Vicky & Graeme's story - 19th July 2014 - Mount Ephraim, Faversham

May I introduce Graeme & Vicky to our blog......here's some lovely words about their wedding......

Graeme and I met through work, when we were social workers in Dover, and started dating end of 2000. Graeme proposed December 2005, when our son Alex was 6 months old, in the hallway! He was late home and I couldn't contact him, and when he finally arrived (he'd been stuck in awful traffic), I was so relieved he was ok that I started crying! He vanished into the coat cupboard and very unexpectedly, proposed! No bent knee or romantic location, but it was spontaneous and loving. I think he'd planned to do it differently, but seized the moment!

Best tip for planning a wedding? Pinterest is great for ideas! Magazines are great for real life stories and wedding dress porn! Wedding fairs are great for meeting local suppliers - that's how I met Frida & Sophia, at Bluewater earlier this year!

The theme/colour scheme all fell into place when we decided our venue, Mount Ephraim, a beautiful Edwardian house and gardens near our home. My wedding dress was quite 'Jane Austin', and as the venue had lots of pictures, ornaments and the decor of a past era, a modern style would have been wrong.

I wanted blush pink flowers with lavender, in low vases and jars tied with vintage lace, and also had a long, low floral display for the registrar/top table, and a big, tumbling display for the bottom of the staircase. They all looked amazing. 

The buttonholes of lavender looked great with the mens' pale forget-me-not ties, and Flynn's buttonhole had a music paper flower, also, specially for him!

The table decorations came from looking on Pinterest and Etsy, including the cream wooden heart pegs and cream cards that were pegged onto wine glasses as place names, and the vintage book heart confetti.

The table numbers and seating plan were from Mushymoo and were also blush pink, as were the invites.

Most memorable parts of our day...

For Graeme, it was the ceremony and the speeches.

For me, there were a few through the day.

Getting ready with my best friends, and their faces when they saw me in my dress was the first. Magic.

Walking down the sweeping staircase with my son Flynn, who gave me away, was nerve-wracking but improved when he lightened the mood by taking a selfie of us! Only a 16 year old could probably have pulled it off, and he sure did!

The ceremony was beautiful, and Flynn played Debussy's Arabesque, Glasgow love song from the film Love Actually, and The Swan by Saint Saens) while we signed the register. So proud, he's a very talented musician.

Alex (9) stood with Graeme throughout, and it was quite overwhelming at times.

The wedding speeches were just brilliant, every one! Flynn did a 'son of the bride' speech, and everyone was in good spirits! This was followed by Graeme, my 5 best friends 'the pink ladies', who did a tag speech, and Graeme's best man Mark. Mark's speech included a game of Mr and Mrs, complete with giant A B C cards on each table, brilliant! Many tears of love and laughter throughout the speeches!

Graeme and I were whisked off for some photos just before the evening guests arrived, and the sky was epic - it was amazing to be alone, just the 2 of us (plus our lovely photographer, Irma-Jane Caggiano) and take it all in!

Finally, the disco.... I totally love a disco, and the dance floor was packed all night, and included 2 dance offs, and a couple of very funny drunken incidents (not us, friends!). It was ridiculously hot and sweaty, and the best fun! 

Our first dance was this year's most popular wedding song, All of Me by John Legend.  We loved that he wrote it for his own wife and it's 'real', but it always makes me cry! We very nearly chose a different song for that reason....and yes, I cried on the dance floor! 

Our plans for the future? 

We've kind of done things in reverse! Moved in, children, long engagement, marriage after nearly 14 years together - I think we'll just relax and take it easy for a bit!

Thank you to Vicky and Graeme for allowing us to have some inside information and you were a lovely bride to work for - thank you too to Irma Jane Caggiano for the lovely photos.

Our lovely couples 'debrief'

Frida and I had had this idea floating around for a while.  A simple one at that, but one that has taken us nearly a year to get round to doing.  An interview,powwow or debrief with our couples after the big day - a post wedding lowdown, a chance to look back and reflect on the important build up, the day itself and the start of married life together and let's not forget a chance for us all to have a good nosy at the gorgeous photos.

So without further a do - I introduce our first couple - Hollie & Mark.  

Hollie & Mark got married on 17th May 2014 in Essex.  Hollie contacted us after we'd met at the Creatives Brides Vintage Village at the Bluewater Wedding Fair back in February.  Her theme was a wonderfully colourful one, which as soon as she described what she was after, we loved the idea and really hoped we'd be successful in becoming her wedding florist.

"Our wedding theme is bright colours/vintage/fifties/fairground all mixed together! For example bridesmaids are in 50s swing dresses in Red, Purple and teal, honorary bridesmaids are in blue, pink, coral and yellow! And ushers and dads cravats are all different colours too! Me and my fiance are the simplest in ivory, therefore I'm keen for our bouquet/buttonhole to be bright!"

So over to Mark & Hollie......

How did you meet and how long were you together before you got engaged?

H - We have known each other since school, when Mark left school we carried on going out in the same group of friends, then we realised we both liked each other and Mark asked me to be his girlfriend, and that was eleven years ago now!

Where did you propose and how was it done?

M - We were going to Bath for the weekend for our 10th anniversary, and I planned loads of places to propose while we there.  I asked Hollie's Dad the night before we were due to leave but when we got home I was too excited and nervous so I asked her straight away!

What's your best tip in planning a wedding?

H - Make sure you stop to take a breath and always keep the overall look in mind.  Most of all, enjoy it!

M - Don't worry too much about the budget and support your bride to be when she's up at midnight making things!

Do you have a most memorable part of the day?

M - Waiting in the church for Hollie to arrive and the service.

H - After the speeches we got a beautiful sunset!  The photographer rushed over to us and got us to go into one of the nearby picturesque fields and we got lots of lovely photos, is also meant we could have a chat just us and try and take it all in!  We had the best day, but it all goes so quick!

When you chose your style/colour for the day, what persuaded you?  Internet, personal taste, social media?

H - I've always been into the fifties vintage look so I knew I wanted a hint of that style.  But when I started looking at colours I just couldn't choose!  I work in a creative job and am always surrounded by colour and images, and I wear all colours so there was no clear choice.  That's when I had the idea to just go multicolour!  I picked all rich lovely colours, our ushers all had different colour cravats and my bridesmaids were all in different colours too!  I tasked Frida & Sophia with creating rich colourful flowers with a touch of vintage and I was so happy with the result!

For your first dance, what song was played and why?

M - Our first dance was Snow Patrol, Chasing Cars.  It's a song we both like and we've seen them live quite a few times.  We quickly learnt a bit of box step and some spins for the start of our dance, the week before the wedding!

H - When I hear Snow Patrol I always think of Mark!

What are your plans for your future together?

M - To have a family and carry on in our jobs, which we both enjoy.

H - I've just got a new job, but a family is in the plans for the future.  We'd like to travel more too, we went to Japan for our honeymoon and loved it!

We cannot recommend Frida and Sophia enough, we were so happy with our flowers, they were exactly what we wanted and absolutely beautiful!

Thank you to Emma Tunbridge of Tiny Little Me Photography for the lovely photos.

We shall be featuring a new couple each month, so stay tuned!

Our Day Trip to Home Gurr'own Caterers, Kent

On Wednesday 2nd July we had the pleasure of spending the day at Home Gurr'own Caterers in Cranbrook, Kent.

Home Gurr'own specialise in a unique collection of homemade dishes for family and friends to share - picnics, hog roasts and sharing platters.  Please see their website for example menus and information - what a lovely way to bring your guests together on the day and help give a sense of unity.

Nicci and her husband Julian, together with their two lovely children, Lorri and Daisy live on the six acre small holding together with the Gloucester Old Spot pigs, Southdown sheep, geese, chicken and bees.  Nicci and Julian use the produce grown or reared on the land for the catering but are also passionate about sourcing further ingredients locally.

After seeing Nicci at a wedding recently, that we were both working on, she suggested we came and visited them to have a look at what they do - particularly the flowers that Julian grows.  Our eyes lit up!  English grown flowers and a chance to eat some of Nicci's chocolate brownies - yes please!

It really was like a day trip out for us.  The sun was shining and the peaceful setting of Home Gurr'own worked wonders on calming us after a busy few days.  Next door to Home Gurr'own, Julian's mother and father live.  Here, they have poly tunnels where Julian's father grows amazing tomatoes - the type you get abroad, all shapes and sizes (rather than the 'perfect tomato' as measured by the EU) together with an abundance of sweet peas, which are cut and sold to local florists and markets.

The flowers grown here include edible varieties, used in their catering - Violas, Nasturtium and Marigolds.

Whilst there, we picked a selection of flowers from the gorgeous selection....believe us when we say as a florist - to pick the flowers that you can then work with is real honour.

One of nature's little friends.....

 So, with the flowers we had picked and the foliage we foraged, with a little help from lovely Lorri......

 ....we created a bouquet and a couple of buttonhole examples for you - all made with an extremely low carbon footprint.....and here they are...

Our two favourite shots - hope you like them.....

Bouquet of cornflower, cosmos, sweet peas, curly willow, oriental hornbeam and hazel.

A big thank you to Nicci and Julian at Home Gurr'own for allowing us to visit them.  We hope to back again in the near future for some more of the 'good life'.

Marks & Spencer in war of the wedding roses: Retailer takes on high street florists with budget bridal bouquet service

I was forwarded an article today from MailOnline about Marks & Spencers new concept of providing a budget bridal bouquet service.

The Daily Mail reports that M&S have said that their new service will save couples over £200 on a normal budget of £560, including one bridal bouquet, two bridesmaids bouquets, four buttonholes, table arrangements and thank you bouquets.

The flowers are described in faceless quantities - 12 white roses, 12 white freesia, 12 hard ruscus leaves etc etc.  Don't get me wrong, we do understand that the budget is vitally important and we respect this.  However to be able to sit down with the bride and more often than not these days, the groom as well and have a chat over a cup of coffee or two;  get to know them, understand what they like, the look they're trying to create on their day - small or large budget - to be able to create something unique to them is a privilege in our minds.

If you are to order your bridal package from M&S and collect them on the morning of your wedding, knowing exactly what they're going to look like, which actually as a design concept holds as much va va voom as a Fiat Multipla, takes away all of the pleasure that most brides experience awaiting that important delivery from their florist on the morning of their wedding.

A number of times we have delivered the bridal flowers and reduced the bride to tears when she sees her long awaited bouquets - thankfully not a sign of distress, but a sudden emotion takes hold that her big day has arrived and her flowers reflect the romance and style that she will encapsulate, not just today but through long lasting memories.

To order your wedding flowers through Marks & Spencers in this manner will be a little like turning up at a party and realising that someone else is wearing the same dress as you.  Find a good florist that you click with, be honest about your budget, have realistic expectations and await the big day when you meet your bouquet for the first time.