Using seasonal september flowers to create a statement floral archway for a local north devon church & marquee wedding.
September is always a popular month to be married, and when you take a look at these beautiful flowers you can see why! Our gorgeous bride was an illustrator and so colour choice was absolutely key to this wedding, we focused on pale blush & blue with all the delights of early autumnal foliage. Read on to see how we transformed the local church at Lee Bay and filled the marquee with flowers overlooking Croyde Bay!
Our couple were married in the most special local village church, the interior of the church inspired the colour palette for the wedding and all of the stunning illustrations that our bride created for their special day. The insides of the church are like no other I have seen and so we opted for a pale pink, pale blue with stylish hints of red throughout the wedding. September is a fabulous month for seasonal flowers with dahlias, hydrangeas and berries in abundance, alongside plenty of autumn foliage. There was a huge emphasis on using locally grown British flowers within this wedding, and so I was lucky enough to receive a huge haul of foliage and berries from The Real Flower Company, alongside Cornish foliage from Flowervision and British flowers from The Forgotten Garden and The Flower Tree. We topped up with Dutch roses and extra little bits to really ensure this wedding had all the right elements to make it stand out next level beautiful.
Lee bay church wedding flowers
The church itself is very decorative and so we kept the floras very considered inside, with two large statement milk churns placed at the altar to frame the happy couple. I picked these milk churns up at Chelsea Flower Show about 15 years ago, so I love the fact that they have been used lots of times for various couples, all throughout the South West! Dainty little seasonal posies were hung from the pews and candlesticks with pale blue ribbon, just the touches of blue throughout really complimented the walls of the church. The windows were dressed with beautiful big ceramic urns filled with overflowing blooms and foliage, ensuring the floral look was cohesive throughout.
creating a seasonal statement church flower arch
Our couple were set on having a stunning statement flower archway outside of the church, and so luckily they allowed us to really go to town on the exterior. The church is high up, set back slightly off the road so we flowered the entrance iron arch that sits over the entrance gate. Luckily as wedding florists we are well versed at hanging off ladders, as this archway is way higher than it looks! The arch was full of natural, British foliage, seasonal autumnal berries and muted hydrangeas to create a really beautiful welcome to guests as they arrived. The locals and passer bys loved all the flower action too, with people admiring the sheer amount of flowers and one couple even saying ‘are the couple famous?!’
As well as the entrance arch, we created a gorgeous floral arch around the whole entrance to the church, completely tumbling out from the bottom in a really natural way. Foliage such as eucalyptus, wigellia, camellia, viburnum, pheasant bush, senecio all played a a part in creating the most stunning natural base to the arch, we all said once ‘greening up’ the arch it was so beautiful, we could have just stopped there! Super special foliage elements like this Abelia, really added a next level luxurious touch to the arch, the movement in this foliage is fabulous and the pale pink delicate flowers were the perfect colour for our wedding. We then went on to add in the flowers, gorgeous large headed hydrangeas in the most glorious muted autumnal shades, blousy roses, pale pink snowberries and locally grown dahlias all added pops of colour throughout.
MARQUEE FLOWERS for a september wedding
As wedding florists we get to work in so many marquees, in stunning locations. This marquee has to be up there with one of the most beautiful views in the country let alone North Devon, the waves & beach at Croyde Bay! We wanted the marquee to look really full and floral, creating. a really luxurious but naturally stylish look with hanging botanical style garlands throughout the ceiling and statement flower chandeliers. We arrived on the Friday to set up with the fabulous team at Hambledon marquees and wedding planner Natalie Hyland Weddings, always a dream to work with Natalie! Marquee wedding flowers tend to involve a multi-day set up, so the garlands and chandeliers were created on the Friday. The floral chandeliers were made from all of the gorgeous foliage, huge hydrangeas branches, lots of stunning reships and snowberries to ensure that they were all long lasting and would hold up extremely well all weekend. We wanted the chandeliers to be full of natural texture and interest and have tons of movement, and be real focus points of the marquee.
Table Flowers for long and round tables in a marquee
There was a mix of tables to dress with some being round, and some longer, so we opted for clusters of glass bottles and voices throughout the centre of the tables. Our bride loved the more dainty, delicate textures so lots of grasses were included alongside dainty flowers like scabious and oxypetelem, which brought the vibrant pale blue. Fresh local dahlias, blousy roses and lots of foliage berries accompanied these flowers, meaning the tables had plenty of colour and interest to sit alongside the candles, linen and tableware.
Decorating a marquee bar with flowers
Fizzy Pheasant are the ultimate bar providers, whose cocktails are out of this world (so I have been told, unfortunately we are never there to sample!) We dressed the round wooden bar with ceramic urns to ensure a cohesive floral look throughout the marquee, but not get in the way of them serving drinks. We also created a statement floral installation around the drinks cart, which greeted guests I,mediately as they entered the marquee. Rustic baskets and galvanised containers were filled with bunches of foliage, dried grasses and fresh potted bright blue salvias to create a modern, yet natural look to the bar. I love the idea of using plants and foliage en mass to really emphasis their individual varieties and create almost a kind of ‘florist stand’ kind of vibe. It was a very immersive design and complemented the bar perfectly.
why choose seasonal flowers for your wedding?
I could write about this forever, and have done previous blog posts if you are looking for more information on why using seasonal flowers for your wedding is a great idea. Flowers like food, are always at their best during their current season, so using September foliage really mean you get the best of the best, the berries, hydrangeas and dahlias are prime flower for this season and so will truly make your wedding flowers feel so natural and alive. A further benefit is when the flowers come into season again year after year, you will forever be reminded of your beautiful wedding flowers an just how special they are! If you are planning a marquee wedding in Devon and looking for flowers I would love to hear more about your big day plans, and do read this crucial blog post ‘The complete guide to planning your marquee wedding flowers’ here.