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During the course of talking with so many brides and grooms about their wedding plans, inevitably the subject of ‘The Honeymoon’ comes up. Even if money is tight, just as many couples seem to be taking exotic, long haul trips and taking as much time away from work and the stresses of the previous few months as they can
If you are planning a trip down under. a brilliant way to kick start a honeymoon in New Zealand would be at the wonderful Brantome Villa. With its beautiful country setting on the edge of a lake, 2 hours drive north of Auckland, it is the perfect hub for some amazing sightseeing
This wonderful B&B has been refurbished with upmarket contemporary styling; with fresh flowers, champagne and handmade chox on arrival and THE most friendly, welcoming hosts, a British couple who have made a successful new life in NZ and clearly love what they do, you may never leave
A mere 45 minute drive takes you to the stunning Bay of Islands and more around Northland – Paihia, the Kauri Coast and the Poor Knights marine reserve, the latter named by Jacques Cousteau as one of the top dive locations in the world
Known as ‘City of 100 Beaches’, Whangarei has many unspoilt sandy beaches all within easy reach of Brantome Villa, there are a number of outstanding Golf Clubs nearby and some beautiful walks plus the Zion Wildlife Gardens, a big cat sanctuary in Whangarei (as seen on UK TV in The Lion Man)
Or if you fancy actually getting married in NZ, Brantome can organise that too – everything from the service to the catering, confetti and clearing up can be done on site in their new gorgeous garden gazebo. But enough of me ranting on, check out Trip Advisor for reviews. More photos to follow
August has definitely been a busy month culminating in a wedding filled Bank Holiday Weekend. We’ve had a couple of trips to Greenwich, to Charlton House and the Trafalgar Tavern. Photos of these weddings will follow later but they were all very different in style
Firstly at Charlton House we had a very bright mix of flowers – burnt orange Maryo Roses teamed with deep pink Amalia Roses for the bridesmaids plus a little replica made with fake flowers for 5 year old flower girl Dion to play with at home
The top table and guests’ tables featured hot pink, gold and purple Orchids with burnt orange Roses, purple Celosia and bright green Shamrock Chrysanthemums. The colours worked brilliantly in the dark panelled Library and were highlighted with some fairy lights around the Gallery and a starlight curtain installed by wedding planners 15 Degrees
The next day were were back in Greenwich again at the Trafalgar Tavern situated right down on the waterfront with wonderful views over the river. I can show you Kasia’s bouquet in our signature brown box but will have more photos to follow soon. The delicate, pale creamy Vendella Roses were teamed with fragrant ivory Freesia and the beautiful starry flowers of white Bouvardia, bound with ivory grosgrain ribbon and lace details
Next we were off to One Whitehall Place for Daniela
and Jakub’s wedding set in the glorious surroundings of the Gladstone Library
We had tall vases with white Singapore Orchids and low displays comprising fragrant white Lilies, Akito Roses, Freesia and wonderful pale green English Lisianthus
We used the tall vase displays in the ceremony room first and then moved them to the Reception tables which gave a lovely continuity to the proceedings . . . and extended the budget
. . . well she often says she feels like a food mixer! But then she is Zoe and she runs the best cake shop in North West London, bake-a-boo
Apart from getting up each day, at what to anyone other than a florist is an ungodly hour, to bake hundreds of cup cakes, she has also been working on her first cookbook which launches on September 6th
If you love cakes, then you will love this book, as they say. Pre order via the bake-a-boo website to make sure you get a copy straight away and get baking! But don’t stop visiting the shop too, as there is nothing better than sitting down to a pot of tea brewed by someone else and munching on lemon drizzle cake, chocolate sprinkle cupcakes or my favourite, Victoria sponge cake . . . hang on, where’s my coat!
It does get a little ’skin of the teeth’ when you have
a Monday wedding followed by a Friday wedding! But everything went perfectly in both cases and the weather held too. After Monday’s wedding in deep countryside at up Brocket Hall, we were today in the heart of Mayfair at the wonderful Grade II listed Dartmouth House. See photographer Yvonne Blume’s blog on the wedding here with better photos than I can take!
We used a white palette for the reception flowers, which were perfect against the soft blue decor in the main Drawing Room
Rich purple Delphinium and Lisianthus mixed with pure white fragrant Stock, Roses and Gladioli set the scene at St Oswalds in Norbury (photos to follow) and we used creamy white Amaryllis in both tall and low displays at Dartmouth House.
Bride Julie was able to have her favourite glorious white Peony -
practically the last of the season, they just about held on for the day and I even managed to sneak a few into the top table display! Her bridesmaids carried a purple and white mix of Freesia, Lisianthus, Agapanthus and spray Roses
Today’s wedding was being co-ordinated by the lovely Helen at Helen Carter Weddings
Helen has a very innovative take on wedding planning and is happy to get involved right from the get go, straight after he pops the question or just help with last minute organisation and on the day. Have a look at her website – it may give you something to think about . . .
Last weekend, I was very glad that the temperature had cooled a little. It is difficult to keep wedding flowers looking at their best when the heat is intense and the flowers are wilting – not to mention the florist who is also melting! 
On Friday we were in the heart of the city at St Helens church, Bishopsgate and then the wonderful new Haberdasher’s Hall in Smithfield with bright orange Maryo Roses and dark purple Lisianthus. The reception tables had fish bowls full of burnt orange Mango Calla Lilies with strips of Bear Grass
Monday morning we were off to the Auberge du Lac and its fantastic setting in the grounds of Brocket
Hall. With views over the lake and up to the main house, this former hunting lodge is a very romantic venue for a wedding reception with its lovely relaxed atmosphere and the staff couldn’t be more friendly and helpful
Annie wanted very pale peach and soft green flowers to complement the apple green of the bridesmaids’ dresses and her gorgeous dress
So we chose peachy Vendella Roses, pure white Lilies, exotic Singapore Orchids with some pale green Lisianthus and Guelder Rose teamed with fragrant silvery blue Eucalyptus
We were working alongside the lovely ladies at Heavenley Chair Covers who also designed and set up the fabulous tables following the bride’s chosen palette of apple green. They seem to have an almost endless supply of different coloured sashes and a bundle of ideas on table dex – give them a call if you want a truly unique look
Our July weddings have started – we have a record 8 scheduled for this month and the different teams working on them have been running around far and near!
The first I can share with you was held in the beautiful church of St John the
Baptist in Little Missenden.
With a Scottish groom involved, it was a challenge to co-ordinate the flowers with an unusual tartan, but Jessie and I had great fun choosing pale blue, purple, red and green flowers at the flower market.
Then last week, we came back into the centre of London for a sun filled wedding party at the Kensington Roof Gardens. Bowls of Freesia, Dahlia and Roses with bright coral Peonies combined to make a real summer party with the sun blazing down on the glorious gardens of this unique rooftop venue.
The bride looked beautiful and carried vibrant coral Peonies and fragrant Freesia. The bridesmaids were in very glamorous coral pink dresses and each had an ivory Singapore Orchid wrist corsage tied with pale gold ribbons. 
There seems to be a trend emerging for bright wedding flowers at the moment! Coral is a fave in terms of both dresses and flowers. So watch this space!
Or in my case – lights, camera, no battery! I can finally share some photos from a few recent weddings where my camera was less than useless. But thank heaven for wedding photographers.
In January, David Hares at www.contemporaryweddings.net photographed Claire and Simon’s wedding at The National Liberal Club. Claire chose a beautiful selection of purple and 
dark red Roses, Anemones, Ranunculus and Lisianthus with glossy green berried Ivy to complement the rich, clubby decor in the Dining Room with mirrored silver vases to set off the venue’s candelabra.
The National Liberal Club shares the same building as One Whitehall Place and The Royal Horseguards Hotel just west of Northumberland Avenue.
A very central venue with fantastic views over the Thames, it doesn’t have the grand high ceilings of the Gladstone Library upstairs at OWP but is still a very commanding and dramatic place.
We’ve had a flurry of wedding consultation recently which just goes to prove that love is all around! Working on proposals for Autumn and Winter weddings is a bit confusing when it is 24 degrees outside but there are some great ideas coming out.
Nearer to home, July is going to be a busy month and a varied one for wedding styles. We have a country wedding with bright, striking colours and the most beautiful 13th century church I’ve ever seen; ivory and burnt orange on a Thames Riverboat; Spicy oranges and reds for a central London rooftop extravaganza; delicate pinks and ivories with long guests’ tables and finally white and purples to round off the month
Well, it seems the wedding season has started with a vengence.
We installed some beautiful flowers for a wedding yesterday at St James’ Clerkenwell which was, luckily, fantastically cool as the Peonies we were using were very hot, in both colour and temperature! We then went on to The Larder restaurant in St John Street with some vibrant purple and hot pink seasonal flowers – Stock, Roses, Dahlia, Freesia mixed in with some scented herbs set in mirrored silver pots (photos to follow soon).
Today we had two events so our wedding teams went off in different directions – one to the city and St Helen’s on Bishopsgate (photos to follow) and the other to One Whitehall Place.
This wedding was joining a Greek bride with an Italian groom so we had Olive branches, Eucalyptus, pale pink Sposina roses (it apparently means ‘little bride’), Maroussia roses as they were named for Louisa’s grandmother and a bouquet including
Lily of the Valley from my garden because the Mother of the bride had some in her wedding bouquet – it was a real family affair!
Clearly the lovely weather has cheered everyone up! We’ve had a big surge in enquiries 
over the past month both for this year and next and I’m looking forward to working on some fab weddings with some wonderful brides . . . and grooms of course!
It looks like we will be returning to some of our favourite venues – One Whitehall Place, of course, the beautiful Dartmouth House in Mayfair, the Kensington Roof Gardens as well as some new ones like Charlton House in Greenwich and the Haberdashers’ Hall in the City. Photos will be posted as soon as possible after the weddings along with details of the flowers involved.
A mere 45 minute drive takes you to the stunning Bay of Islands and more around Northland – Paihia, the Kauri Coast and the Poor Knights marine reserve, the latter named by Jacques Cousteau as one of the top dive locations in the world
