An Enchanted Dream at Pennard House

A magical June wedding at Pennard House

Victoria and Sam, what a wonderful couple and what an amazing wedding to have the pleasure to work on. Some weddings get you so excited as a florist and this was one of them!

They had a strong vision when they first came to talk to me and there was an underlying theme of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ with lots of foliages and everything looking natural and magical.

Pennard House worked as the perfect backdrop and as Victoria said herself ‘gave us the perfect balance of a bohemian venue with tipis, fields and forest, with the elegance and convenience of the house and coach house for the reception’.

Everything that they wanted fitted perfectly with the style of floristry that I love to create. Lots of bushy foliages to give an intimate and cosy feel mixed with rambling garden flowers and touches of wild looking flowers.

Victorias sense of style pulled everything together with antique brass candlesticks complimenting my gold mercury vases, gold tipped White feathers and wildflower favours on the tables, a mountain of fairy lights and a dreamy huge mirror as the table plan, oh and the most stunning table name cards that I’ve seen to date!

The weather on the day was a rollercoaster. One minute it was boiling hot and the next it was torrential rain which made deciding whether to place the ceremony flowers inside or out a bit tricky but, Victoria was adamant that she wanted to marry outside, so on the morning of the wedding we stuck with the decision to ‘flower up’ the pavillion at Pennard and wow, what a perfect decision to make. The incredible and unique photos by Tom Halliday say it all. I am so lucky to do flowers for such amazing couples!

Planning details

‘Quicksand’ Roses complimented the pale sage Green of the bridesmaids dresses and were mixed with various textured dainty wild looking flowers and lots of foliages. The touch of Blue in the Nigella just added that little something extra.

Victoria looked like a goddess in her crown and there was much discussion about it being ‘not too big and not too small’

They had bouquets, buttonholes, hair crowns, table flowers, ceremony flowers, stair flowers and reception foliage installations. Budget required £2500 - £3000.

You can find more details and photos on the ‘love my dress’ page

Spring wedding at Hamswell House

Glorious May wedding at Hamswell House

Laura and Jonathans wedding was one of those that you know you are going to completely enjoy putting together. They came to me via a recommendation from Hamswell House and it was one of those weddings that you didn’t want to have to wait a year to do!

Their ceremony was being held at The Assembly Rooms and they very sensibly decided to put their money into one focal flower feature rather than some chair ends and a smaller signing table arrangement. Your ceremony is going to be where most of your photos are taken so although it’s lovely for the guests to be able to enjoy flowers on the chairs, I always recommend focussing your money where the photos that will end up on your walls are being taken.

We opted for a split arch to suit the shaping of the pillars in the room and what a magnificent room it is. We also discussed moving it after the ceremony back to Hamswell House. This option isn’t always feasible but because Hamswell House has so much space it worked effortlessly. I’m so pleased that we made it work because it made for some incredible photos both at the ceremony and back at Hamswell House.

The marquee was dressed with lots of greenery and a central chandelier of hanging foliages above the couples table whilst the guest ones were kept elegant with a gold mercury vase that looked so beautiful with the Cappuccino colours.

Hamswell House is one of those dream venues where there is plenty of space and time for both yourselves and also for your suppliers and I cannot recommend it enough if you’re looking.

Planning

Roses were the main feature of this wedding. ‘Cappuccino’ and ‘Cafe Latte’ Roses supplied both the warm colour and the incredible fragrance. They were mixed with a few touches of White Wax flower and Stocks. Then alot of mixed foliages giving a strong background.

They had bouquets, buttonholes, table flowers, marquee dressing and the split archway. Budget required £1800 - £2000.

The incredible photos were taken by James Fear photography (click for info)

Amazing venue is Hamswell House (click for info)

Ceremony was at The Assembly Rooms, Bath (click for info)

Spring wedding at Orchardleigh House, Somerset

An opulent April Spring wedding

Ellie came to me by recommendation which is always great! They had chosen Orchardleigh House because of how many guests you can have to stay overnight. They originally wanted to marry in the Church within the grounds but their guest list soon grew and so they changed to Lullington Church instead.

Ellie changed her mind quite a few times about the scheme. Infact I think she completely changed about three times and when I say changed, I don’t mean added a flower or colour, I mean dramatically changed from bright colours to deep colours to eventually Whites and Greens! It can make for a tough decision when you like so many things and Pinterest shows so many options but I often say to look at your home. Is it full of minimal chic styles? Is every room a different colour? When you look at paints are you more drawn to Greens? What about the seasons? Which is your favourite?

She wanted lots of decoration and we were able to also add in some beautiful textures from the garden like Solomans Seal which have a lovely arching shape. They didn’t want to spend too much money in the Church but wanted a statement piece for photos so we opted for a simple delicate arch for them to marry under. As it was late April, the days were getting longer but they could still be dark at times so we included tealights within the table flowers to feel atmospheric and cosy.

Ivy garlands on the pillars and big statement fireplace arrangements helped to bring the room in because she wanted lower arrangements on the tables. The Gold mercury vases matched the opulence of the room and the decor.

They were such a fun and lovely couple to work with and I completely enjoyed being a part of their wedding.

Planning

Roses were mixed with Ranunculus, Lilac, Viburnum and Spirea

They had bouquets, buttonholes, table flowers, staircase installation, Ivy garlands on the pillars, fireplace arrangements and a Church arch. Budget required approx £2700 - £3000.

All the stunning photos below are by Lucy Tanner

Spring wedding at Pennard House, Somerset

A glorious sunny March wedding

This was the last wedding that I did a year ago before the official lock down of 2020 began and it was a wonderful one!

Rosie contacted me by email saying that she loved some of the images she’d seen of my work on social media (it doesn’t get much better than that!). She sent me a pinterest board of images that had caught her attention which gave me a good starting point to understand what she liked before we talked.

Rosie wasn’t completely sure how she wanted her flowers to look but during our chat she mentioned that they were off to New Zealand for a couple of months and that she would love to incorporate their travels somehow. I always think of New Zealand as luscious and Green so Ferns seemed an obvious choice (and one of my favourite foliages to use) .

It also became apparent during our talks that both Rosie and Nick were keen to keep things as sustainable as possible. At this time in March, it can be tricky to find enough interesting flowers and foliages to make a wedding but I assured them that my processes are as sustainable as possible when it comes to putting it all together, using moss and chicken wire to arrange with rather than plastic floral foams.

Rosie showed me photos of bouquets that were pretty and delicate, not oversized or too unruly. Ones that had a botanical feel with textured foliages but that were still romantic and elegant. We went with a simple Aikto Rose for the buttonholes to fit in with this minimalist chic. This is quite often my Rose of choice over blousey ones because it holds up to all those hugs!

My favourite staircase was decorated to create a warm welcome as you enter the coach house. I just love this staircase. Every time I decorate them it feels exciting and every time it looks different depending on the season which brings me so much joy.

They married at Pennard Church and opted for pew end flowers in a trailing shape (my favourite style) It was the first time that I had arranged flowers in this shape without the use of floral foam and it took a bit of head scratching to figure it out. I always enjoy a challenge though and absolutely loved the outcome.

It is always so lovely to be at Pennard House. The staff are all so helpful and friendly, the grounds are stunning and it has such a relaxed calm feel.

Rosie and Nick were a wonderful lovely couple and their families were so kind on the morning which just makes the day so much more! I’m so pleased that they choose me as their florist.

Planning details

Roses ‘Quicksand’, ‘Caffe Latte’ and ‘Majolica’ were the main focal flowers which were then mixed with Spring flowers like Anemones, Ranunculus and Viburnum. The foliages were kept to a darker Green to add the botanical feel.

They had bouquets, buttonholes, pew ends and the stair installation. Budget required approx £800 - £1000.

Photography by A tall long legged bird

Photography by A Tall Long Legged Bird

Pennard House staircase