Jo and Alex were married back in June at The Tower of London (yes, that one!). They did a fantastic job of getting our flowers down the motorway in one piece, having been packed super carefully (by me) into the back of a transit van. When the photos came through from photographer Nick Rose, I was surprised to see how well everything survived – Jo’s bouquet looked exactly as it had when I waved it goodbye the day before the wedding.

The bouquet was a classic and elegant combination of highly scented white English peonies, lily of the valley, calla lilies and cream hypericum berries, finished with a collar of hosta leaves.

The ceremony took place in the very exclusive Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula within The Tower of London.

We got a lovely thankyou card from the happy couple recently…

“Dear Laura,

We just wanted to say thankyou very much for the beautiful flowers you provided for our wedding on 25th June. Everything arrived in London in one piece and still looked beautiful and fresh the next day. Our day was fantastic and thankyou for helping to make it so memorable. With best wishes, Alex and Jo xx”

Many thanks to Nick Rose for sending these images through – you can read his blog post about the wedding here.

Alex chose a wonderful selection of early spring flowers in rich shades of purple, aubergine, violet and cerise pink. We included hyacinths, double tulips, ranunculus, anemones, veronica, lisianthus and skimmia, and added lots of lush asparagus fern and ivy trails to give a wild feel to the bouquet. This bouquet image is one of my all time favourites, photographed by the fantastic Tobiah Tayo.

The flower girls carried rustic willow hoops, decorated with purple tulips, lilac ‘Cool Water’ roses and lots of ivy trails.

Jon sported a matching buttonhole of purple tulip and deep violet ranunculus.

Alex’s big surprise was that her dress was not the usual ivory number, but a beautiful sage green – the rich jewel colours of the flowers really complemented the design.

The ceremony space at Great John Street leads out on to a roof terrace with stunning views over Manchester. More importantly, the hotel is next door to Granada Studios, home of Coronation Street – you can even see Dev’s actual shop if you know what you’re looking for!

For the reception, the tables were very simply dressed with berry-coloured organza runners, chunky church candles, willow twigs and flower heads.

Instead of a traditional wedding cake, the guests were treated to a quirky cheese cake, which we decorated with fruit, foliage and flower heads.

Many congratulations to Alex and Jon (although a bit belated), and thanks to Tobiah Tayo for sending these images through.

Amy chose a pretty, compact bouquet of vintage-shaded roses. We included ivory Avalanche roses, antique pink Belle Rose, Hypnose and Upper Secret roses and Pepita spray roses, all complemented by green hydrangea florets, sedum and berried eucalyptus.

Amy’s beautiful dress was from the fantastic Timeless Bride in Poynton.

Her bridesmaids carried simple hand-tied posies of ivory Avalanche and Akito roses, spray roses, green hydrangea and trachelium.

Amy’s mum wore a simple wrist corsage of ivory roses with eucalyptus, ivy leaves and myrtle berries

For the table centres, we created low arrangements with chunky ivory church candles – a base of eucalyptus, myrtle, berried tree ivy, lime green hypericum and ivy trails was finished with ivory Avalanche roses, spray roses, trachelium and autumnal snowberry.

A simply-iced three tier cake was transformed with an abundance of antique pink roses and spray roses between the tiers, all finished with a perfect domed cake topper.

Many thanks to Nina at Paparella for sending these images through. And I couldn’t finish without mentioning that shirt… I think we did a pretty good job of matching the flowers to it!

Gladys normally lives in the shop toilet, but is occasionally let out on good behaviour to be decorated for use in a window display. She has no arms or hair, removable legs (still in the toilet), and has been subjected to all sorts of floral abuse over the years, but never complains.

For our Mother’s Day window, she has had oasis applied to her head in order to facilitate the construction of a gyp afro (the only way that gyp can ever work is en masse). She was then transformed into ‘Disco Gladys’ with a vintage bikini (courtesy of one of Poynton’s many charity shops), shades, ‘disco’ necklace and 70s purple bandana.

Now resplendent in the window, she is being pointed and laughed at by small children and old men. She has also inspired the naming of our bouquets on this year’s Mother’s Day price list, which can be viewed here.

Call in to the shop or give us a ring to place your order for delivery on either Saturday or Sunday. You can also collect on the day itself – we will be open between 10am and 2pm for all you last-minuters!

Sarah and Arran were married at The Avenue Methodist Church in Sale followed by a reception at The Belle Epoque in Knutsford.

From our first meeting, it was obvious that Sarah was not your typical bride – no talk of handtied bouquets, pretty colours, vintage feel or country garden style here! So we got out the special books – those amazing European floral design magazines that are so inspiring to us florists – and started to design a unique bridal bouquet in her chosen colours of plum, aubergine, violet and purple.

The colours were inspired by the tartan fabric chosen for Arran’s kilt, and also to reflect the decor at The Belle Epoque. Sarah’s dress was a simple but stunning halterneck design, supplied by Michelle at Timeless Bride in Poynton.

We used ‘Violet Beauty’ vanda orchids, black callas, brunia, typha, galax and hydrangea in the top part of the bouquet. The decorative, floor-length wire trail was decorated and threaded with deconstructed carnations, beads, pearls, brunia, eucalyptus berries, vanda petals, heather, lily grass and typha, all woven together to create a multi-textured design.

The church was decorated with a huge contemporary pedestal design in matching colours, incorporating ‘Violet Beauty’ vanda orchids, hydrangea, alliums, ‘Hot Chocolate’ calla lilies and plenty of striking architectural foliages such as phormium and strelitzia leaves.

Two matching contemporary candle arrangements were placed on the altar.

Sarah’s bridesmaid wore an unusual wrist corsage, designed to match Sarah’s bouquet with decorative wire, ‘Violet Beauty’ vanda orchids, brunia, beads and eucalyptus berries.

The reception was held at The Belle Epoque in Knutsford – the decor was a perfect match for the colours of Arran’s kilt and the flowers.

I’d like to say a huge thankyou to Sarah for being so trusting and for allowing my creativity to run riot on her wedding flowers. Also, many thanks to Liam of CG Weddings for supplying these wonderful images – you can see more from Sarah and Arran’s day over on his blog. I’ve saved my favourite till last…

Firstly, we have Jean and John, both married previously, and wanting a simple, but stylish day for them and their families.  Jean opted for a pretty handbag corsage of seasonal, delicate summer flowers, all in shades of pink, blue, lilac and green.

And here’s John’s matching rose buttonhole, finished with hydrangea and spray rose buds to match his bride.

For their reception at The Bridge Hotel in Prestbury, we created mirrored cube vase table centres, filled with lush summer flowers including hydrangea, celosia, roses, lisianthus, honesty and fountain grass.

Next up, we have Isabel and Carl’s intimate wedding in the Lake District. Not only did the flowers have to be beautiful, but also robust enough to travel up the day before and arrive in perfect condition. Here’s Isabel’s vintage-inspired bouquet, incorporating antique pink calla lilies, pink and ivory roses and spray roses, sedum, berried eucalyptus and fountain grass.

And here are the matching buttonholes, using the indestructible calla lily – apparently they were still going strong days later!

Another trend this year has been couples opting to get married abroad, who then have a party back at home for all their extended friends and family. First of these was Laura and Paul, who were married in sunny Majorca. They then held a big party in a marquee at Paul’s uncle’s farm in not-so-sunny Derbyshire for all the people that couldn’t make it.

We used the same purple and white colour theme for the table centres, using our simple glass cube vases, dyed purple water and stunning purple and white ‘Picasso’ calla lilies, finished with grasses, hypericum berries and rolled dark cordyline leaves.

We decorated the buffet table with two huge arrangements of purple gladioli, steelgrass and textured foliage, for maximum impact.

Just last weekend, we decorated a marquee for another couple who were married recently in Cyprus. They wanted to reflect the tropical holiday vibe in the flowers (even though it was a predictably dreary October day!), so we used a vibrant turquoise, orange, cerise and lime green colour scheme.

We used bright orange gerberas, cerise pink roses, orange nutans, lime green anthuriums and turquoise beads in the vases, all reflected in circular table mirrors.

The buffet table was decorated with two arrangements of callas, gerberas, heliconias, nutans, kangaroo paw and a selection of tropical leaves, all adding to the vibrant feel.

Big congratulations to all our wonderful mini-wedding/double celebration couples!

We hadn’t done a wedding fair for a while, so weren’t sure what to expect from the day, but it was non-stop and we got to meet some lovely brides and grooms (and bridesmaids and mothers of brides), and hear about their exciting wedding plans.

We decided to reflect the amazing decor of the venue in the colours for our display – a rich mix of purple, aubergine and cerise pink.

Here’s a collection of our black glassware for different table centre ideas – glorious massed purple carnations (yes, carnations!) topped with a stunning single ‘Violet Beauty’ vanda orchid head, a simple, single stem of the aforementioned orchid, and a beautiful autumn antique hydrangea head finished with dark rolled cordyline leaves and bullion wire.

Here’s our large black glass urn topped with a mossed ball, embellished with a weave of lily grass, bullion wire, carnation petals and vanda orchids.

And here’s a bridal bouquet to match – rolled dark cordyline leaves, velvety ‘Black Baccara’ roses, antique hydrangea, silver-grey brunia, black calla lilies, cerise pink celosia and more of the stunning ‘Violet Beauty’ vanda orchids.

Not to forget the chaps, here’s Green Earth Flowers’ web designer extraordinaire and part-time delivery driver Derren, modelling a snazzy black calla lily buttonhole, finished with brunia to match the bridal bouquet.

For the purists, we also made a few pieces in a classic colour palette of white, cream and green, an elegant choice suitable for any season or venue.

A hand-tied seasonal bridal bouquet of classic ivory ‘Avalanche’ roses, white dahlias, leucadendron, astilbe, poppy seedheads, fountain grass and lime green cymbidium orchid heads, all finished with a collar of delicate umbrella fern.

And here’s the matching table centre – a mirrored cube vase filled with the same flowers, displayed on a circular table mirror with simple clear glass tealight holders.

Finally, a slightly more vintage-style bouquet – a hand-tied shower of a beautiful new variety of rose called ‘Green Fashion’, peachy spray roses, snowberry, astilbe, fountain grass and berried eucalyptus.

I’ve already had meetings with a couple of the brides we met on the day, so hopefully The Belle Epoque will be seeing much more of us in the next year. Head over to our facebook page to see some sneaky images of a real-life wedding we did here a couple of weeks ago – full blog post to come soon…

I was actually beaten to this a couple of weeks ago by the must-read UK wedding blog Rock My Wedding, who did a week of wonderful features on the myriad ways of using this much-maligned colour. Check out their amazing peach inspiration board…

So, what are you waiting for?

Chocolate/mocha/mushroom bridesmaids? Peach flowers.

Sophisticated grey/white/black colour scheme? Obviously peach.

Autumnal but don’t want orange or yellow? That would be peach then.

Pretty and vintage but not pink? Peach is the answer.

The bridal bouquet above is by Florette Designs, as featured in a beautiful bridal inspiration shoot on Style Me Pretty today. If that doesn’t convince you, then nothing will.

Peach – it’s the future (or the present if you live in America).

We’re always that little bit behind, but we’ll get there in the end…

Here’s another wonderfully bright bridal bouquet that I spotted on JL Designs’ blog – so simple, yet so effective. The only components are yellow dahlias and craspedia (Americans call them billy buttons), with the bridesmaids carrying massed bouquets of frilly chrysanthemum blooms, finish with turquoise ribbon to match their dresses.

In the UK, these flowers are available from late summer into early autumn, so would be perfect for a September or October wedding. Love this colour scheme…

You can see the rest of this fabulous wedding over on JL Designs’ blog.

Kate and James were married at Sandhole Oak Barn near Congleton in Cheshire. We’d been there a few days earlier for the wedding of Gemma and Paul, but the look and feel of this celebration was totally different – a good example of what can be done at a venue like this.

Kate had chosen a stunning lace dress from Michelle at Timeless Bride in Poynton, and wanted the simplicity and elegance of a pure white colour scheme for the flowers. So if we’re talking elegant, glamorous and white, there’s only one real option – phalaenopsis orchids. Kate had seen this style of bouquet from a previous wedding we’d done, and knew it was the one for her.

When the flowers are this perfect, there’s no need to over-complicate things, so we just used phalaenopsis orchid ‘Red Lip’ on their natural stems and finished it off with a pure white satin ribbon handle.

The bridesmaids were in stylish ice blue dresses, so we chose to keep things simple again with bouquets of pure white hydrangea, finished with delicate silver bullion wire threaded with tiny silver and pearl beads to match the detail on Kate’s dress.

James sported a beautiful single ‘Red Lip’ phalaenopsis orchid head finished with a silver bullion wire ball for his buttonhole, while the other men in the bridal party had small clusters of white hydrangea to match the bridesmaids. The mums had simple but glamorous phalaenopsis orchid corsages.

The entrance to the barn was dressed with swags of seasonal white flowers, including roses, alliums, agapanthus and stocks, finished with trailing ivy.

For the ceremony, we lined the aisle with fresh white rose petals, and provided confetti cones of petals for the guests to throw. We had also dressed the chairs with white covers and white bows to give a classic, elegant look to the room.

We placed two huge ‘Red Lip’ phalaenopsis orchid plants in white pots dressed with twigs and moss at the top of the aisle. The lucky mums got to take these home as thankyou gifts.

The reception tables were decorated with our elegant tall conical vases which we topped with massed white hydrangea heads finished with fountains of steelgrass.

We wanted to make a more dramatic statement with the top table arrangement, so used a selection of seasonal white flowers such as alliums, stocks, roses, phlox and poppy seedheads interspersed with chunky church candles. This was all finished with a flamboyant waterfall of trailing foliages including asparagus fern and ivy, with a final touch of silver wire threaded with perfumed stephanotis heads.

The three tier cake was simply decorated with white hydrangea to match the bridesmaids’ bouquets and table centres.

All in all, a hugely stylish, elegant wedding day, which we were very proud to be a part of. Thanks to Chris Hanley for sending these fantastic images through – you can see the full gallery over on his blog. Kate and James’ wedding has also been featured on English Wedding – many thanks to Claire for the lovely write-up.

And last, but not least, thankyou to Kate and James – we hope you enjoyed your day and wish you all the best for the future…