Tips for creating elegant and timeless wedding flowers at a south devon coastal location
South Devon is a one of the most beautiful places to be wed, and as wedding florists in Devon we are frequently lucky enough to flower in such a stunning location. I want to share with you some useful advice on how you can create a romantic, elegant and timeless feel to your wedding flowers, yet still embrace the coastal location.
Quite often when you search for ‘coastal wedding flowers’ you are bombarded with photos of pampas grass, or shells and seaside nicknacks! Despite Pinterest being an incredibly useful tool, quite often the weddings are American led so the Californian beaches have a totally different feel to our more quintessential English country coastline. I want to talk about how you can embrace the country garden aesthetic in a coastal location.
WHY ARE WHITE WEDDING FLOWERS SO TIMELESS?
White wedding flowers will always be popular amongst couples because of their true timeless feel, quite simply you can never go wrong with white. At times it can be a good idea to incorporate more colour, however quite often our couples rightly have their hearts set on choosing all white blooms for the elegant, romantic and luxurious feel. White blooms lend themselves to coastal wedding locations too, complimenting the soft sandy tones of the beach and the warm blue feel of the sea. When choosing white as your main colour of wedding flowers, you will be spoilt for choice when it comes to flower varieties. Throughout the seasons you have ever changing flower varieties available to you with some of the most exquisite flowers only coming in white, such as May’s lily of the valley.
The Best WHITE WEDDING FLOWERS available BY SEASON:
SPRING: tulips, anemones, snowdrops, hyacinths, ranunculus, iris, alliums, ginista, poppies.
SUMMER: peonies, roses, stocks, delphiniums, larkspur, sweet peas, achillea, spray roses, astrantia, scabiosa, snap dragons
AUTUMN: dahlias, cosmos, zinnias, hydrangeas, cosmos, snowberries, nerines, gladioli.
WINTER: amaryllis, narcissi, ilex berries, dried honesty.
Using white flowers at a church wedding:
White is a great choice for flowers in a church as quite often churches can be a tad restricted when it comes to light, particularly old country churches, so the white flowers really do lift and shine within this setting. This beautifully light Salcombe church is the exception, where we had a great amount of light to play with, but some quite loud red velvet chairs to hide! The long meadow floral aisle really did a magical job of creating a stunning walkway for the bride and groom, and covered the chairs perfectly. For this summer Salcombe wedding, we created huge statement urns at the entrance to the church and also at the altar, alongside the meadow aisle this provided great impact and decor to the church in an elegant and stylish way. The aisle was filled with crisp white hydrangeas, tall delphiniums and Larkspur, with scented stocks and blousy roses to complement.
Salcombe wedding venue flowers:
This stunning wedding venue was right on the harbour, providing the most beautiful views across the estuary with the sun shining down it really was the most gorgeous view. The tables inside the venue were dressed with overflowing low bowls of white roses, hydrangea, double eustoma creating an elegant and stylish feel to the round tables. Clear glass is a great option for coastal weddings, a timeless and clean look and works perfectly well with white flowers.
Key areas to dress with flowers for a coastal wedding:
At this recent summer wedding in Salcombe we had not only the church and inside of the venue to decorate, but also the outdoors terrace. A marquee from Hatch, had been erected on the terrace to house the bar, alongside a drinks table full of glassware and champagne. Large vases were placed outside the bar alongside floor standing blooms to soften the pedestals with statement glass urns placed on the bar to add that luxurious feel. The outdoor entrance to the venue was surrounded in sumptuous white flowers, creating a real wow feature as guests entered the venue. Think about the areas that your guests will be spending the most time alongside key areas such as the bar, your cake table, the entrance, any outdoor seating our indoor lounge area. All of these areas will crucially need dressing with florals to ensure that your wedding look is cohesive and seamless throughout each part of your day.
If you are looking for wedding flowers in south Devon then I would love to hear more about your celebrations and how we can help you flower your big day! Please do browse the portfolio and of course the journal where there is so much more inspiration and real life wedding flowers to view!
A huge thank you to the photographers The Curries for these stunning images and also Ann Nicholas wedding planner.