Wedding Trends - Succulent Bouquets

For a while now I've been looking at classic wedding flowers (Lilies, Roses, Orchids) but I've been wanting to look at trends in wedding flowers and to cast my eye over whats going on out there in the wedding industry.  

Over the last few years succulents have become a new favourite for those looking for something a bit different. I put this down in part to the rise in popularity in The States of the rustic wedding. Thanks to the warmer, more reliably summery weather, couples there are making great use of fabulous outdoor spaces, barns, farms and country settings, and they've been opting to style weddings with rustic arrangements to complement their choice of venues.  

Brides who like relaxed, rustic, and country styles are also choosing more loose, natural bouquets with lots of interesting textures, and for these succulents are a perfect choice. Then there's the trend for blush shades of soft peaches and pale pinks, which works so well with dusty blue/grey succulent foliage.

*                    *                    *                    *                   *                    *                    *                   

There are lots of different types of Succulents, but Echevaria and Sempre Vivum tend to be the most popular for wedding bouquets and decorations. They have a strong almost architectural feel and their rosette form and plump petal shapes are very striking. 

They come in so many shades too, from cool ice blues, dusty greys, and greens to warmer toned mauves, lilacs and reds. Thats part of the beauty of using succulents, theres such a vast array of colour and variety available, and they can be used in lots of different ways. 

Here's just a few of my favourite images of wedding bouquets and tips on how to make Succulents work for your bridal flowers 

Mix with other interesting flowers and foliage to create an interesting blend of textures. 

Succulents can be both physically and visually heavy, so use them sparingly and contrast with other flower shapes.

Simple neutral palettes put the focus on the textural elements of the bouquet and mean the bouquet won't be fighting for attention with colourful bridesmaids dresses or venue decor.

If you're using lots of different shades/and/or a variety of textures, you can still achieve a clean looking bouquet by grouping flowers and avoiding too much fluff or fuss.

Then again, a few whispy strands of foliage or feathers (used minimally to avoid the tack factor) can give the illusion of lightness to a bouquet of mixed succulents. 

One of my absolute favourites, this colour combination exudes understated elegance. The ice cool succulents with a blue tone, beautifully set off the creamy lemon/yellow centres of the Peonies. You don't necessarily need a lot of flowers to create a stunning hand tied bouquet.

If you're going to be using lots of large headed blooms with large rosette type succulents, its a good idea to vary the height of each and use tufts of foliage like herbs to soften the effect.

This sweet bouquet is quite compact and manages to keep things simple by sticking to 3 colours and flower types (the grey works like a neutral colour here instead of green foliage). 

Peaches and creams are the perfect partner for succulents. For peach think Talea and Vendella roses, peach Hypericum, Peonies and peach calla. Astilbe, Astrantia, white Eryngium (thistle) and Lisianthus make nice creamy touches. Berried Eucalyptus is a lovely touch with this combination too.

Don't be afraid to add a little colour. I love subtle colour combinations but succulents look fab with stronger vibrant colours too. Love, love, love these fruity numbers. Orange Ranunculus and poppies look great with grey/silver succulents. And the more limey crassula work so well with zingy plump Dahlia. A great little trail too don't you think?

*                *                *                *               *                *                *                *                *

Hope thats given you some ideas for using succulents in your bouquet. If you are thinking about succulents don't forget that:

• Less is more with succulents, apart from when it come to texture, when more is more!

• Colour doesn't have to poke your eye out to be pretty.

• A great florist knows and loves working with foliage almost as much a flowers, so have faith and ask their advice on what will work with the overall effect your going for.

• Succulents don't come on long stems and they're gonna need to be wired, so unless you're feeling very ambitious, this is one type of bouquet thats probably best left to the experts.

For a more DIY take on succulents, have a go at the table decorations or favours. And if you need some inspiration for those, I'll be back with some ideas for decorating with succulents soon..

Images via - Project Wedding, Wedding Chicks, Bella Signature, Style me pretty, Wedding Chicks, Style Me Pretty, Once Wed, Once Wed, Style Me Pretty, Style Me Pretty, Bash Please, Bash Please, Unknown, Style Me Pretty, Pinterest, 100 Layer Cake

Colour Inspiration - Peach, Coral and Gold

I'm really loving peaches at the moment, the colour not the fruit (I prefer nectarines) and I've been thinking about how to put them together with other colours. 

As a florist, and stylist I get excited by colour all the time as I go about my daily life and so I thought I'd share a colour inspiration with you. Today I took my cue from my jewellery box, some habadashery bits and some new stationery and threw together some pretty pics. 

Here are my top tips for using peach: 

• Turn up the volume a little and be inspired by India with vibrant corals and jade greens. 

• Pair peachy pinks with aqua and turquoise greens, and gold.

• Add warmth with a little earthy brown, and muted champagnes.

• Add interest to a simple palette with modern graphic patterns - like spots, stripes or chevrons

This could be the first of a new series on colour. I will look more at flowers, obviously as thats my thing, but wanted to show how if you're thinking about colours for outfits, decor or flowers and how to put them together, if you keep your eyes open you're bound to find inspiration is all around.

Classic Wedding Flowers - Gardenia

Gardenia is a Classic Wedding flower that deserves a bit of attention. An amazing shape with a perfect spiraling centre, they are a creamy white shade and look as if they could almost be made out of porcelain. As well as being incredibly pretty they also have the most wonderful scent. So if fragrance is your thing these unsung heros really should be on your wish list.

They grow on shrubby bushes and so tend to have shortish stems. This means they will often need to wired to be incorporated into your bouquet and because they are quite delicate you're better off leaving these sort of bouquets to the professionals.

That said, they make an amazing hand tied bouquet. You could use them en masse, head to head in a round bouquet, or in a dome shape, softened with a few tufts of foliage around the base to frame.

If you like a stronger, clean look try mixing them with groups of other cream and ivory flowers like peonies, garden roses, and lily of the valley. Grouped clusters of flowers create a neat modern style - always a good option if you don't like fussy or frilly.

Don't be afraid to use greenery in your bouquet because it can make all the difference and it would be a crime to waste their beautiful glossy leaves. Your florist will know how to best to use foliage to set off your flowers.

Personally, I think Gardenia look their best when they're given a little room to breathe, so that each individual flower can be admired in all its glory. Greenery can provide that visual space. See how above, gardenia leaves are used to break up the bouquet, and tufts of fern add movement and soft texture. 

To create interest while still sticking to a mostly ivory colour-way you could mix in silvery greys like textural round Brunia and soft Dusty Miller leaves. I like how the black Vaccinium berries in the top image tie in with the black ribbon wrap on the handle, and love the discrete decorative touch that the Cameo brooch adds.

Keeping things soft and subtle, one way to give the traditional ivory bouquet a little twist is to use a hint of colour. Blush shades like apricot, peach or pale dusky pinks are pretty and understated. Try flowers like Dahlia, Peony, and garden style roses like those by David Austen.

You can even carry the colour through and have the bouquet bound in a co-ordinating satin ribbon. Fasten with a pretty vintage brooch, or ask your florist to incorporate some gems, or special jewellery into the bouquet. This can be a nice way to include a meaningful memento from a loved one.

Another great thing about Gardenia, because they're so light and flat they're perfect for using in your hair, a la Billy Holiday, and they make the most lovely scented corsages. Wear on your wrist or hair and you'll get wafts of gorgeousness all day long.

Images: All my wedding flowers, bouquet-bouquet, martha stewart weddings, mary claire crow.com, the brides cafe, brillliantblooms.blogspot, bouquet-bouquet, dmagazine, ?, iloveswmag, bhldn

Which roses for the blushing bride?

Blush shades have been a bit of an obsession of mine lately (see also "peachy keen" and "peaches and cream") and it seems I'm not alone. Personally, I think its just the prettiest way to work a hint of colour into an otherwise fairly neutral theme.

These beautiful roses are called Talea. They are a pale creamy blush with warm peach tones that radiate from within their tightly wound spirals.  In fact their colour is kind of hard to pin down. They're a bit of a chameleon as they take on different tones when put with other colours, which means they're incredibly versatile.

With whites, creams, greens, and silvery grey foliage they appear fresh and elegant. They work wonders with warm russety reds, oranges and corals as they have that underlying peachyness. And because their base colour is a sort of flesh tone they're also lovely combined with pinks.  Raspberry, plums and berry shades would be my recommendation.  

If your colour inspiration starts with peach, raspberry, plum, chocolate browns, sage or olive greens, Talea roses would definitely be worth a look. If you're not sure what type of roses would complement a vintage theme, dress or bridesmaids dresses in any of the above colours, this could be the rose for you.

If you're in need of more blush inspiration pop over to pinterest. There's lots more lovely stuff on my wedding inspiration board and I've just started a wedding cake board too. (I must be hungry!) You can follow me here and there to keep up to date with latest finds. 

Ta ta for now x

Peachy keen

I've never really thought of myself as a particularly girly girl, but being a florist has really taught me to appreciate the beauty of subtlety.

First there were dusky pinks, then blush and now, I am officially in love with peach. I love it with lime greens, (in fact I love pretty much anything with lime greens) its great with chocolate browns too, gives them a little pep.

This is a twist on a bouquet I made for a wedding fair recently. At the end of the day it was snaffled in exchange for a box of cupcakes before I even had the chance to photograph it!

I wanted to make something with a loose and wild feel. The original had Jasmine too.

Here I've used a combination of Ranunculus, the most dreamy flower, Astrantia, limey green Guelder Rose and Alchemila.

Oh and the rose you see below, is Vendella. I spoke about this in the last post. It looks more peachy here.

I have a new found fondness for ribbons too and bows. God I AM girly! I'm not sure what this one is, its not lace, its sort of cottony, is it crochet? Whatever, I thought it worked.