Winter Woodland Wedding Theme

By Cindy | Wedding Flowers

I had a wonderful time designing and creating Sarah and Tom’s winter woodland themed wedding flowers.

The couple had a strong wedding theme right from when I first met Sarah and her parents in the spring. It’s always a good idea to be super organised if you’re planning a wedding over the Christmas holiday season, as it’s quite a bit more complicated than the rest of the year.

Sarah and Tom embraced the winter theme and loved the idea of using all things woody with lots of foliages especially the beautiful silver eucalyptus and dark green ferns.

You can see (photo above right) how I have filled the tall centrepiece vases full of pussy willow to link with the woodland theme. Then I set about sourcing some bark-covered containers for the low centrepieces (photo above left) . Sarah wanted to keep the flowers simple and classic so she chose ivory roses, orchids and freesias.

Sarah saw a top table arrangement that I had created for another couples’ winter woodland wedding and we used this as inspiration to design the one you can see above and below. Fir cones, twigs and moss were incorporated into the arrangement as well as the pussy willow to keep with the woodland theme. A scattering of pine cones were placed along the length of the table.

Sarah and Tom wanted to use a lot of candles throughout the venue so I placed three large candles into the top table. Candles are magical for a winter wedding, as it gets dark so quickly. I’ve probably never seen as many candles as they had at the venue, the candles went from the entrance barn at Wethele Manor through to the marquee.

They even had fire pits lit outside on the terrace as the guests arrived. Fortunately it was a beautiful winter’s day with crisp white frost and glorious blue skies, perfect weather for the 28th December!

I entwined ivy around candles on the windowsill in the barn and created the beautiful heart that hung from the central beam (photo above). In the photo below you can see everyone busy putting the final touches to the marquee.

Sarah and Tom’s wedding took place in the chapel at Princethorpe College where they had both been at school and I’m guessing this is where they met.

You can see the posy bouquet that I created for Sarah, she wanted a really loose look with plenty of foliage and pussy willow to link with the woodland wedding theme.

Sarah’s bridesmaids had smaller versions of the bridal bouquet and the flower girls had miniature versions.

Tom’s buttonhole you can see above had a very small fir cone arranged with the white freesia and the gent’s all had miniature fir cone buttonholes.

Even the mum’s corsages were linked with the wedding theme (photo below).

It’s always really exciting for me to see everything coming together on the day as lots of planning had gone into making everything so magical. I love designing new flower arrangements to fit with couple’s themes.

White Christmas Wedding Flowers

By Cindy | Wedding Flowers

It’s been a fantastic end to the year with three fabulous weddings between Christmas and the New Year.

Here you can see the stunning bridal bouquets I made for Jackie’s wedding on the 27th December at Ettington Park Hotel. She chose these classic ivory roses with a hint of purple lisianthus to pick up the colour of the bridesmaids’ dresses.

It was wonderful to hear from Jackie this morning, here is what she had to say about her Christmas wedding flowers:

“A massive thank you for the beautiful flowers you supplied for our wedding day, we brought them home and they’re still going strong. The bridal bouquets were out of this world, well all the arrangements were really. It was a fab day and your floral arrangements really made it.”

We have a vast amount of experience of creating wedding flowers over the Christmas holiday season. It’s a lot harder than other times of the year as the wholesale market is closed over the holiday. However with lots of care and planning it’s always been possible to supply beautiful flowers. It just means that instead of sitting on the sofa on Boxing day the Pure Botanics team were back in the workshop busy putting the final preparations together!

Check out the next couple of posts coming soon for the other two Christmas weddings that we created flowers for.

Christmas Floristry Workshop – Warwick Arts Centre

By Cindy | News

We had another sell out Masterclass at the Warwick Arts Centre, everyone got in the festive spirit creating fabulous Christmas flower decorations. This is the third time that I’ve presented a workshop at this venue; it’s such as wonderful environment to learn new skills.

The first creation for the day was a Christmas door wreath featuring red roses and ilex berries. Everyone produced amazing results with a beautiful wreath to take home.

After lunch we set about creating a floral centrepiece featuring white gerberas, stocks, gypsophilia, daisies and seasonal foliages.

The course concentrates on learning floristry skills as well as taking home three beautiful flower arrangements and having fun.

The day finished by creating a unique glass bauble arrangement featuring a gold cymbidium orchid with red rose buds and ilex berries.

If you are interested in hearing about future courses then please feel free to email me or check out the Warwick Arts programme of events under the ‘Masterclass’ section.

Wedding Flowers at Nuthurst Grange – Solihull

By Cindy | Wedding Flowers

It was wonderful to be working on Katie and Edward’s wedding flowers at the Nuthurst Grange Hotel, Nr Solihull.

The new wedding breakfast room looks fabulous after the re-fit. It’s great to have such neutral colours for the interior as it doesn’t have any influence on the wedding colour theme.

Katie and Edward chose these beautiful pastel colours of soft pink, cream and ivory. I used the beautiful soft blush pink ‘Avalanche’ roses, cream lisianthus, ivory gypsophila flowers, freesias and hydrangeas.

The couple wanted a sophisticated vintage style so I created the table arrangements in our pearl white glass urns.

The room look so pretty when everything was finished.

Below you can see the top table arrangement on the registrar’s table for use during the ceremony in the stables.

If you’re planning your wedding at Nuthurst Grange I would be delighted to help you create your unique wedding flowers.

Should You Throw Your Wedding Bouquet?

By Cindy | Wedding Flowers

Many brides ask me if they should throw their bridal bouquet. It can be a difficult decision to make as the bouquets are so beautiful it can seem a shame to throw yours.

Here you can see Elina as she throws a bouquet to the waiting ladies. It makes a great photo and is fun for the ladies in the wedding party. Elina was keen to do this but didn’t want to throw her bouquet so she used one of her bridesmaid’s bouquets instead.

You can see from the tussle that went on to grab the bouquet the ladies were keen to get into the spirit of things.

Sometimes I make small throwing bouquet for brides that want to be involved in this traditions but are not going to part with their actual bouquet.

Fashionable Soft Pastel Wedding Flowers

By Cindy | Wedding Flowers

Pale pink, cream and ivory have been such popular colours this wedding season. You can see these beautiful vintage style handtied posy bouquets that I recently made for a bride holding her wedding at Walton Hall and the church at Walton.

All the bouquets featured roses, freesias and delicate gypsophila flowers. The soft pastel colours work perfectly with the gypsophila and give it a really romantic vintage look.

The bride wanted to add plenty of flower decorations on the outside of Walton Church. So I created these pretty flower garlands to run the length of the pillars on the front of the church. The garlands cascaded down and connected with the handrails to give this wonderful effect.

See more examples of our pastel blush wedding flowers.

Tropical Wedding Flowers at Jephson Gardens Leamington Spa

By Cindy | Wedding Flowers

It was a pleasure to work on Eva and Adam’s flowers for their recent wedding in the glasshouse restaurant in Jephson Gardens. They wanted a tropical theme that fitted perfectly with the exotic plants in the glasshouse.

I made Eva’s shower bouquet with a stunning arrangement of hot pink phalaenopsis orchids, Singapore orchids, roses, freesias and pale pink roses.

As a graphic designer, Adam had designed the wedding invitations with lots of beautiful tropical leaf shapes. We then took this idea and developed it into the table arrangements and bridal bouquet, using lots of tropical leaves.

The colour theme was all based around hot pinks and the ginger flowers you can see in the table arrangements fitted perfectly with the colour and tropical theme.

Popular Hydrangea Wedding Flowers

By Cindy | Wedding Flowers

I love hydrangea’s they have to be on my very long list of favourite flowers. We use hundreds of this lovely flower during the year as it’s become such a popular wedding flower. Above you can see how I’ve added a waterfall of pale blue hydrangeas to Kate and Kevin’s wedding cake.

The good news is not only does it have a very long season May – October they also comes in a wide range of colours. My two favourites are the lovely soft blue pure and white (seen above in a recent top table arrangement and below in our candelabras). Other colours include deep blue, purple, light pink, cerise pink and green

I use them to create posy bridal bouquets like this one seen below featuring the beautiful pink hydrangea teamed with peach ‘Miss Piggy’ roses and Cream lisianthus, green hypericum berries and ivory freesias.

Hydrangeas also make really lovely chair and pew ends as you only need a single flowers. Here you can see how I’ve tied them to the chairs marking the aisle for a civil ceremony outside at Wethele Manor.

Here you can see how I use them when creating low and tall wedding table centrepieces. Below you can see them in pails for a vintage wedding theme at Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa.

They also look very grand in these stunning tall table centrepieces that I created for a wedding in the Saloon at Stoneleigh Abbey.

Here are the stunning purple hydrangea’s (photo below) that I arranged for a dinner event held by Warwick University.

Hydrangeas are also fantastic for decorating churches. You can see how I have used the large white ones to create this beautiful flower arch.

See more examples of my hydrangea wedding flowers.

Need help designing your wedding flowers? Then please contact me to arrange your consultation.

Worried That Tall Wedding Centrepieces Will Block You’re View? Don’t Be.

By Cindy | Wedding Flowers

We design all of our tall wedding centrepieces so that the flowers are up high and the slim part of the vase is in the eye line. This means that the view is not lost across the table.

Weddings are all about sitting around the table enjoying the conversations and being able to see what’s going on. Wedding centrepieces should never get in the way.

The great thing about tall wedding centrepieces is they really add WOW factor to your wedding reception room. We have many designs and still continue to create new designs every year.

If you’re looking to decorate your wedding breakfast with breath taking flowers then contact me to discuss your ideas. I have a background in design before re-training as a professional florist, so I can help you to design the wedding centrepieces of your dreams.

Who Wears a Buttonhole for a Wedding?

By Cindy | Wedding Flowers

The gents’ wear buttonholes and the ladies wear corsages. Now when it comes to deciding who needs one then my advice is to stick to the main wedding party.

Here is simple guide to who needs a wedding buttonhole:

First and foremost it’s the groom! Often we make the groom’s buttonhole slightly different to the rest of the gent’s by adding a small extra detail. Here you can see one I created for a recent Groom. I’ve added a small pine cone and deep blue berries to match with the bridal bouquet that had a winter wedding theme.

You can see from the two photo’s below how the Groom’s buttonhole features the main flower in the brides bouquet, so that you get a lovely coordinated look.

Next you need to include buttonholes for the dad’s, best man, ushers, page boys and don’t forget any granddads.

Basically you want to include the gents’ in the main wedding party that are likely to feature in the wedding photos. Above you can see a photo from Lauren and Anthony’s wedding that I produced the wedding flowers for at Ansty Hall.

I look forward to hearing from you to discuss all your wedding flower requirements. Please use the contact form or you can call me on 0788 7557489.