Just a little teaser of an upcoming wedding we will be bringing to you in the not too distant future – short, vintage-style dress from the wonderful Timeless Bride, the stunning Belle Epoque in Knutsford as a setting, and fab photos by Jonny Draper. What more could you want…?

Gemma and Paul got married at the fantastic Sandhole Oak Barn near Congleton on one of the hottest weekends of the year. I was recommended to Gemma by our good friend Michelle from Timeless Bride, who supplied the stunning dress, and these images were very kindly provided by Jo and Simon from Shoot Photography, who we had the pleasure of working with for the first time (and not the last, I hope!).

Gemma would be the first to admit that she wasn’t the world’s biggest flower expert, but she knew she loved peonies and that she wanted mainly ivory with a hint of pink. The bridesmaids were dressed in a gorgeous coffee colour, so the pink we chose had to compliment what they were wearing.

But pink is one of those colours where there is a bewildering range of flowers available, so to make sure we were on the same wavelength, Gemma went to the local diy store and picked up a paint chart so she could show me exactly what she had in mind. This is a great tip for all you brides-to-be out there and it can be an invaluable reference point for us florists when it comes to picking which varieties to use.

So we ended up using ruffly white peonies, ivory ‘Avalanche’ roses, dusky pink ‘La Belle’ roses, David Austin’s ‘Rosalind’ pale pink garden roses and pretty ‘Lydia’ spray roses, all finished with a collar of variegated hosta leaves. Paul’s buttonhole was a simple ‘Avalanche’ rose finished with a ‘Lydia’ spray rosebud and fountain grass to match.

The smell was absolutely amazing – one of the reasons why peonies and the fantastic David Austin garden roses are so popular at this time of year. The bridesmaids’ bouquets were smaller versions of Gemma’s, with some loops of beargrass to make them a little different to the bride’s flowers.

For the reception, we decided to introduce a bit more colour, as the interior of the barn is very neutral – the ideal space for decorating as there is no possibility of clashing colours! Gemma wanted the table centres to have a great impact when the guests walked into the room, so we used our tall tapered vases with loosely hand-tied seasonal flowers in shades of antique and dusky pinks with a touch of ivory.

To add interest, we used crushed cellophane inside the vases, which were then placed on circular table mirrors with simple white tealights. The flowers used were white peonies, dusky pink stocks and lisianthus, eupatorium, astilbe, ‘La Belle’ and ‘Avalanche’ roses and an amazing new antique hydrangea variety with double flowers called ‘Bijoux Classic’. The flowers were complimented with soft foliages including asparagus fern, fountain grass and trailing variegated ivy.

To see more fabulous images from Gemma and Paul’s big day, head over to Shoot Photography’s blog for the full story.

Many congratulations to the happy couple from all of us at Green Earth Flowers.