Heads up! Headpiece

A spare hour today and after some browsing was inspired to make a floral headpiece, well more a statement. Managed to use some of my home grown sage, clematis buds, spirea and pelargonium leaves with muscari and added ranuncula, peony and roses

Update on Teepee wedding

The lovely Lydia who was married last year in Horsmonden sent me some lovely pictures which I have put on facebook but for those of you who dont 'like' me on there (!!, please do, it all helps....although I fail to understand how!) www.facebook.com/darlingandwild here they are.... this was the wedding where I made the willow and ivy portable arch which was carried from outside the church to the venue which was the teepee in the house grounds just a few hundred yards up a lovely lane. We got drenched decorating the marquee and again making the arch in the morning but the skies cleared and the bride and groom were blessed with sunshine for the ceremony....perfect timing!

Above: her bouquet of roses, chinchincheree, dill and eucalyptus, tied with twine

The arch with the newly weds underneath it!

 Lydia supplied the rustic jugs which were filled with seasonal bright flowers and wispy grasses including dahlias, craspedia, crocosmia and scarlet berries of viburnam opulus

 Sun's out, time for a stroll....

Bird cages were suspended from the teepee poles, the brief was for bright flowers with lots of greenery, I also added long trails of
stephanotis for scent. The slanted poles at the entrance to the teepee were wound with fresh green hop bines (definite heady scent there)

More Gypsophelia

After a quiet January, a welcome time to tidy the workshop, order some new containers and look at seed catalogues, it was off to the lovely Chilston Park Hotel www.handpickedhotels.co.uk/chilstonpark for the first wedding of the season at the beginning of this month.

Rachel went for a lovely combination of white ranunculas with gypsophelia in her bouquet, with gypsophelia in silvered jars tied to the chairs to line the aisle. Her tables were a fresh spring combination of all white flowers, ranunculus being the main flower and I added zesty green hellebores, white hyacinths, white narcissi 'paperwhite' and some majolica spray roses.  They smelt divine and were arranged in mirror cube vases.

School girl mistake on my behalf not taking photos, partly because I had a streaming cold, so we will have to wait for the professional shots to come through. The photographer was Lucy Bateman www.lucybateman.co.uk. I did grab a shot of the aisle though!

These sweet jars - which can double as votive holders or on tables - are available to buy from Darling & Wild £19.50 for set of 6 +pp

I used these at Christmas with led candles, hanging them along the fence up to the front door, they looked so pretty. 

Romantic Winter Wedding

Just before Christmas saw me up at Hengrave Hall in the Suffolk countryside www.hengravehall.co.uk for the wedding of Natalie and James. We embraced the fact that it was less than two weeks before Christmas using lots of frosted pine cones, silvered and glittered flowers and foliage and generous handfuls of artificial snow.  Natalie had exquisitely planned and thought of everything: with crackers on every plate, stockings hanging on the backs of chairs for the little ones and sequinned runners adorned the top table. As darkness falls early this time of year I supplied over 70 mercuried glass votive holders for the tealights on the tables and Natalie had brought in numerous silver lanterns to fill the halls and passageways with light, each filled with chunky candles, frosted cones and of course: snow!

Inside on the window sills....more roses, gyp and fern

 just inside the entrance, cones, snow and fresh confetti with votives filled with roses

The  stunning flint chapel at the venue was dressed with a  delightful frothy arch made with silver glittered gypsopehlia ( a much maligned flower in my opinion) with a cluster of roses to the top and enhanced only with fronds of delicate frosted asparagus ferns

Arch made with fern and gypsophelia with silver glitter and roses to the centre which can be seen better in the close up below:

Inside the tables were dressed with tall and low table pieces. The low centres were large silver chalice bowls filled with roses, gyp, silvered foliages, cones and amaryllis in whites and soft pink. The tall table centres had soft trails of asparagus ferns and small votives arranged at the base with spray roses and gypsohelia. Every table had at least six silver glass tealights to give a soft and intimate glow to the proceedings.

Votives filled with little flowers at the base of the tall arrangements

Amaryllis, roses and gypsophelia with silver









Gypsophelia bunches tied to the bride and grooms chairs

the fisherman's cottage: A Little French Shop

Lovely blog about a lovely shop. Recently bought a pair of old french doors (8 feet tall!) which will be my new wardrobe doors..sometime soon I hope. If in Norwich very worthwhile a visit, it is beautiful.
http://thefishermanscottage.blogspot.com/2011/04/little-french-shop.html