My phone buzzed and it was a message from a lovely florist friend asking me if I was free in two weekends time. I thought she meant tea and cake but that was not the case. One of her postponed couples had moved to a new date that she was already booked for and wanted to know if I was free to take it on.

My first reaction was fear, could I even do it in two weeks? Then Lucy told me a bit more about the couple and how they wanted lots of gorgeous scented roses and immediately I knew I had to do it.

Thank you Lucy @lucybblooms, for sending the loveliest couple to me.

K and S were married at the stunning Norwood Park in Nottinghamshire in an incredibly elegant black-tie wedding. The aesthetic was clean white and green with gold accents but the overall feeling of the day was relaxed and (judging from the hangovers the next day) they partied hard.

Read on for my three highlights of their wedding planning process and all about the flowers.

Trust

In every wedding the couple have to trust their suppliers. With the flowers trust is even more important as you only see the actual design on your day. So, for K to trust me on the recommendation of another florist – two weeks before her day – that is huge. Even then, in our zoom meeting, K emphasised that she trusted me as the flower expert to deliver the look she wanted rather than getting into the detail of every flower. I had a good introduction to K’s look from my friend Lucy and it matched perfectly everything K said to me. This shows the clarity of vision that K and S had.

As I do with all my couples, we talked about her favourite flowers any that she really didn’t like so that I could avoid them. K was all about the roses and you can read more about the ones I used below.  

Elegance

Clean lines and a pared back colour palette gave an incredibly elegant look to the day and one that fitted perfectly into the opulence of Norwood Park’s gallery. The mirrors at each end reflecting all the details into infinity, including of course their stunning chandeliers.

Simplicity and elegance are often mentioned when couples are wedding planning. Personally, I think this is because couples assume it is cheaper. While it can be true, actually achieving a simple look that is also elegant is incredibly difficult. Not just because of all the different suppliers involved in your day. Sometimes a simple and elegant look needs more work to create and sometimes it just needs more expensive materials. I used some stunning David Austin speciality wedding roses in the bouquets; as you can imagine these are around three times the price of a ‘normal’ rose that may be used for wedding work. But it was these roses that completed the high end look that K and S wanted.  

Genuine

When I was back at Norwood Park to collect all the stands and props the day after the wedding, K came through and took the time to say how much she loved the flowers. At the same time, she thanked the venue. Meanwhile the groomsmen were slowly dismantling and packing away the huge ‘trees’ they had hired for the day. To me this is everything and I know every other wedding supplier feels the same. To be considered as a person – and a person that has put their heart and soul into helping to deliver your day – rather than simply a transaction shows the kind of people they are.

I had the same reception from S the previous day when I was setting up. He purposefully took time out of his jobs (building the giant trees!) to introduce himself, check if I needed anything and let me know how excited K was at all the behind the scenes videos I had shared of their flowers on Instagram.

These are the kind of people that are a dream to work with. The feeling of positivity and hope they give me is the fuel that drives my business.  

All about the flowers

So many roses for this wedding! While most of the roses did have to be imported – it was November after all – it had been so mild that I managed to get my hands on the last of the British grown Margaret Merrill roses. These are a very simple rose but the beauty in those few petals is incredible. The scent is also out of this world.

The remainder of the roses include a spray rose ‘snow ballet’ that is one of my favourites, plus ‘Jeanne moreau’ an old fashioned looking ruffly rose and the speciality ‘purity’ from David Austin. These were all Fairtrade, meaning a slightly better deal for the environment and better pay for the growers in Kenya.

All of these roses are considered speciality roses and need a lot more care than ‘normal’ roses. These roses need to arrive with me four days before the wedding as they are cut and transported in a tight bud. After a night of hydration with me they start to open and the whole nail biting saga of keeping them warm enough to open but not too warm that they open too quickly begins. I won’t even go into how many thorns these roses have – it seems the prettier the rose the more thorns they have!

As for the foliage, all of it was British grown. November is a perfect time for locally grown eucalyptus and there was a lot of it for all the tall table arrangements!

K and S had nine tables at their wedding, including the top table. They chose five tall arrangements of just flowing greenery on alternating tables to give a feeling of height in the Gallery.

For the remaining tables I supplied a glass vase into which the Bride and her Bridesmaids popped their bouquets. This is an effective way of saving on budget if you are sure all your Bridesmaids will remember to pop them in the water. With these vases I also supply gift wrapping and a gift bag. The next day the vase goes straight in and carried home easily without worrying about it falling over in the back of the car or having to hold it all the way home with a hangover!

The Bridal bouquet included Fairtrade scented garden style roses, sea holly, eucalyptus, and shimmery honesty. All finished with beautiful silk ribbons.

All wedding photos courtesy and copyright of the very talented https://miracle-moments.co.uk/

• Photographer: @miraclemomentsuk
• Venue: @norwoodng25
• Florist: @limewoodflowers
• Hair/makeup: @alisonrjenner
• Dress: @lovebridallondon
• Suit: @suitsupply
• Cake: @southwellcakery