Welcome to my little round up of spring so far at The Rose Shed, as a wedding florist in Devon this is the time of year when our floral work really does get into full swing. Coinciding with the daffodils springing up and the blossom blooming, wedding season is now well and truly underway! Despite a rather soggy start to spring, I am seriously over the April showers right now and my bones are in desperate need of warmth, as is my garden! I have been pottering about in the garden when I can alongside plenty of admin time chatting with couples ahead of their imminent big days! It's been a varied few months and that is just how I love it!
Ive been lucky enough to flower some beautiful weddings in the local North Devon area. Tunnels Beaches is an absolute gem of a beachside venue with the most incredible views. Georgie and Will were a complete joy to work with and their wedding flowers truly reflected that, warming, happy coral, orange, pink and peach tones were used throughout Tunnels. Georgie's bouquet was full of spring seasonal blooms such as ranunculus, which were grown locally, tulips, narcissi with poppies. Poppies were a very special flower to Georgie so we really wanted to include these throughout the floral designs.
Tunnels Beaches is the most perfect location for a beachside outdoor ceremony. I dressed the gazebo with two statement floral pillars that really added impact and colour to the ceremony space. As the good old fashioned British weather does, we are kept on our toes as to whether the ceremony would go ahead outside, but thankfully the rain held off, until right at the end of the ceremony! The tables were dressed with beautiful low bowls of tumbling seasonal blooms.
Away from the weddings and stepping into the garden, I have made some good progress. My bulbs are putting on a stunning flower display as I type, and it is a real treat to be able to cut flowers from my own garden to use within my work. It is a complete moment of joy and satisfaction! My golden rule was to not pick flowers from the borders, and only my cutting patch... I thought I need to set myself limits However, this didn't last long, when the absolutely stunning Belle Époque tulips began to flower! It really is so tempting and I am finding it difficult to transition from florist aka someone who wants to snip everything they see in sight, to gardener who wants to nurture and establish with the aim of longevity!!
I have planted the sweet pea plants in the ground, so I cannot wait for those to flower. They were really successful last year, so I am hoping for continued growing success this season! It is time to get the dahlia tubers into pots so I have planted about 30 odd tubers (I have no idea where all of these plants are actually going to go!) More lawn will have to be sacrificed, but that is the price I am willing to pay for gorgeous dahlia blooms in late summer. The spring is also traditional seed sowing time, so I have sown some phlox, orlaya, ammi and cosmos with the aim of dotting these around my borders to add more colour and of course flowers to pick and enjoy. It has been super wet and cold and as soon as my dahlias started to sprout, some hungry little slugs managed to find their way into my mini greenhouse. Slugs seem to be absolutely everywhere right now, so I am hoping for some warm weather to maybe discourage them a bit!
Spring is one of my favourite seasons, I love the fresh new energy it brings, naturally we have more energy and I really prefer treating this as a new year rather than January. Setting good intentions, focusing on the year ahead after spending time reflecting throughout winter. Ive got such an exciting wedding season ahead working with some gorgeous couples and suppliers at some brilliant new venues, yet also heading back to some of my old favourites. So, I cannot tell you how excited I am to get stuck into the flowers this year, winter feels like it drags on forever, all those layers (which tbh I have not taken off yet.... come on spring wardrobe weather!) Those dark evenings and comfy months, personally my body lends itself to hibernating and hunkering down, but when spring arrives I am back to naturally feeling that I am raring to go.
I am still spending lots of my working time on admin, Ive been enjoying my final catch up calls with clients who will be getting married very soon finalising all those last minute details. Site visits have been a big part too of my day too, visiting those new venue or clients home with my tape measure is a crucial part of the job to ensure everything runs smoothly on the day. The less glamorous side to wedding floristry is the behind the scenes admin such as flower ordering. Each wedding is bespoke and involves a great amount of time coming up with the beautiful flower combinations and flower recipes we create, which allows us to be super organised in the lead up to each wedding. Once the flowers come in and are conditioned, we are therefore ready to get going! I do enjoy this aspect of wedding planning as you get to rediscover the flower varieties that are available, so the thought of using sweetpeas and peonies for my June weddings is really exciting!
A highlight of my recent weeks has been a visit to The Forgotten Garden, Pat is a local grower who has a beautiful flower farm very close by and I was lucky enough to visit along with Jack and Nell, we were on a blossom chopping mission so Jack came in handy reaching those tall branches. The poly tunnels are full of seedlings ready to grow and there are hundreds of sweetie plants, which I cannot wait to be able to use in my wedding work. Its a very special place and Pat is a whirlwind of energy, advice and support so I am really pleased to have such a wonderful local grower so close by. She also let me into a secret on where the best pasty shop in town is... life changing haha!
As I sit here typing, I am feeling very grateful for a great start to the year, I am looking forward to carrying on this productive spring energy yet also make sure that I take time to focus on the important things in life that will ensure I feel this way throughout the whole of wedding season! It really is the calm before the storm and in no time, the studio will be absolutely full to the brim with flowers for the next few months! Wedding season 2024 I really cannot wait for you! If you are looking for a wedding florist in Devon then I would love to hear your exciting flower plans, you can get in touch on the contact page here.