.

Wedding Cake Flowers

gloriosa flowers used to decorate a wedding cakeHere you can see one we decorated for Mel and Bill for their wedding at Ettington Park Hotel.

Mel added the beautiful satin ribbon and diamante brooch detailing then I added the stunning gloriosa flowers.

These flowers also featured in her bridal bouquet, table centrepieces and seating plan. Decorating the cake with the same flowers links all the wedding flowers.

The right wedding cake decorations really can transform these cakes making them unique and special to your own wedding theme.

a wedding cake decorated in orchidsIn this photo you can see how I have added cymbidium orchids so that they cascade down the front of the wedding cake. This was another one of Marks and Spencers cakes, Deborah, the bride had seen it decorated with orchids on their website and asked me to recreate the same look.

Deborah had a bouquet of cymbidium orchids as well as them featuring in her wedding centrepieces so the wedding cake flowers fitted in perfectly.

The only thing to remember with these cakes is that you will need to assemble it, some venues will do this for you but I would recommend that you check with them first.

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Floristry Ribbons for Wedding Flowers

by Cindy on June 12, 2011

We have a massive range of floristry ribbons for wedding flowers, we use them for finishing off bouquet handles, pew ends, chair backs and handrails.

a pile of ribbons for use on wedding flowers

Send Us A Swatch

I always try to coordinate the ribbon on the bridesmaid’s bouquets to the colour of their dresses. The best way to do this is by having a swatch of fabric as it enables me to get the best match. I know that this can sometimes be difficult. So if you haven’t been able to get a colour sample then send me something in a similar colour such as a sample wedding invitation, embroidery tread, cotton or a paper colour sample.

At Pure Botanics we always use top quality floristry ribbon for wedding flowers including satin, organza, taffeta and velvet ribbons.

So if we are doing your wedding flowers don’t forget to send us a sample so that we can get the ribbon in for your wedding flowers.

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Peony Wedding Bouquets

by Cindy on June 4, 2011

We have been producing lots of peony wedding bouquets throughout May and into June. I just love it when the peonies are in season. These stunning flowers never cease to amaze me, I’m just always surprised how the tight little buds can literally grow in front of your eyes and open out into such large full booms.

a wedding posy bouquet of white peonies
Peony wedding bouquets have become increasingly popular with the trend for vintage wedding themes. In the photo above you can see a recent peony wedding bouquet that I created for one of our brides. She particularly liked the peonies when they were still in their round ball shape, just before they burst into full bloom. This bouquet smelt absolutely fabulous.

peony, bouvardia and freesia bridesmaid bouquet a cute peony bouquet for a flowergirl

The bridesmaid held a posy made of white peonies, bouvardia and freesias (photo above left). The flowergirl held a really cute smaller version (photo above right).

a bride and flowergirl with peony wedding bouquets

A Coordinated Look

In the photo here you can see the bride (holding her peony bouquet) and the flowergirl coming down the stairs of the hotel to walk across to the St James church in the grounds of Walton Hall.

I made the flower girl a circular headdress of freesias and bouvardia to match her posy. Headresses are always made to the exact size of the young girls head for a perfect fit. I think you’ll agree she looks totally adorable.

Coordinating all of the bridal flowers gives you a really good look in the photographs.

peonies and roses combined in a bridal bouquetWe often use peonies in mixed handtied posy bouquets, in the photo here left you can see how I combined peonies, roses and eucalyptus leaves to create a stunning bridal bouquet.

The bride asked me to cover all of the stems in a wide ivory satin ribbon and finished with a large bow, an effect that I really like.

Many of our summer brides can be disappointed that peony wedding bouquets are not an option for them as they are in season from the spring to the very early summer. If you are planning a spring wedding you might want to think about using peonies.

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Royal Shakespeare Company 50th Gala Performance

by Cindy on May 6, 2011

We really enjoyed supplying the flowers for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford Upon Avon for their 50th Birthday Celebration. This was a prestigious event for the theatre as it was attended by a number of VIP guests including Prince Charles.

standing outside the RSC stage door waiting for security clearanceAs you can imagine, security for this event was very high and I have to say it’s a first for us to have our flowers checked over by the bomb squad and sniffer dogs!

We were really surprised to see Prince Charles at the theatre, as it was the day after the royal wedding. He spent a lot of time talking to people in the crowd and looked very happy and at relaxed in Stratford.

A Royal Visit

Prince Charles arriving at the RSC Stratford pedestal arrangement for Prince Charles drinks reception

Drinks Reception

The RSC asked us to supply bright modern flowers to fit with their new contemporary theatre. We produced pedestal arrangements featuring birds of paradise, gerberas, anthuriums and protea for the drinks receptions and for use in the roof top restaurant.  Above (right) you can see one of the pedestal arrangements for Price Charles’ drinks reception.

Another reception was held in the stunning rehearsal room above the Swan Theatre.

flower displays in the rehersal room at the RSC theatre

tropical flowers on the windowsills in the rehersal room at the RSCThis is a fabulous room that is not normally open to the public so it gave a great opportunity for guests to see this fantastic space.

Many very famous actors have rehearsed in here and guests were seated on chairs that have featured in many performances.

We supplied flower displays to sit on the low windowsills (see photo left) that surround this room.

It has 6 windows, which provide a panoramic views across Stratford, including views onto the river.

Dining at the Theatre

flowers decorating the dining tables in the theatreAfter a performance of Macbeth the guests were treated to a meal in the roof top restaurant, which also has a riverside terrace.

The restaurant really does have the best views of Stratford Upon Avon.

We supplied simple table decorations to fit with the spring/summer theme featuring trailing green ruscus and orange gerbera.

In the photo below you can see one of my favourite VIP tables, I just love the way the table is round in the stunning round annex dining area.

table decorations on the round VIP dining tableThe sun shone into the early evening helping to make this a glorious event – Happy 50th Birthday to the Royal Shakespeare Company.

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New Low Wedding Centrepiece Design

by Cindy on April 28, 2011

birdcage and flower posies in jam jars to create a low wedding centrepieceI really love this new design for a low wedding centrepiece! It was inspired by a vintage themed wedding we did a couple of years ago, the bride asked us to produce natural posies of flowers to be placed in jam jars.

I took this idea and combined it with the birdcage to come up with new low wedding centrepiece that fits well with the trend for vintage style weddings.

Random and Natural

What really appeals to me is the random nature of this centrepiece, I’ve used a variety of flowers and different sized jam jars to create interest. It’s all linked through the use of colour and by placing everything on a circular mirror.

vintage style flowers arranged in a jam jarSuitable Flowers

In the photo here you can see that I have used ranunculus and hydrangea flowers both of these work perfectly for vintage or English country themed weddings.

The great thing about this low wedding centrepiece is all of your guests can take away one of the little posies away at the end of the wedding.

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Delivering Lily Wedding Flowers to Walton Hall

by Cindy on April 24, 2011

I’ve just got back from delivering lily wedding flowers to a bride at Walton Hall Hotel. It’s been such wonderful weather for our brides this Easter weekend and this morning was no exception.

Hayley was getting married early this morning so I was up with the birds at dawn to finish preparing her wedding flowers, they featured white calla lilies, cymbidium orchids and oriental lilies.

delivering wedding flowers to Walton Hall tall lily centrepieces being unloaded at Walton Hall

Above you can see all the flowers on the terrace outside the Moncreif room as I waited for breakfast to end so that we could set up for the civil ceremony. It’s beautiful on the back of the hotel as you have great views across the rolling countryside. As I was working, I could hear a woodpecker close by also at work!

a shower bouquet of calla lilies and orchids

Hayley chose an elegant shower bouquet of calla lilies and orchid you can see it in the photo above. Her bridesmaids held handtied posies of white calla lilies.

For the centrepieces I produced these stunning balls of white oriental lilies finished off with trailing Singapore orchids and beargrass. You can see these centrepieces here on the tables in the reception in the Moncrief room at Walton Hall.

tall wedding centrepieces created from lilies

To bring all the flowers together I combined them all in a long and low top table centrepiece that also went on the civil ceremony table (see photo below). Two pedestal arrangements were also placed either side of the registrar’s table to give a special touch to the ceremony area.

orchids and lilies in a wedding top table arrangement

Here are some more of our wedding flowers from previous weddings at Walton Hall Hotel.

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Blue Wedding Centrepieces

by Cindy on April 19, 2011

Creating blue wedding centrepieces is probably one of our most challenging, as there are fewer flowers available in blue. However it is certainly possible to create stunning wedding centrepieces if you are planning a wedding with a blue colour theme.

blue hydrangeas used to create a low blue wedding centrepiceHere is one of my new designs for a low blue wedding centrepiece, created using stunning hydrangea flowers. I just love the strong blue colour you get from these beautiful flowers.

Hydrangeas work really well when packed together in a mass. This method works particularly well in the cube mirror vases you can see here in the photo.

I often recommend placing low centrepieces onto mirrors as the flowers reflect in the mirror and add another splash of colour to the table.

Blue Flowers

Other flowers that work well for blue wedding centrepieces include; hyacinths, agapanthus, eryngium (thistle) and delphiniums.

Adding Blue Accessories

If you have a blue wedding theme but don’t want to use these flowers we recommend adding blue accessories to the bouquets, table centrepieces etc. These can include blue stones in the bottom of vases, blue feathers in bouquets and centrepieces, blue butterflies and blue diamante clusters placed in-between bouquet flowers.

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