This weekend..

…has been all about flowers. Lots of them. And pretty ones at that. A beautiful wedding at Hampton Court House, and another at Pembroke Lodge. The deer were loving our work.

We also made flowers for 2014 Unveiled, alongside some of our very lovely friends and wedding industry colleagues. It was a busy one, let me tell you.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend? The sun was shining, Harlequins won and I was surrounded by these pretty petals. Perfect eh?

Oh and if you like these pictures, then feel free to follow our flowers on Instagram too!

This weekend..

…in numbers. As you do.

♥ One charming monk. One lovely new bride met. And one funeral. Unfortunately it’s not always happy flowers.

♥ Two weddings.

♥ Three corsages.

♥ Four cupcakes to keep us all going.

♥ Five peacocks admired.

♥ Six bay trees decorated.

♥ Seven swans a swimming.

♥ Eight minutes sleep. Or at least it felt that way.

♥ Nine corsages.

♥ Ten aching fingers.

♥ 12 bridesmaid’s bouquets.

♥ 22 flower filled bottles tied in to trees.

♥ 24 pew ends.

♥ 29 table centres.

♥ 37 buttonholes.

♥ 53 vintage jars filled with pretty petals.

♥ 63 vintage bottles looking yummy.

♥ 210 miles driven.

♥ 370 Stocks used. In four colours.

♥ 730 Roses smelling perfectly.

♥ And one awfully happy flower girl, filled with much coffee. And cupcakes. Oops.

Hope you had a wonderful one. The sun even made an appearance. Doesn’t it make the world a better place? x

Fleurs. And lemons.

Was the Bunny was kind to you all? I do hope so. He managed to hop his way over to the workshop and leave a few pieces of Kinder chocolate to see me through the Easter wedding craziness. Thanks Boris. Yes, our Easter Bunny really is called Boris. Who would have thought?

The fairies have just provided perfect petals (and lemons) for four beautiful weddings in four beautiful days. From Northbrook Park to Hampton Court House, and from Ham Polo Club to The Pump House Gallery in Battersea Park, it was all go at fairy towers.

Best summed up in pictures. I will of course feature the individual weddings very soon, but just to get you in the mood.

I know what you lot are like. x

Today..

..my heart belongs to Louise, Washington and Gabriel.

And their little angel x

The fairies are back…

..and our flowery fingers are well and truly rested. And brown.

I can’t lie. It was super sad leaving a tropical island full of sunshine and delicious cocktails to come back to a grey sky and rain, but my first trip to market this morning to collect wedding and Mother’s Day flowers cheered me up no end.

This is one thing the Maldives don’t do that well (imagine). The only blooms growing on our island were Frangipani. Although they are one of my favourite, so I’m letting them off!

I do love the petals that are around at this time of year. They just make me smile. And judging by my Instagram, it’s not just me that is slightly obsessed with Ranunculus and Hellebores.

Hope you’ve all had a good couple of weeks, and here’s to the sun coming out again soon.

Wedding Flowers magazine & margaritas

I love seeing our flowers in print. It is a really lovely feeling.

And this month, not only are we in You & Your Wedding with Marianne Taylor and the Hepburn Collection, we also have a bundle of blooms in Wedding Flowers Magazine.

As a florist, this is a bit of a highlight. The March/April edition of the magazine is out on February 14th (romantic eh?) if you want to pick up a copy.

So with this lovely news, I am heading off to recharge my flowery fingers for a couple of weeks.

If you think you’re going to miss me, feel free to follow my cocktail capers on Instagram. I’m a little bit obsessed with it.

I promise I will reply to all of your emails and enquiries as soon as I get back. With very tanned feet.

Have a lovely couple of weeks flowers x

If you go down to the woods today…

…you’re sure of a big surprise.

If you read my last blog post, you will know that a gang of lovelies and me made the trip to the amazing Jimmy’s Farm in Suffolk last year, with suitcases full of gorgeous Johanna Hehir gowns, buckets of blooms and a car full of cakes!

The second part of our shoot took place in the woods, high above the Farm. And me being me, ever the optimist, I decided I would wear my trusty and comfy flip flops. Not the best idea I have ever had to be honest.

As I mentioned, it rained. Like a lot. And the large hill we had to carry things up was very very muddy. I have however learnt my lesson for next time. It will be boots all the way.

Although, I hope you agree, it was so worth every minute of the mud.

Another huge thank you to everyone involved. Without wanting to sound like Gwyneth Paltrow at the Oscars…Catherine and Andrea, I love you both. A silly amount. Kaz and Johanna, you’re both total geniuses, Hayley, Laura, James and Nell, you were all perfectly gorgeous (even in the cold rain), and Jimmy, thank you for lending us your farm for the day, it was fab.

Photography ♥ Lily & Frank
Cakes & sweet treats ♥ Cake By Sugar
Hair & Make Up ♥ Kaz Fernando
Dresses ♥ Johanna Hehir
Venue ♥ Jimmy’s Farm
Menus ♥ Rob Turpin
Models ♥ Hayley and James

Down on the farm

Even though my last post was a pretty little beloved session, we don’t actually do that many photoshoots. Mostly because we are so busy making real life weddings pretty.

However, mid coffee with the wonderful Catherine of Lily & Frank fame, and Andrea the magical Sugar cake maker, an idea was born.

Flowers, cakes and farmyard animals. How could any of us refuse?

So one grey Spring day, we all made the trip to Jimmy’s Farm (Jamie Oliver’s best friend) in Suffolk, to decorate his pig barns and woods with plenty of pretty petals, delicious cakes and fantastic frocks.

We were lucky enough to be able to dress the lovely models in stunning Johanna Hehir wedding gowns, and have the delicious Kaz Fernando to make all the models look extra pretty and perfectly coiffured – she even made my long lusted after “bow hair” on Laura!

Sadly the weather wasn’t on our side. It did not stop raining all day. Not even for a second. And it was windy and terribly cold. But that aside, it was wonderful to work with some lovely friends making the farm a little bit prettier.

I am going to break this up in to two blog posts, as there are too many pictures that I love.

The first…down on the farm.

My choice of blooms for this part of the shoot had to include some of my favourites (obviously). I used a selection of coral Peonies, Dahlias, Clematis, O’Hara and Vuvuzela Roses, Hydrangeas, Guelder Rose and so many more. I was like a kid in a sweet shop choosing.

Hope you all approve.

Photography ♥ Lily & Frank

Location ♥ Jimmy’s Farm

Cakes & sweet treats ♥ Cake By Sugar

Hair & Make Up ♥ Kaz Fernando

Dresses ♥ Johanna Hehir

Boots ♥ Hunter

Menus ♥ Rob Turpin

Models ♥ Laura, James and Nell

Hair flowers & horses

Happy New Year!

Better late than never. Non?

I promise I will get better at keeping my blog up to date in 2013. It’s up there on my New Year resolution list. Just behind learning to hula hoop.

Whoever said that January was quiet, was telling fibs. As one amazing year finished, another fab one is well under way. We have already flowered three delicious weddings, met with a whole host of sparkly new brides (and grooms), skyped with a bundle more (you lot are getting further and further away from us), and the gym visited a few too many times for my liking… and February is only just around the corner.

2013 is looking like another corker, with some terribly delicious weddings booked in all over the country. But before I look forward, I thought I would start this year with a little look back at one of my favourite shoots of 2012.

The wonderful Marianne Taylor invited me along on a little road trip to flower up an extra cute beloved session she was shooting, with the ever-so talented dress designer Minna Hepburn, her husband, and her beautiful horse.

I made two hair garlands. The first a little more rustic using wheat, wax flower and Eucalyptus, and the second, just a whole bundle of prettiness – Avalanche Sorbet Roses, Hellebores, Bouvardia, Tuberose and Wax flower.

It really was a perfect day, captured beautifully.

x

Photographer – Marianne Taylor
Dresses – Minna Hepburn
Make up – Grace Revington

Ho ho ho.

Another apology. I’m sorry. See?

With our last wedding of the year on Saturday, and after a ridiculously busy but truly amazing year, I haven’t had time to write cards, buy gifts, or make gingerbread.

Instead, I set my design elf to work (and yes I do own one, complete with flat vowels), to create the official fairy nuff flower card. Which I obviously didn’t have time to print.

2012 had been a bit of a roller coaster of a year, both for me and for a lot of other lovely friends, but I hope you all have a truly wonderful Christmas, surrounded by all your loved ones. And plenty of gin.

Here’s to a perfect 2013.

Much love to every single one of you x