English flowers

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The royal wedding is only a few weeks away now and the whole country is eagerly awaiting the big day. We brits don’t need much of an excuse for a party, but a royal wedding is as good a reason as any. Admittedly, for some the excitement is due to an extended break from work, tagging the Easter holidays onto the royal wedding weekend.  But I can’t wait to see what Kate will choose for her flowers and dress.

It has been banded about that Prince William and Kate might decide to go for British flowers, which would highlight the gorgeous cut flowers we can produce in Britain.  It’s a little early in the year for some British grown flowers, so they would be limited to spring pretties if they did choose to stick with just home grown flowers.  I would love to see William and Kate go for British flowers, and a selection of spring flowers would be beautiful.  Tulips, anemones, hyacinths, narcissi and lily of the valley are all available in April.

Lily of the valley wedding bouquet

When Camilla married Charles, Prince of Wales in 2005, she carried a pretty wired posy of lily of the valley and primroses for her bouquet.  The wedding was quite low key and her petite bouquet reflected this.  It included some Myrtle from Queen Victoria’s Garden on the Isle of Wight. Queen Victoria included a sprig of Myrtle in her wedding bouquet and then planted the Myrtle in her garden afterwards.  Since then all royal brides have included Myrtle in their bouquets including Queen Elizabeth II and Diana, Princess of Wales.  Myrtle is said to be the herb of love and is thought to bring good luck.  It is expected Kate will include Myrtle in her bouquet too.

Kate’s flower choices will obviously depend a lot of the type of dress she wears.  If she picks a fairy tale style dress with a large full skirt she may choose a trailing shower bouquet to balance the dress.  This type of bouquet is usually thought of as more traditional.  Shower bouquets have seemed to be out of fashion for many years as handtied bouquets were so popular.  But teardrop shape bouquets have been making a comeback recently, either as a smaller more compact version with a lot less fussy foliage or as a very modern waterfall design constructed on a decorative wire base with minimal flowers wired on.

Teardrop wedding bouquet

My bet for Kate’s flower style is understated elegance.  I think she will go for a teardrop shaped bouquet in neutral colours, not a large bouquet with long foliage like Princess Diana had, but a simpler contemporary version.  Most spring flowers are not very well suited to trailing bouquets as they are wired, so I’m not sure Kate will pick British flowers, since she would have to use spring flowers at this time of year.

Whatever flowers Prince William and Kate decide on for their big day, I’m sure they will be fabulous.  Kate always looks very elegant and stylish.  I just hope the sun shines for them on the 29th.

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Why don’t many independant florists sell fairtrade flowers?   The ethos behind Fairtrade flowers is to provide better prices and working conditions for the farmers who grow and harvest them in developing countries.  Which is a noble cause, but the vast majority of flowers in florist shops are grown in Holland.

Although many people assume all flowers are from far flung places and sold via Holland.   Holland actually grows many flowers itself such as orchids, syringa, anthurium, freesia, chrysanthemum, roses, lilies, amaryllis, anemones and hyacinths.   Holland is obviously not a third world country, it has fair minimum wage and proper health and safety laws etc.  Dutch flowers also have the benefit of less air miles than flowers shipped from Kenya or Ecuador.

You may have noticed that most suppliers of Fair Trade flowers are large companies such as supermarkets and the big online businesses; there is a good reason for this.  The certification process to be a supplier is arduous and expensive, therefore not feasible for small independent companies.

If you are interested in flowers grown in Africa or Kenya there is no shortage of supermarkets offering these.  But since Holland and the UK grow many beautiful flowers, I prefer to get flowers closer to home where possible.  British flowers are exquisite and I love to use them when they are available.

english peonies, alstromeria, snap dragons and lisianthus

A lot depends on the weather but they are generally available May to September.  With spring flowers such as tulips and daffodils starting from February onwards.  I can source English peonies, stocks, dahlias, asters, lisianthus, alstromeria and freesia.  With a bouquet of English flowers you can take comfort in the knowledge you are supporting the British economy and your flowers have not been transported half way across the world to reach you.

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Wedding Flowers

I love designing wedding flowers, they are definitely my favourite part of floristry. From small intimate family ceremonies to lavish celebrations in castles. Every wedding is individual and very personal to the bride and groom. Some people know exactly what they want, and which flowers they would like in all their wedding designs. Some only have a colour scheme in mind and are happy for me to let my creative juices flow by designing beautiful bouquets and fabulous table centres to suit their theme.

The seasons greatly affect the flowers used for weddings, as seasonal flowers are often the best quality and reflect the time of year perfectly. As well as being the best value for the time of year. Spring brings sweet scented narcissus and hyacinths and a vast array of colours. There are over two hundred varieties of tulips alone. In summer beautiful and precious flowers like peonies are available for a short period of time, which makes them even more desirable. As well as exquisite beauties such as hydrangeas, delphiniums, and agapanthus.  I use a lot of English flowers in summer weddings and even some flowers grown in Cheshire.

The rich and vivid shades in autumn bring warmth to weddings with flowers like celosia, amaranthus and dahlias, mixed with interesting foliages and magnificent glossy berries. Winter weddings are also popular with cool whites such as stephanotis and freesia or warm reds like velvety amaryllis and ilex berries.
Contemporary Bridal Bouquet Star Wand Phalaenopsis Orchid

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