Wedding Flowers on a Budget-Cheap and Chic.

I know that in today's economic climate many brides are working to tight budgets. I am often asked if I have any ideas for flowers for a budget conscious bride. Is it possible to economise on flower costs whilst not economising on style and elegance? Yes of course!

Firstly keep it simple. Maybe sticking to one flower type which is inexpensive, but using lots!
How about Gypsophila or Baby's Breath? It looks awful when mixed with other flowers as an afterthought or filler in.You may have seen it in the mixed bunches of flowers from the Supermarket. But used en mass it looks stunning. And costs next to nothing for bunches of the stuff! Very pretty!

If you want to make your money go further, then always use flowers in season.They are at their most plentiful and therefore cheapest.

Why not do your own reception flowers? Or get your friends/bridesmaids to help? Again keep it very simple.
Maybe using a goldfish bowl with just a few flowers. Anyone can do this. Really.

Or use simple glass vases or plant pots to keep costs down.

You don't need to use a lot of flowers, just one will be enough in a small glass vase.Floating candles are really effective.

How about using Gerberas, not too expensive, and they come in bright colours which really make an impact.
A very simple idea of a bridesmaid's bouquet.

I run courses on Wedding Flowers where I can show you lots of ideas including:
~how to make a hand-tied bouquet for bride and bridesmaids,
~how to make button holes and corsages
~Inspiration for table centre decorations 
Courses are run from our design studio in Derbyshire.
Call 07879040081 or email designinflowers@yahoo.com for details of the course dates and prices.

Midsummer Flowers- Roses



Summer roses


Roses are the flower for this month. June brides often choose roses for their bouquet, perfect.


A great look is for vintage shades of dusky pink and faded mauve, as a fabulous hand tied bouquet. Timeless elegance. Very romantic.







In my garden the roses are looking just fabulous. The scent is wonderful. I grow the old varieties and the David Austin English roses, because to me a rose without perfume is missing something important.
My favourites:
Albertine -a climbing rose in peachy pink, beautifully scented.
Constance Spry- goblet shaped blooms of rich pink.
New Dawn- pale baby pink flowers.
Penelope- creamy pink multiple flowers
Cornelia- Pink scented flowers
Winchester Cathedral- pure white
Golden Celebrations- yellow

Hand-tied small bouquet of deep pink roses

Peach roses in simple mirror cube- Table arrangement

Of course many of the roses which I use for weddings are without scent, but slowly the growers and wholesale flower markets are bringing in new varieties grown specifically for their perfume.

I have to tell you of the best rose scented Perfume, and believe me I have researched this one.... The best is Jo Malone Red Roses.

This brings me to my second favourite summer scented flower, orange blossom, the mock orange or Philadelphus smells amazing. And guess what, Jo Malone do the most exquisite Orange Blossom cologne too. My all time favourite.

Royal Wedding Flowers

So now we have seen the beautiful bride, the spectacular dress, and of course, most important for me- the bridal bouquet.

 I loved the choices.

Seasonal flowers-check.

British grown-check.

Fragrant- check.

Elegant-check.

Perfect!

So romantic and elegant, perfect for a princess. Truly regal.

The small bouquet consisted mainly of lily-of- the-valley (which just happens to be my favourite flower and the one I had in my own wedding bouquet.) The intense fragrance from such small bell like flowers is unbeleivable. I love it. Incidentally Princess Grace of Monaco also carried a bouquet of lily-of-the-valley on her wedding day. Her dress was also quite similar in style to Kate Middleton's- except I think the neckline of the new princess's was nicer.
How touching that Kate also included her husbands namesake- Sweet Williams, in white in her bouquet. Not a very attractive flower, but again very fragrant, very British,very traditional- and so she had to include them didn't she.
I also spotted some fragrant white hyacinth flowers, all individually wired.
Also included was a sprig of myrtle- traditional in Roayl wedding flowers since Queen Victoria.
The whole thing looked exquisite and must have had a fabuous perfume too.

My wedding bouquet, similar?

Red Roses Day

Yes it is February and the big day is 14th- Valentine's Day. Don't tell me you had forgotten!
I call it Red Roses Day, because, admit it... everyone wants to give and receive them.

Nothing says romance like fabulous red roses. Simple yet stunning in their velvety richness. 

Trends for Wedding Flowers- Autumn

Hydrangea Flowers

 he Clinton’s daughter used them at her wedding, so follow the trend and use Hydrangeas for your special day

 T

The perfect flower for late summer and autumn weddings! They are the most beautiful flower and come in some fabulous  colours from pastel shades through to strong vibrant blue and deep pink. Now  available from the Dutch growers throughout the year but I like to keep to their natural season and use them in late summer and early autumn.

Because the flowers are so large and full, like a ball of small flowers, they are perfect to use to make beautiful hand tied  bouquets. I use them alone, or combined with roses or peonies in similar colours.

Hydrangea is available in a wide range of interesting colours, perfect to match with your wedding colour scheme not only for bouquets but continued into the table decorations for your reception.

Colour choices:

-       Blue: pastel baby blue to rich deep sky blue

-       White: bright white and creamy white.

-       Pink: pale pink, wine, mauve and burgundy.

-       Purple: from delicate mauve and  lilac to a bold, rich violet.

-       Green. Most colours start green when in bud.

 Delicate muted dusky shades…as the flowers age in autumn the colours become more muted, perfect for the vintage theme.

For the final finishing touch individual hydrangea florets can be used as petal confetti by flower girls.

 They are also perfect when used individually or in small bunches to make a delicate flower circle for the head of your younger bridesmaids or flower girls.



Green Flowers and Being Green

Here at Design in Flowers we love green flowers, but we also want to be green.We want to minimize our impact on the Earth's climate. So, we are doing everything we can to reduce our carbon footprint.

Design in Flowers is committed to being carbon neutral.

• We compost all our flower and foliage waste and use it to improve our soil so that we can grow more beautiful flowers and plants.

• We make sure that all our packaging is biodegradable.

• We are trying to source more of our flowers locally and have joined forces with a local grower to make sure our flowers are not travelling half way around the globe.

• We are keeping our travelling distances to a minimum.

• We are constantly planting trees to offset greenhouse gas emissions we cannot directly or indirectly eliminate. So far we have a woodland area of 35 young trees.

We know that at the moment, our work to improve efficiency isn’t perfect, but we are working on it, and we really do believe that green is the way to go. Don't you just love green!

Flowers as gifts

We all love to receive flowers, and what better gift for a birthday or special occasion than a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
It doesnt have to cost a lot, but means so much.
It is worth taking the time to think about the likes of the recipient. If you know what colours they prefer, for instance the colours in ther home, and the colours they tend to wear. If they like neutrals or bright colours.
White flowers always seem to be the right choice, you really cannot go wrong with these classic lillies. The added bonus is the scent as the flowers open up.