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Last weekend saw our first wedding of the New Year and it was at One Whitehall Place
Eleni and Paul wanted a very rich but not too wintry feel for their day so we chose a combination of rich dark red Freedom and Grand Prix Roses, red Skimmia and Ronaldo Tulips with Hypericum and Cotoneaster berries around silver candelabra
Eleni carried a mix of Grand Prix Roses, scarlet Anenomes and black eyed Germini – her favourite flower
Something that is becoming more and more popular is a message tree. Guests can write a message to the bride and groom during the reception and hang it on the tree
It makes a wonderful momento for the couple to look back on over the years
It seems we wait ages for Christmas and then it comes along all in a rush and we eat too much and collapse! Well this year I was working almost up to the last day creating some festive Christmas displays for one of my loveliest clients in Kensington – Happy Christmas Jenny and John! After that I was happy just to stop, lock up the van and keep away from the snow
Christmas at home was a lovely affair just with my two boys, big and small, although the small one is now taller than me. You can tell you have a teenager in the house when they wake up later than you on Christmas morning and don’t leave a trail of ripped wrapping paper down the stairs!
One good thing about being a florist at Christmas time is that you get to decorate so many trees for other people but one bad thing about being a florist at Christmas time is that you get to decorate so many trees for other people! So when you get round to your own one, it isn’t quite so exciting
No seriously, we had a lovely couple of hours hanging baubles, remembering the special ones that have to go on, finding the new bits from last year that need to be fitted in somewhere, hanging ivy around mirrors, stringing up lights and putting candles EVERYWHERE!
Anyway to all my clients – current and in the future – have a fantastic Christmas and New Year and here’s to 2011!
During December we had the last two weddings of the year which made an amazing, totally exhausting but fantastically grand total of 30 throughout 2010 – a record year and one that I was convinced would be quiet. Just shows how much I know!
Both December brides were called Sarah (Sara) and both had a primarily black and white theme with their own individual touches of course!
Here are a few photos from Sara’s wedding on 10 December at One Whitehall Place which was a very smart wedding with silver candelabra and ivy garlands, mirrored vases with white Anenomes, Lisianthus and Narcissi and a hint of old antique pink in the form of Hypnose Roses in the bouquets.
More photos to come from the professionals soon
Last weekend saw the teams working on a couple of events -
firstly the bi-annual Wedding Fair at One Whitehall Place where we met some new brides planning their days as far afield as 2012 and caught up with some brides getting married this winter to finalise some last minute details
If you are looking to get married in the next couple of years and want a stunning venue in the middle of Westminster, you could may find there are some dates available at One Whitehall Place. Check it out!
Then we were off to the Victoria Park Plaza in Victoria (where else would it be, I hear you holler!) 
for Kerry and Ilan’s wedding reception. Following the ceremony at St John’s Wood ‘Shul in the Wood’, the guests trooped down to Victoria for a fabulous reception in the hotel ballroom
Chosen theme was ‘a country wedding brought up to town’. Kerry’s bouquet featured Green Fashion Roses, white Anenome with a hint of pink at the edges, pale green Lisianthus, chocolate-scented Cosmos (yes, really!), Chincherinchee and black Viburnum berries loosely gathered together and tied with a chocolate brown ribbon
We then had tall clear vases filled with towering branches of twisted willow hung with crystal drops and Singapore Orchids
For the low displays, we wrapped palm bark around wide glass vases and filled them with a mix of herbs, Roses, Love in a Mist, Cosmos, Chincherinchee with berried ivy and Leucadendron foliage to create a very loose, just gathered feel
We set up an escort card table in the reception lobby with a carpet of lush green bun moss on which to display the guests’ name cards
With some very interesting effects provided by lighting supremos Fishers, the room looked amazing and apparently ticked all the boxes with the bride and her family!
We will have some more photos of the synagogue soon which will be added here to complete the story
I’ve just seen the photos from Josephine and Rupert’s wedding back in July and they are really lovely!
The photographer, Nick at Wild Weddings, really managed to capture the essence of the day – relaxed, a sense of the country in the middle of town and a very happy couple!
Josephine’s beautifully simple and elegant 1930’s style satin drop back dress was designed and made by Jacqueline Byrne
Josie wanted to continue the country style with long tables so everyone could sit together – we had masses of vases, tall short and round, all along the centre of each table. We had great fun at the flower market
choosing Peonies, Roses, Gladioli, Freesia, Dill and lots of other beautiful fragrant stems to use in all the table vases and the balls of flowers on top of the iron candlesticks used for the altar
With crisp white chair covers and organza sashes from the lovely Blanca at Host with Style, the Gladstone Library at One Whitehall Place looked wonderful and very different with the long trestle style tables
We reused the tall candlesticks from the altar on the top table – I do like maximising a budget, and was generally very pleased with the whole look of the day!
I’ve just received some photos from a wedding
held last August at One Whitehall Place and wanted to share them.
The Bride and Groom chose very bright colourful flowers, mango Calla Lilies, Singapore 
Orchids and Gloriosa Lilies – which aren’t really lilies at all!
We teamed these exotic hot flowers with some cool white Hydrangea and Delphinium using the latter to frame the registrar’s, and then the top, tables
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 . . .
Eleni and Paul wanted a very rich but not too wintry feel for their day so we chose a combination of rich dark red Freedom and Grand Prix Roses, red Skimmia and Ronaldo Tulips with Hypericum and Cotoneaster berries around silver candelabra
Eleni carried a mix of Grand Prix Roses, scarlet Anenomes and black eyed Germini – her favourite flower
