Almost a year ago, I was busy planning flowers for a very special wedding. My cousin’s daughter, Claire, was getting married and there were to be flowers. Lots of them. I was excited to catch her vision of what she wanted, but also anxious as this was only my second experience of planning and arranging wedding flowers.
I worked
closely with one of my cousins who, like me, had handled flowers before as we
planned out our strategy, which was thwarted once by the coronavirus-COVID19
restrictions (the wedding date had to be moved from July to September) and was
shadowed by an increasing number of cases and the potential of further
last-minute changes right up to the last few days before the big day.
Thankfully everything worked out the day proceeded as planned and was beautiful
– but back to the flowers…
First up there
was the floral arch. Providing the backdrop to the ceremony, this was to be
colourful and bright and was to use silk flowers as it had to be transported to
the venue three days before the wedding day. Using flowers and foliage from
Ikea, Dunelm and the Range, we were able to design and construct the arch using
a framework expertly prepared by the bride’s father and the bride herself.
And here it is in action:
A smaller silk arrangement was designed for the welcome sign:
The week before
the wedding we developed a schedule for cutting and conditioning flowers and
foliage from the beautiful garden at the bride’s family home (we had tested the
longevity of the cut stems the previous week to get the timings right). We also
set about purchasing fresh blooms from Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury and Tesco,
having previously worked out how long it took for tight buds to burst open into
bloom.
The day before
the wedding, we sequestered ourselves in a large work shed at the family home
and set to work on 12 candelabra rings and 12 posies for the tables in the
reception area of the venue where the wedding was to be held.
We transported
the well-watered arrangements very nervously in two cars on the morning of the
wedding, surviving potholes, twisting country lanes and a major traffic
diversion due to roadworks. Arriving early, we were able to put everything in
place just in time for the ceremony.
The bride’s
mother had planted many beautiful pots for the end of the rows in the ceremony
room, with the floral arch and the table-centres and posies, the wedding
manager for the day said in his years at the venue, he hadn’t seen a wedding
with so many flowers!
The final task was to prepare and arrange some silk blooms on the wedding cake – one of the arrangements I think worked out really well in it’s simplicity.
I had also been
asked to prepare table numbers, the welcome sign and table plan to the bride’s
design using white ink on acrylic sheets. This was a first for me and I was
glad I had a spare off-cut to practice writing on and removing mistakes from!
In the end, I think they turned out OK – everyone was able to take their place
at the right tables, so it must have been fine.
What a
wonderful time we had, from being involved in the planning and preparation to
being privileged to be part of such a special day with wonderful family and
friends. Thank you, Claire and Karl.
Comments