Christmas Flower Demonstrations

Well, it's the 1st of December so I am thinking 'Christmas Flower Demonstrations' - something which has been on  my mind and in the planning stages for a while now.

This year I want to make my Dem's a little extra special and have decided to give a charitable donation to a cause which has deeply touched me over the last couple of months.

On the 2nd of October a good friend's daughter, Lucy (who is the same age as my daughter - they are both horsey and are members of the same Pony Club) was rushed in to Harrogate Hospital with an unexplained illness. Lucy had been competing in a One Day Event that weekend but suddenly began to feel poorly - as her symptoms developed, she began to slurr her words, drinks were dripping out of her mouth and her face started to spasm. This must have been utterly terrifying for all around her. Following her admission to Harrogate Hospital, she was scanned and sent to the Leeds General Infirmary - where she was operated on that night. The fear was that Lucy may have had a brain tumour or an abscess. Thankfully (! of the two ...), the results showed that it was an abscess - but this wasn't the final word. The days and weeks which followed were like a scarey Rollercoaster ride - good news followed bad and so on - she even had to be put in an isolation room when there was an outbreak of a sickness bug! Well, Lucy was eventually transferred back to Harrogate but did spend the best part of two months in hospital. Apparently the abscess was caused by an infection somewhere else in her body - they think from a mouth ulcer!!!

It's the 1st of December now and Lucy has been back to school (part-time). The latest scans have shown that Lucy's brain is almost back to normal and she certainly looks like her old self again - a beautiful young lady (who has shown courage, bravery and strength way beyond her years!)

It is extremely difficult to sum-up the emotions of the past couple of months - Lucy's mum, Jayne, has been an absolute tower of strength - well, on the outside at least! (her brother Ben and dad Richard have been incredible also - I don't know them so well but know they have given all their love and support).

I guess this hit me hard because of the similarity of our daughters - it's just terrifying how fragile life can be at times (what if she'd fallen off her gorgeous horse, Darcy,  during the XC phase of the One Day Event - oh, don't go there!). All-in-all Lucy is very lucky really and we are all so so pleased and relieved to 'have her back'.

Jayne has told me of the tremendous support they received from both Harrogate and LGI hospitals - she just cannot thank them enough.

So, I feel I would really like to try to do my little bit by donating 20% of all takings, on the day, from my Christmas Flower Dem's this year to Jayne's chosen Charity to help Paediatric Neurology - Jayne will be here for the Demonstration on Friday 9th and I'm sure she will be delighted to tell you more on the day. I have decided to hold the first one (inside my home!) on Friday 9th December 11am to 1pm - no rush to leave though! (if there is sufficient demand, I will be able to do one or possibly 2 more - TBC). In addition, I will donate £5 from each ticket sold (just £15 each for the demonstration + mulled wine and mince pies, goody bags to the first 10 bookings AND a raffle to win a Christmas Door Wreath!).

A Christmas Door Wreath - natural dried fruits, spices and chillies - heaven scent! You may win something similar for your front door...

Christmas Rose (Helebore), Akito Rose, Tulips, Gypsohila, Eucalyptus and Diamantee details - White Christmas may be your theme this year...

A Christmassy (from a Wedding Fayre) display - I will show you some top-tips which I may have been using this year in the many Wedding floral displays I have created!

I very much look forward to welcoming you to my festive home - best get my magic wand out and crack-on with the preparations! Shhh... don't tell my hubby the tree's going up!!!

Please email me: info@blushbespokeflowers.co.uk for further information.

Merry Christmas!


Sharon xxx

How much do Wedding Flowers cost?

Oh! Am I brave or foolish to tackle this subject?

Well, here goes......

It's one question which I am always asked and find so difficult to answer.  The response always has to be that it completely depends upon the choice of flowers, the quantity and whereabouts (in the world!) you want them. Statistically, and realistically, a budget of around 10% of the overall cost of your Wedding is a good figure to work with for all your Wedding Day Flowers.

My business is built upon a solid foundation of top quality and service. You don't have to be getting married in a Castle or grand Stately Home - the local village hall / Registry Office is perfectly fine. My time is devoted to your wedding only - I do not have a shop to distract my attention and all the flowers are ordered especially for your wedding only, guaranteeing freshness and quality.  

Also, worth mentioning here, I work with flowers and don't spread myself thinly over all aspects of the Weddings World - there are far too many companies out there now trying to do everything and, frankly, it shows - absolute attention to detail is never achieved by these people. I can recommend many top-quality providers of many services - here's a topic for another Blog (to follow...).

The starting point, from which all your Wedding Day Flowers should follow, are the flowers the Bride will carry - think about the style, shape and colour of your dress and complement details. Aspects from this bouquet should then be used in the other Bridal Party flowers e.g. Bridesmaids' Bouquets, Buttonholes, Corsages and then on in to the Church/Ceremony and Wedding Breakfast flowers.

                          

This Bride's bouquet complements her delicate just-pink silk dress so well - I was given fabric samples so knew which roses would work well for her. The combination here includes Sweet Avalanche, Akito, Sweet Akito and Old Dutch roses (with Snowflake spray roses, Bupleurum and pink Peonies). It's fairly substantial and something similar would cost from around £90. The stems are bound with lovely, soft, satin ribbon, secured in place by a row of pearl-headed pins. Every single stem of flower is stripped of all it's leaves and thorns then they are bound together to give the desired shape - this is like putting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together and takes quite some time to accomplish.

These are the Bridesmaids' bouquets for the above Bride. So, because she had 5 Bridesmaids, I suggested using the gorgeous, large-headed, Avalanche roses as approximately 7 stems are all that's required to create good impact. Bupleurum is also combined, thereby complementing the Bride's bouquet i.e. picking out details so that it all ties in nicely. Something similar to these bouquets will cost around £40 each.

An important fact to remember is also the time of year of the wedding - for example, Christmas, Mother's Day and Valentines are very expensive times of the year (Mother's Day occurs on different dates throughout the world - all of which effect the prices here in the UK).

The beautiful Holly chose a hand-wired, trailing bouquet. The main difference with this type of bouquet is that each stem is individually wired, and bound, then they are all arranged together to form the desired shape. See how the flowers and foliage complement the delicate lace / Vintage feel to her stunning Wedding Gown. Once the finished shape has been created, all the wires combine together to form the handle, which is then bound with lovely, soft, satin ribbon - making it comfortable to carry. These bouquets typically take 3 to 4 hours to construct. Expect to pay anything from £145 for something similar.
The Bridesmaids bouquets here are much more substantial than the ones above, using many different flowers, including Hydrangeas - which are very expensive. These would cost in the region of 'from' £55 each.

OK, now here I could start a whole new Blog - infact I will do one on this topic ......watch this space!

Table centrepiece displays take on many guises - this picture is my take on the very very fashionable 'Vintage'. I just wanted to create something a little different and would say this is more Retro than Vintage.
Using combinations of English Country Garden flowers, I have placed the brightly coloured flowers in mis-matched containers of different heights and shapes. This is not an easy look to achieve and does require lots of flowers to create impact. The sourcing of the different containers, and working out which ones to put together, is time-consuming and fairly costly actually. Also, when setting this kind of look up for a wedding, there is an awful lot of preparation time involved. Because so many different flower types works well, large quantities of flowers have to be ordered - minimum numbers have to be ordered, depending upon the flower types e.g. roses come in wraps of 20 stems, Delphiniums in 10's, 'fillers' such as Waxflowers in 25's - I could go on and on but I think you get the idea - being a Mathematician as well as Artistic Designer is a great help!
A very important aspect of table decorations, to be taken in to consideration, is that set-up and clear-down of the tables is taken care of by the florist and their team - often involving travelling back to the venue the morning after the Wedding / Event to remove everything. Then it all has to be cleaned and packed away in to storage for when it may be required again.
So, I guess what I am trying to say here is the actual cost of the flowers is only one aspect which has to be factored in to the total cost of Wedding Day Flowers and the flowers, themselves, are not cheap.
You should expect to pay upwards of £45 per table for something similar to the above display.

Whatever the budget may be for your Wedding Day Flowers, we can create stunning, memorable floral displays which will give ever-lasting happy memories!

Wedding Day Flowers for Helen and Rijan's Beautiful Day

I first met Helen at her (to be) Mother-in-Law's house, on the afternoon of the Xfactor final! There are many reasons why I will never forget the lovely Helen - that was one (I did just manage to arrive home in time for the beginning - phew!). Rewinding from this memorable meeting- Helen made an enquiry with Blush, via email, some weeks prior and produced a long list of flowers which she said she really liked (all in their 'proper' names). My heart sunk and I remember thinking "Oh my goodness, this one's going to be a challenge". Then I translated those names to their 'common' ones and it soon became apparent that she wasn't quite the horitcultural expert I had feared! One particular flower Helen wanted to carry was 'Sanguinaria canadensis', commonly known as 'Bloodroot' - so called because, when the stem is cut it 'bleeds' a red sap (and is highly toxic - "killing animal cells"!) - not something to be recommended to carry next to your Phillipa Lepley wedding gown! We have laughed about this so many times.

Chapel candles, with foliage entwined, on the windowsills of Kirby Malzeard Church begin to set the scene for a Romantic setting.  

A large stone Urn, packed with combinations of the wedding day flowers and foliage, acts as a fabulous focal point - at the top of the Aisle, right where Helen and Rijan would say there Wedding Vows. 

Pew Ends have Pussy Willow hearts attached with satin and organza ribbons (in the colour of the Bridesmaids' dresses) - along with bundles of roses and foliage.

The Bride leaves the hotel - en-route to the church......

Clever photography by David Pullum

This is just one of my favourite photographs I have ever seen of a Bride - how beautiful, happy and excited is she to be walking down the Aisle to meet her Groom? So much atmosphere, again captured by David Pullum Photography.

The scene is set at the magnificent Swinton Park Hotel, Masham, North Yorkshire

The Pew Ends and the Urn were moved, after the church ceremony, to the stunning staircase of Swinton Park. 

Bay trees provide a perfect entrance  to the Dining Room - fairy lights in the tops look so pretty.

Close-up detail of the Bride's bouquet. She decided, in the end, not to opt for the Bloodroot! but instead there's a combination of: Sweet Avalanche roses, Ornithogalum; white Calla lilies; hyacinths; Rice flower; Rannunculus; Lily-of-the-Valley and Pittosporum foliage. Quite a collection - simply stunning!

 Tall Martini vases holding wedding flowers and foliage, with hanging glass T light baubles - these do look gorgeous when the candles are lit. Crystals fill the base, with grey/silver coloured organza filling the space to the flowers - all co-ordinating with the overall colour scheme of the day.

The starting point for all Wedding flowers should be what the Bride wants to carry - from this all other flowers tie in and follow through, so that the scene is set for the whole day i.e. from the bouquets and buttonholes, through to the church / Ceremony and the Wedding Breakfast Reception, all the flowers create continuity so there's no doubting they are all part of your Wedding.



 Thank you! Helen and Rijan x

Three Girls and a Wedding, The Photo Shoot - a sneaky peak!

Here is our fabulous completed Logo - so many thanks to the hugely talented Natalie of www.iamnat.co.uk. We LOVE it!

Amazing photography by www.cathepplephotograhy.com

All flowers by www.blushbespokeflowers.co.uk

 Beautiful gowns from www.theharrogateweddinglounge.com

We all had a super fun day, and who wouldn't - in the beautiful setting of the stunning Swinton Park - www.swintonpark.com
Big Thanks to Hannah and all the team at Swinton for all their help and, as always, friendly hospitality. 

Three Girls and a Wedding will be previewing so much more at The Great Yorkshire Show, Harrogate - Tuesday 12th to Thursday 14th July 2011 (Stand number 361). Please come along and see for yourselves how we can 'Bring Your Mood Board To Life!'

Three Girls and a Wedding photo shoot