dahlia

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Annie Lennox ties the knot with vintage wedding flowers

24 September 2012 | Permalink

Annie Lennox married for the third time in an intimate ceremony on 15th September.  Annie met her husband Dr Mitch Besser in 2009, when she worked with his charity Mothers2Mothers.  The charity helps single mothers and children with Aids.

They celebrated their wedding with a boat party on the Thames.  Annie’s two daughters Lola and Tali were bridesmaids at the ceremony.  150 friends and family attended the celebration including Actor Colin Firth and comedienne Ruby Wax.

The legendary Scottish singer performed at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert and the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in London this summer.

Annie shared two pictures of her wedding flowers with fans on Facebook and Twitter.  The bride wore a floor length ivory lace gown and 1920s style headpiece.  The couple chose flowers in a vintage pastel palette including roses, dahlias, hydrangea, rosemary, sage and ivy.

The beautiful bouquet Annie posted a picture of contains garden roses, hydrangea, and dahlias in antique pink, lilac and ivory tones. The soft green sage complements the flowers and also adds a wonderful fragrance to bouquets.

Annie had previously said would not marry again, which proves that love really does conquer all.

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Floral couture at Kildare Village

16 July 2012 | Permalink

kildare-village-floral-design

This fabulous living catwalk has been designed by four-time Chelsea Young Florist of the Year, Joe Massie.  The catwalk is the highlight of Kildare Village’s Chic Summer Festival event.  There is a programme of events throughout July which include musical performances, artisan food and floral inspired cocktails.

floral-couture

Joe’s installation features three floral dresses surrounded by a carpet of flowers and plants.  The designs reflect aspects of an Irish Summer, one dress is inspired by cornflowers, one by butterflies and one by daisies.  Daisies are particularly relevant as the event’s ambassador is Daisy Lowe, she launched the event on 5th July.

Kildare-floral-pagoda

Joe’s team also decorated the performance stage and food marquee.  The exquisite designs were very labour intensive and took a team of 8 florists, five days to complete.  The catwalk will be in the open air for a month, so a combination of real and artificial materials were used to ensure the designs look perfect throughout the event.

kildare-village-floral-couture

The dresses contain fresh grasses, succulents, echeverias, lichen and branches. The plants and flowers used were roses, dahlia, hydrangea, marguerite daisies, gyposphilia, lavender, cornflowers, and cosmos.  The installation can be viewed until Sunday 29th July, at Kildare Village outlet shopping, Ireland.

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Flower of the week – Dahlia

4 June 2012 | Permalink

purple-dahlia

Common name: Dahlia

Botanical Names: Dahlia

Origin: Mexico, Central America and Columbia

Colours: all except blue

Dahlias were first discovered in Mexico in the 16th century and noted as a medicinal plant.  They were brought to Madrid in 1789 and grown in the botanic garden. They are named after Swedish botanist Anders Dahl, and pronounced DAY-lee-a.  Since 1813 commercial growers have bred dahlias and produced thousands of types, including pompoms, cactus and waterlily varieties.

white-dahlia

Dahlias are prized by gardeners for their magnificent flowers and often exhibited in horticultural shows and competitions. As Dahlias come from tropical regions they are not suited to temperatures below freezing.  It is recommended to lift the tubers and store them over winter in a frost free place.  The plants can range in height from 30cm for dwarf varieties up to 6m for the giant Tree dahlia. Some varieties produce flowers as large as a dinner plate.

They are popular as a cut flower and available mainly from June to October. Dahlias come in many colours and lots of them are vibrant or two tone shades.  They should be bought in a mature stage and handled with care as the open flowers are delicate.  They have a vase life of up to a week. They are also available as a British grown flower in late summer.

dahlia-wedding-arrangement

They are popular for weddings flowers as their peak season is through the summer.  The perfectly uniform flowers look lovely used en masse in compact bridal bouquets or table arrangements.  The British grown dahlias are often sold in bunches of gorgeous mixed jewel colours.

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