Preston Bailey

Following on from our Fawsley Hall blog, whilst there we met the lovely Amanda Lucas, Weddings Supervisor from Sandals who has just sent us this wonderful signed copy of Fantasy Weddings by floral supremo Preston Bailey. Good things do come in the post, not just bills and this gorgeous book is packed with jaw dropping and inspirational ideas which are, as the title says fantasy. Although theatrical in the extreme, elements of Preston's work can be taken and adapted to suit every event. The sky's the limit! Thank you Amanda.

History and Romance

Almost a year to the day, we made a return visit to Fawsley Hall last week, as guest speakers for The Association of Bridal Consultants, who had arranged a wonderful day of networking and presentations at this historic country house in the beautiful Northamptonshire countryside. We recently blogged about the wedding of Isobelle and Steve which took place at Fawsley last year, so it was good to be back at a venue that is now firmly one of our favourites. As ever the whole event was superbly arranged by Amanda Sherlock from the ABC, who works tirelessly to promote professionalism within the wedding industry, so being asked by her to do a presentation was a real pleasure.Welcomed by the Fawsley Hall team, we were given a history of the house, and it it is hard to believe that little more than 30 years ago the house was a ruin and in danger of being demolished. There was even a tree growing in the roofless Great Hall! We were then given a tour of the house and it's facilities, which includes a new spa opening in April. If you fancy a real treat you can even stay in the room that Queen Elizabeth occupied when she visited in 1575.After lunch the afternoon was given over to presentations, firstly by Sandals who told us about their wonderful Luxury Included resort holidays and Wedding Moon packages (complete with butler service if you want it!) Then it was our turn to take our audience through "A Year of Flowers". This was our chance to share our knowledge of what flowers are best available in each season with a room full of wedding planners, who are a major part of our business.

The afternoon was rounded off with tea, lots of cake and networking with industry professional including wedding planners, Lester Gethings from No.10 Wedding Design & Management, Siobhan Craven Robins and Zoe Lingard, together with make up artist Lina Cameron. Fantastic entertainment was provided by magician Jamie Raven, who made rings disappear and reappear in implausible places and £20 notes turn into £50's!!
We must thank everyone at Fawsley for their hospitality and are very jealous of Amanda Sherlock who got to stay the night!

Designer Wedding Show

We always look forward to the DWS, and were delighted to be asked to supply flowers for Waddesdon Manor who were exhibiting at the show for the first time. Their stand was in a fantastic position opposite the catwalk, and a fabulous opportunity for us to showcase our work. To complement the wonderful images on the stand, we filled classical urns with magnolia branches and ice cream coloured lisianthus, completed with rings of tactile carpet moss. In this job, we get asked to do all sorts of things, and the moss proved so popular that we returned with a moss skirting board to give a finishing touch to the stand!Always a popular show, it was great to see some old and new friends, and catch up with all the gossip from the wedding industry! We look forward to the next show in the Autumn.

New Venue Discovery

We are always on the look out for new venues to work at, and this lovely house is practically on our doorstep! We discovered Warren House in Kingston upon Thames when a bride of ours (see Ham and Noodles blog) stayed here the night before her wedding. Set in 4 acres of beautiful landscaped gardens, this Victorian Mansion caters for weddings on an exclusive use basis with 45 bedrooms which is wonderful for a venue so close to Central London. On a lovely sunny afternoon, we were shown around the house by Katherine King, the events co-ordinator, who was extremely welcoming and showed us everything the house has to offer. Warren House will accommodate up to 20 weddings each year and we would certainly recommend you take a look.

Indian Palace

The day before London disappeared under a blanket of snow, we were at One Great George Street for the wedding of Simon and Jag. The theme was 'Indian Palace' and began with a civil ceremony in the Smeaton Room, where church candles, tealights and scented jasmine trails decorated the mantelpieces. In complete contrast, an elaborate Indian ceremony took place in the afternoon in the same room which was transformed by the addition of a Mandap which we garlanded with deepest pink carnations.
For the evening reception, the Great Hall was the perfect setting for this glamorous event where tables surrounded with gilt chairs were dressed with deep purple cloths and crystal candelabra supplied by Alternative Occasions, which we completed with lavish rings of purple lisianthus and lilac roses. Gold and silver tealights completed the sumptuous look.The wedding was superbly co-ordinated by Amanda Sherlock of Giles Sherlock Event Design and all credit should go to her for all her hard work and for looking after us so wonderfully.

Jamelia Says I Blue!!

As corny as it sounds, that WAS the headline in one of the tabloid newspapers last year when we supplied the flowers for singer Jamelia's marriage to footballer Darren Byfield. Photographs are few and far between, but much was made of the fact that Jamelia chose blue roses for her wedding bouquet. Most of the press said that she had chosen them as a tribute to Darren's team colours, but it was the bride herself who asked us if we could get blue roses because she liked them and, when we said we could it was blue all the way.

We were delighted then to be asked by You & Your Wedding magazine, to recreate Jamelia's bouquet for an A List inspiration feature for the current March/April issue. Of course there is no such thing as a true blue rose, so we used white roses which had been dyed, which is not as strange as it may sound because many flowers can be dyed to match your chosen colour scheme.....even four colours at once! For Jamelia, every rose was wired so that the stem of the bouquet was very slender to hold, bound with organza ribbon and finished with diamante pins. The bouquet itself was also highlighted throughout with diamante jewels to complement the brides accessories. A bold colour choice but a beautiful one, so if you're considering something a little different for you wedding flowers, then go for it!!