Real Bride: City Chic

Some of you may remember how I dedicated a previous post to my lovely friend Claire who was getting married abroad.  Before she and her gorgeous fiance Col flew over to the Emerald Isle for their stunning nuptials at Clarence's, Dublin, they had the legal ceremony in London with 40 close family and friends to witness it.

The ceremony took place in the stunning and romantic surrounding of Camden Town Hall.  Claire had asked me to be her wedding florist, and I could not have been more thrilled.  Claire asked for something simple, so I suggested an arrangement of Avalanche roses.

 

Roses are the traditional flower of romance and the creamy colour of the Avalanche looks great for a wedding.

As a nod to the couple's Anglo-Irish heritage, the green-tinted outer leaves were left on the roses and the stems were tied with a Union Jack ribbon.

 

The bride wore a 1950s style strapless dress with a cardigan to keep out the chilly October wind.  To complete her look, she fixed a gorgeous diamante clip in her hair.

The new Mr and Mrs Adams looked absolutely delighted as they stepped out as husband and wife for the first time.  After posing for photographs, they headed to the Betjeman Arms at St. Pancras Hotel for a sumptuous wedding breakfast.

One other thing I just had to show you: the adorable shoes that the couple wore.

Congratulations to the new Mr and Mrs Adams!

Flower Me Pretty - the Rise and Rise of the Floral Headdress

The 80s were a cruel fashion decade in many respects.  Shoulder pads, big hair and jewellery so chunky you could demolish houses with it.  Wedding dresses were adorned with big puffy sleeves, gaudy embellishments and huge trains.  This was typified by the wedding dress of Diana, Princess of Wales.  Her dress became iconic of the decade.

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However there was one trend, typified by the Royal Wedding of 1981, that is make a comeback which I'm a teensy bit thrilled about: floral headdresses.  Along with shower bouquets, the floral headbands and wreathes that bedecked the hair of the brides and bridesmaids in 80s are coming back stronger than ever.

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The trend started with last year's Royal wedding.  The younger bridesmaids had headbands of ivy leaves and white flowers while maid of honour Pippa Middleton wore a clip of lily of the valley.  Following on from this, many more brides have opted to wear flowers in their hair.

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It's a style long advocated by the wonderful florists Spriggs and Miss Pickering.  It's such a great look because it lends itself to all kinds of occasion: casual, formal and themed.  Using seasonal blooms or tying in with your bouquet can really emphasise your colour scheme.  It also looks wonderful on all ages; from very young flower girls to brides entering their second marriage.  Even high fashion is getting in on the action.  Lady Gaga attended milliner extraordinaire Philip Treacy's SS13 show at London Fashion Week with colour and arty piece.

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Indeed this trend show absolutely no sign of dying out with more spectators at London Fashion Week wearing garlands in their hair, the Duchess of Cambridge joining in with local customs in the South Pacific and young bride Peaches Geldof carrying on the bridal tradition.

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I for one am absolutely thrilled by this wonderful revival.  Tiaras are pretty in their place, but nothing quite says it like flowers.

For all your wedding flowers needs, please contact louisesblooms@yahoo.co.uk

DIY Weddings - How much of your big day do you actually want to do yourself

Your wedding is going to be the most special day of your life, therefore it's tempting to want to make all the arrangements yourself.  Further, it's hard to not want to make everything yourself: from the flowers and the flavours, to the invitations and even your dress.  What brides often fail to comprehend is that there is so much involved in planning your wedding, unless you have all the free time in the world, oodles of storage space and months and months of advance planning, it's nigh on impossible to do all the details yourself.  So the question becomes: where do you draw the line and start delegating?

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In the film Monster In Law, Charlie (played by Jennifer Lopez) designs and makes her own wedding dress.  It looks amazing, no two ways about it, but we're all left thinking: 'How did she find the time to do that between organising a wedding and fighting with Jane Fonda?'  Making your own dress takes a lot of confidence and skill.  It's not a trick you can learn overnight.  However, in times of a recession, being thrifty and handy with a needle fits in very nicely with a tight budget.  Quirkier, more vintage-y style dresses are very in vogue.  Making your own dress at least guarantees you something original.  Although perhaps making one out of football shirts isn't to everyone's taste.

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Creating your own wedding bouquet can be a fun thing to do as well as saving you money, but it shouldn't be done without plenty of forward planning.  Using flowers from your garden may sound like a budget-saving no-brainer, but garden flowers are meant to be outside in the ground.  They may also be diseased or be suffering from damp.  They're stalks are almost never straight, which can be bad for shaping or styling.  Get a little extra help from the experts beforehand by booking yourself onto a one-day wedding flowers course, run by many florists including Jamie Aston and Pesh.

Pesh Flowers

If you're more an arts and crafts kind of person, making invitations, place settings and orders of service is wonderful way of adding your personal touch to your wedding.  If there are going to be hundreds of pieces to make, enlist friends and family to help you make them from a pre-set design by yourself.  Hobbycraft is great place to find inspiration and details for your paper souvenirs.

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The trick is not to make things over complicated: you are the centre and the back bone of the show.  You are the monkey AND the organ grinder.  Getting bogged down in the details will leave other things forgotten.

Real Wedding - Purple To Midnight

Back in August, I was delighted to take part in the wedding of Leonie and Sam Butt.  I had known Leonie since we did our A levels together.  She was always lovely and working with her on her wedding flowers was a sheer delight.  I have never met a bride so open to suggestion, yet confident of what she liked and what she disliked.  Here are some pics from the day:

 

The bride's bouquet was loaded with Avalanche and Akito roses, lisisanthus, Orion thistles, pittosporum, blue veronica, purple freesia and hard ruscus to finish.

 

The bridesmaids' bouquet consisted of white statis and purple lisianthus, finished with lavender ribbon and pearl pins.

 

After a mini disaster with the hydrangea wands, wilting leaves were exchanged for organza ribbon.

 

And I think (hope!) you'll agree that they turned out rather pretty.

 

Originally the plan was for the bridesmaids to carry purple statis dotted with white Akito roses, but at the bride's suggestion, the colour scheme was reversed.  And what a good thing it was too, or else the purple would have receded into the bridesmaids' gowns and the flowers would have been lost.

 

And finally...  The Bride, who would have looked dazzling even if she'd been carrying a bunch of dandelions.  

Many congratulations Mr and Mrs Butt! x x x

Wedding Day disasters - and how to cope with them

You've planned everything perfectly, down to the last fleck of confetti.  The dress is altered to perfection, the bridesmaids all know their roles and are happy with them, the vicar has the correct readings and Uncle Fred has promised not to drink until the reception.  Everything is as it should be.  What could possibly go wrong?  As Jessie Wallace found out to her cost this weekend, sometimes you need to be prepared for the unexpected.

Admittedly, discovering that your fiance has has been sending provocative photos of yourself to another woman probably points to fundamental flaws within the relationship rather than anything purtaining to the wedding itself, but Wallace's decision to call off the nuptials just hours before they were due to go ahead had serious repercussions for everyone involved.  Guests already en route to the wedding arrived at the venue in Richmond, south west London, were in for a bit of surprise.  Caterers had to remove thousands of pounds worth of champagne and other goodies and florists had to take down all the decorations.  At least most of them would have been on site and it would have been easy enough for the suppliers to remove their goods again.

It's a different story when you're looking forward to the wedding going ahead and then one of your suppliers lets you down.  Coronation Street star Tupele Dorgu was disappointed when her bridal bouquet turned up on her big day in 2009 and it was not what she wanted.  Instead of getting upset, she simply carried her favourite evening bag down the aisle instead.

Holby City actress Tina Hobley had similar problems on her 2007 wedding day.  She had ordered a teardrop shaped bouquet but when it arrived, it simply didn't match with her wedding look.  Thankfully, ace florist Jamie Aston was able to create her a stunning handtied bouquet so that she didn't go down the aisle empty-handed.

Other things likely to go wrong on the big day include dresses not fitting/seams or hems going, people getting lost or unknown food/drink allergies presenting themselves at the last minute.  The best thing to do is to have someone on hand who is calm, organised and preferably distanced from the wedding party itself so that there is no chance of them being caught up in the frantic energy of the wedding day.  Make their mobile number known to people ahead of time.  Be guided by the professionals - caterers will know best how to deal with food allergies.  Keep important telephone numbers (e.g. the number for the nearest dry cleaner/mender) to hand.

In beautiful, barmy Britain the one thing we know we can never ever rely upon in the weather.  In 2007, during the summer of flooding that washed out large parts of the Cotswolds, South Yorkshire and the West Country, many couples had to deal with terrential downpurs on their big days.  Marquees in muddy fields became the order of the day.  But instead of crying in despair, we Brits did what we do best: we put the kettle on and worked out how to get round it.

Ta Tiara! - What fashion accessories are there for your head

When there's the joy of the dress you're going to wear, it's easy to forget about what you're going to wear on your head.  Yet an appropriate head dress can really make an outfit whole.

Whilst we don't all have the Queen on speed-dial to lend us a bit of bling for the big day like Kate Middleton did (The Cambridge Lover's Knot design by Cartier, above), there are plenty of beautiful yet affordable tiaras around.  Tiaras have grown in popularity in the last fifteen years, especially as the veil's popularity declined.  Tiaras are brilliant because they work with or without veils and they are appropriate at all times of the day. Butler &Wilson have a great range of tiaras to buy online and even more in their South Moulton Street store.

Having been big in the 80s, floral headdresses are starting to make a comeback.  They often make an attractive alternative for brides who want a statement headpiece, but feel that a tiara is too formal for a more casual wedding.  A simple band of roses can look very elegant, but it is all to easy to go over the top with flowers a la Liz Taylor.

Hats are a quirky choice for a bride who wishes to steer clear of traditional.  Top hats to rival that of your grooms gives a delightfully feminist twist on things.  In 'The Parent Trap' with Lindsay Lohan, we see a dress designed by her mother - Natasha Richardson - being modelled by a leggy blue-eyed blonde.  Top hats are as good as heels for adding for height if you lack it naturally.  Alternatively, a wide-brimmed summer hat is great for a relaxed garden party feel, as demonstrated by Jemima Khan.

It's not so good a bringing home the 'bride' feel though.

Of course, there is of course no reason why you should not go nude if that is what works best for you and your outfit, as exemplified by Luisana Lopilato when she married Michael Buble earlier this year.  It's natural, it's simple, and if you've got a great hair do, why ruin it with adornment?

The Four Seasons - Marrying throughout the year

The tradition in the UK for summer to be the season of marriage stems from two things: 1) Traditionally people took their annual baths in May (which is why it's very unlucky to marry in May) and were still clean-ish to marry in June.  (It's also because people bathed so seldomly that brides traditionally carry a posy of flowers to block out the smell.)  2) In the days before electricity, people used to make as most of the natural light as possible.  Times move on and habits change.  We now get married all year round.  So what are the pros and cons of marrying during the different seasons:

SPRING: March, April, May

According to ancient Biblical myth, the world began in spring, so what a perfect way to begin your marriage.  Outdoor bushes and flowerbeds are blooming at this time of year.  The world really does seem to come alive after the long dark winter.  Spring is definitely the time of year to get hitched if you love your flowers.  Spring blooms are vibrant in colour and rich in sent.  The end of April consistently brings a bout of warm weather - just watch out for those April showers!

SUMMER: June, July, August

The wedding season at it's height!  And because of this, be weary that suppliers will put their prices up, especially venues and hotels.  If you are planning to get married in the summer, make sure you book everything well in advance as locations, photographers, cakemakers and the like get snapped up very very quickly.  Hopefully the weather will be on your site and plenty of extra daylight means you can party for longer.  Just bear in mind: the best summer weather tends to be in July.  June is the month when you're most likely to see a thunderstorm and August is the wettest month of the year in the UK.



AUTUMN: September, October, November

Wedding trends seem to show that in the last five years or so, September is definitely the new June.  It is THE month to get married.  Honeymoon prices certainly go down as the airlines need to persuade people to travel after the school holidays.  If you want to be seen to be quirky, get married in October.  It is the least popular month to marry in.  With November comes the added bonus of fireworks (if you marry around the 5th!) and a Christmassy themed wedding (without the Christmassy price tag) if you get married later in the month.

WINTER: December, January, February

Winter weddings are great for creating cosy, intimate environments.  However, do beware the winter weather.  Snow may seem like a great idea on paper, but it does tend to grind everything to a halt, especially in rural areas.  Suppliers will struggle to get to you and, worse, your guests may do too.  December can be a tricky time, but January is good month for those on a tight budget to get married.  Often venues who bought in extra supplies (e.g. wine) over Christmas will be willing to let you have it at a discount rate.  However in February, thanks to Valentine's Day, availability with certain venues will be limited and the cost of flowers will sky-rocket.

In truth, there is no good or bad time to get married.  There are good things and bad things to be said for every season.  The best time to get married will be known only to you and your-husband-to-be.