Beautiful Bouquets for 2011

The bridal bouquet has a weird and wonderful history. Ancient pagan union rituals saw the bride carry aromatic bunches of garlic, herbs and spices to repel any evil spirits from the ceremony, whereas brides of ancient Greece were draped in floral garlands to symbolise new life, hope and fertility. These days there is now no shortage of varieties, colours and creative floristry styles which means that your bouquet is only limited by the expanse of your tasteful imagination.

The bouquet you carry with your dress is an important decision to make. Not only will all eyes will be on you…but the eyes of all your female guests will also notice your bouquet. So make sure that your bouquet is one that dazzles and also inspires any future brides in the congregation.

Romantic vintage and slightly cascading bouquets are seeing a renascence this year, with natural greens coming to the fore.

www.floretflowers.com

The trend of utilising the same flower in large hand tied bouquets is set to continue into 2011.The opulent look continues to be timeless and very distinctive.

Marks Phillips Photography

You won’t need to blow that floristry budget either. You can go all out and pick your favourite flower for your bouquet and choose different flowers and styles for the tables or vases that tie in with your colour theme.

That brings me on to the fanciful boho trend of using imaginative vases or containers for your table flowers that we’ll see lots of in 2011. Let your tables stand out from the crowd by using unusual containers like retro floral teapots, decorative hatboxes, vintage enamel milk jugs or rustic utility jars.

www.fiftiesweding.co.uk

Marks Phillips Photography

Well that’s our take on this years floral looks, but let us know what you’re planning…or at least thinking about!!

We've Seen - We've Loved...Pembrey Country Park

This week we've taken our eyes away from wedding trends for a well deserved break.

Gareth and I have just got back from an amazing weekend in South Wales, visiting family.

Living in land locked Buckinghamshire any visit to Wales will always mean that we take in some sea air. One of our favourite and most memorable places is Pembrey Country Park, located in the heart of Carmarthenshire. When the sun is shining, there are fewer places in the world we would rather be than strolling along the eight miles of Blue Flag Award winning Cefn Sidan beach which separates the Irish Sea from the 500 acres of woodland of the Country Park itself.

As it was the first time we'd seen the sun in some months we spent hours walking along the golden sands, with only a few dog walkers to be seen, feeling like we had the whole beach to ourselves for most of the day.

As the sun started to cast our shadows ever longer we started the long walk back to the car, collecting razor fish shells, drift wood and pine cones for some seasonal decoration around our cottage. 

As the tide came in the birds started to take low flight around the fishermen who looked ready for a relaxing evening on the shoreline.

A great day with the sun on my face which has breathed new life into me and fed my soul.....

Ok, so we may have taken one eye off the trends.... But no trip back west is complete without a visit to Llandeilo which has a couple of shops we simply can't pass by. One of these is 365 Interiors never fails to offer something new…and when I say new, I mean lovingly restored or old but well taken care of. This time we picked up a Beaujolais bucket.

And now we are back to the day job with the awakening spirit of spring all around us. I’ll be spending some time looking at the colour predictions for this summer and taking some time to give you some ideas and inspiration.