how to make your winter wedding flowers look luxurious & elegant at hotel endsleigh

Winter can be the most magical time of year to get married, despite nature hunkering down, do not underestimate the amount of beautiful, seasonal flowers that are in bloom during the winter months. Embrace foliage, winter texture and of course rich, warming sumptuous florals to ensure that your wedding day is both luxurious as well as seasonal.

Winter wedding flower colour schemes tend to either gravitate towards the cooler, icier tones embracing crisp whites and silvery foliage. Or we tend to go tothe other end of the spectrum and be drawn towards the jewell like warmth tones that we are so desperate in need of during the cold winter months. We flowered this stunning wedding in December at the exclusive Hotel Endsleigh, a luxury hotel at the edge of Dartmoor for our American bride and our local Devon groom, who alongside lots of their guests flew in from the states to celebrate in style all weekend.

Winter church wedding flowers:

Our happy couple were married at Tavistock church, which is the local church to Hotel Endsleigh. A stylish black tie wedding, guests arrived in glamorous long dresses alongside sharp black tie suits for the guys. I will never not love black tie as a great option for a winter wedding! The church was dressed for Christmas so we focused on statement urns at the altar, full of crisp white blooms. Blousy large headed chrysanthemum blooms nestles alongside scented stocks, fresh roses and winter foliage provided a timeless, yet wintery and seasonal look and complimented the elegant church wedding.

If you are having a church wedding in the winter then be mindful of any potential floral decorations that may be in place for Christmas. Quite often churches will arrange for their own flowers to be in situ, so I would always double check first and ask what you can potentially move or not. We were lucky in Tavistock church that a beautiful Christmas trees dressed in stunning neutral fairy lights took pride of place at the altar. This looked stylish and subtle, however you may not be as lucky with your church, so please do ask! The photos from Cinzia Brushini are completely stunning and show what a magical day was had by all!

What style of bridal bouquet suits a winter wedding?

Our stunning bride opted for a super chic bouquet of pure white blousy roses with structural calla lilies. This floral combination works so well with a round, flower filled hand tied and is a timeless style with a modern edge by including the calla. The bridesmaids carried smaller versions of the bridal bouquet, and the white bouquets complemented the rich, jewell toned satin dresses perfectly. The gents wore white calla lilies on their black tie, a subtle and stylish way to dress a black tie. Alternatively, if you prefer the more natural and textured bouquet look, this is a stunning look for your bridal bouquet. Add in accents of winter foliage such as spruce, eucalyptus, fir or dainty little alder pine cone twigs. Berries are a must to include in your winter bridal bouquet too, with lots of beautiful options from bright ted Ilex to white hypericum and black privet berries.

Hotel Endsleigh Wedding Reception Flowers:

Hotel Endsleigh is the most stunning hotel at the edge of Dartmoor, it is nestled amongst 100 acres of natural estate land and so is the perfect get away escape for couples wanting a true Devon country wedding. The guests arrived from the church to a champagne reception in the main hotel, before the short walk over to the wedding breakfast held in the stables. The stables are beautifully restored stone outbuildings surrounding a charming cobbled courtyard, the room runs long and narrow so suits long banquet tables perfectly. Our brief for the wedding breakfast was a stark contrast to the church, luxe, rich red florals and sumptuous berries with hints of velvet ribbon throughout.

Working with wedding planner Angela Mugnai was incredible, as not only did she manage the whole event seamlessly, she created a stunning brief, which really encapsulated the winter luxe feel. Dark navy velvet cloths were draped along the tables providing a luxurious base for the florals. Here we placed low gold urns full of red velvet roses, amaryllis and traditional ilex berries. Amaryllis are a fabulous winter wedding flower, a bulb they grow tall with 4-5 sculptural, symmetrical flowers and range from icy whites through to orange, coral, peach, ruby red and deep burgundy. I cut the amaryllis short here for maximum impact on the tables. The low urns were interspersed with so many votives full of clusters of roses and amaryllis. This provided a luxurious, continuous feel of florals throughout the whole banquet table. Sprigs of variegated holly were placed at each place setting to add that final finishing touch!

Winter Wedding Venue Decoration Inspiration:

The stables have beautiful floor to ceiling windows, which we dressed in delicate asparagus fern garlands with lots of twinkly fairy lights, this bought such warmth to the room and also added some extra detail to the fabric surrounding the windows. We created foliage chandeliers full of various fern varieties and trailing ivy. Accentuated with trailing red ribbons this looked super glamorous and effective, and created much needed atmosphere to the ceiling, softening the walls and linking through to the florals beneath on the tables. Statement arrangements of roses, ilex and amaryllis were placed inside the windows, really filling the space creating an intimate dining experience for guests.

How to add on trend details to your wedding flowers, yet ensure they remain timeless:

Beautiful, seasonal blooms can never go out of fashion in my eyes, nature and beauty is timeless and so I always recommend to my couples to focus on the natural aesthetic of the flowers in your chosen season. If you want to add trend led details to your wedding flowers, then do so in a careful, considered way and one that will still allow your overall look and feel to be timeless. We wanted to add touches of velvet ribbon throughout, as a stylish nod to this modern trend. Large bows were gathered on the window garlands and trailing daintier ribbons were secured onto our ceiling foliage chandeliers. By placing the bows carefully we ensured that the overall look wasn’t ‘bow heavy!’ and one that allowed the flowers to shine throughout.

Happy Bride…Happy Florist:

We go above and beyond for our clients and weddings on this scale really involve so much behind the scenes work to ensure they run to perfection, it is a huge team effort between suppliers and so hearing such positive feedback really does mean a lot:

“It was such a pleasure working with you. The floral arrangements truly surpassed all expectations and we absolutely loved how everything turned out. I also have to mention the team at The Hotel Endsleigh told us the florals were the best they've seen and said how lovely it was to work with you.”

As a wedding florist in Devon lucky enough to work at one of the finest hotels in the country, let alone Devon! Hotel Endsleigh is truly a magnificent place, the decor and interiors are stunning, the hand drawn wall paper and individual styled rooms are exquisite. I hope to be back very soon from a customer point of view, rather than a florist at work!

If you are having a winter wedding in the south west and looking for wedding flowers, I would love to hear more about your plans for your big day! You can book a consultation to chat through flower ideas on the contact page, and if you are looking for winter wedding inspiration then do peruse the portfolio, where we have stunning recent real life weddings, alongside plenty more weddings, inspiration and advice over on the journal!