Last weekend I decorated Folly Farm just outside Bristol, with the most beautiful, summer wedding flowers! I had florist’s free reign when it came to flower choice, based only on the bride’s dress, which was soft blue and green in colour! I love it when couples trust me enough to give me the tiniest brief and let me creatively get stuck in. When this happens I always imagine that it is my wedding, and what would I choose… You can’t help, but not!
I decided to use soft blues, greens, lilacs, pinks and pale yellows as the colour palette for Rosie and Rob’s wedding flowers. I felt these were such summery colours, perfect for this time of year and fitting in with the gorgeous rural location of Folly Farm, and Rosie’s dress. The flower varieties available this time of year are knock out so I got to use some of my faves such as foxgloves, delphiniums, peonies and delphiniums.
Folly Farm is a collection of barns with self catering accommodation, the ceremony was held in one of the barns. The entrance to the barn was decorated with wooden crates filled with flowers and I used two tall milk churns filled with seasonal blooms either side of the ceremony. The back wall was decorated with lots of kilner jars and jam jars, which were placed on the tables afterwards. This provided a real depth of colour for the ceremony, a real special touch.
The main feature of the barn was dressing the ceiling space with four large hanging floral baskets. I absolutely love making these as they create so much drama and impact within a space… the real wow factor and perfect for decorating barn spaces. The baskets were filled with lots of foliage, with lisianthus, scented stocks, delphiniums, larkspur, limonium and wax flower. It was great to use the white stocks, as they have such a powerful scent, the guests were walking in whilst we were working and commenting on the smell already, a great sign.
There was also an adjoining marquee, where more tables would be placed, so another hanging flower ball was created in the ceiling of the marquee. Marquee ceilings can tend to look a little bland if they have no lighting, so this is a great way to fill the space and add colour to the initially neutral marquee. I was thrilled with how Rob and Rosie’s wedding flower turned out, and this was a wedding that involved a lot more than just flowers! Plenty of rope, ladders and logistics all prove a day in the life of a wedding florist is never dull!
