My Dream Flowers (if I were the bride)

I’m sure all of the girlies can relate to this. Every so often, I let myself dream about my own wedding flowers, taking all of my favourite ideas and combining them into my perfect wedding day.

The time of year and the palette

I would choose late spring edging into early summer. It is that sweet overlap where the last of the ranunculus meet the first sweet peas, peonies and garden roses. The greenery in May is soft and light and the whole world feels new and fresh all over again.
For the colour palette, I would lean into warm, gentle pinks with grounded neutrals, plus the faintest notes of periwinkle and pinky lilac. The tones I am thinking of are best personified in bearded iris' such as Century Pink, Hen Harrier and Sherwood Pink. The combination of these three varieties have the most perfect merging of all of my favourite colours. Unfortunately unless I have an April wedding, I will miss peak cherry blossom season, which I absolutely adore, but I am happy to trade it for early summer varieties, longer days and slightly warmer weather.

Location

A few of my all time favourite venues are Sibton Park at Wilderness Reserve, Cornwell Manor and Kin House. Sibton Park Estate at Wilderness Reserve is so inspiring with its rolling countryside, the naughty sheep who like to escape and the deep, peaceful tranquility you find there. Cornwell Manor pulls me in for its curated gardens, long views across the valley and that iconic house. I also love the trickling brook and the adorable little Church in the grounds. Kin House in the Cotswolds has my whole heart for interiors with pink and green tones, shell details and the most amazing scented candles throughout the house.
If it were my turn, I would choose a marquee wedding with a Norfolk church service. In my perfect world the marquee would be in my parents garden with my greenhouse in the background but it might not be quite big enough, so I will simply need to marry someone with a beautiful garden that gives Wilderness Reserve, Cornwell Manor and Kin House vibes.

The Church

I would look for a small, old church with a porch so I could design an arch that spills inside and almost takes over the space. The feeling would continue through into the church with aisle meadows, flowers climbing windowsills and ledges, and at the front a design that feels as though flowers have grown from the floor.
If there is a rood screen, even better. I would let flowers ramble up and over it like a rambling rose, with tendrils creeping out of clusters of blooms. I would trail flowers on the lectern as well. Stems would be grouped by variety so the church feels like a natural garden with plants growing into one another.

The Marquee

I would want the marquee to feel really immersive so that it feels as though you have stepped into a wild, rambling rose garden. Our beloved Southern smilax is out of season in early summer, so I would use airy foliage to create ceiling garlands, then tuck in clusters of roses so it looks like a climber has crept across the roof and up the poles. I would mirror the church arch at the entrance and lace the guide wires with climbing roses to carry the story through. For scent, I would layer rose scented candles throughout the marquee to elevate the feeling of being in a rose garden. One very niche and key thing I would love to have is a marquee with a carpeted floor rather than matting. It’s very strange but I love how bouncy a carpeted marquee floor feels and I particularly love it when the plastic gets peeled off the floor right before guests arrive.

Tables, linens and little details

My sewing habit gives me away because I always come back to gingham. I would choose beige gingham tablecloths with metal garden style chairs for a polished but cozy picnic feel. Stationery would be hand painted watercolour with tiny drawings of Finley (my dog), Norbert (my cat) and my greenhouse featured throughout the suite. I love pretty plates with delicate floral details to echo the flowers - guests would be attending the wedding of a florist after all.

Table flowers

I would mix little mini meadows designs with elegant bud vases to create a really intricate tablescape with pockets of detail. I love how the naturalness of mini meadows would combine with really refined bud vases to create a table runner that both looks like it’s grown from the table but also looks like it’s been picked from the most perfect garden. The table scape would also be the key place for all of my sentimental flowers. Pansies for my grandma in peachy pink tones that I’d grow myself. Bearded iris to represent my Auntie Janice’s side of the family. Lily of the valley in honour of Nanny Ann.

Bridal Bouquet

Funnily enough this is the area I haven’t given too much thought. I really love the simplicity of an all sweet pea bouquet, or a bouquet picked from my own garden. I wouldn’t want anything too big or overwhelming and I’d definitely want it to be tied rather than trailing. Perhaps I would combine all of my sentimental flowers into one bouquet or maybe I’d ask one of my florist friends to make it for me so I wouldn’t have to decide.

Photography, Food and Music

I am one of the most unnatural people in the world in front of the camera but I also have dream photographs that I would love to capture. I really love natural colours, candid rather than really posey photos and also hazy natural movement that you see in film photography.

For food I’d love for the menu to be seasonal with a focus on my favourite Norfolk food spots. Bread Source sourdough with burrata, Norfolk asparagus, local beef, crisp salads and crunchy potatoes. For pudding, a tiramisu from Yard in Norwich because they have the perfect cream to cake ratio. Slices of cake from No. 33 in Norwich, in particular the white chocolate and berry cake and a white chocolate pistachio cake from The Norfolk Food Hall. Cinnamon buns also from Bread Source, brownies from The Goat Shed and anything from The Magpie Bakery. Lots and lots of canapés because there’s nothing worse than a long church service and then feeling hungry all the way to dinner!

I love a live band and a good DJ because my wedding dancing is pretty crazy! There would be Sugababes with Push the Button and Round Round, Mr Brightside, Shut Up and Dance, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, a full dose of ABBA, and Sabrina Carpenter because she is my favourite, wedding friendly or not. I went to a wedding recently and they had a Ceilidh. It was so much fun so I would definitely start the evening off with some kind of group country dancing, just to get people up and having lots of fun.

Who knows, maybe one day this wedding will actually be real. It may take a little while for the universe to bring together all of these niche scenarios so I’m happy to wait a while until my time comes. As long as I’m not too old and grey to join in with the country dancing. For now I’m happy to day dream a little longer and create gorgeous florals for all of my lovely couples in the meantime.