More Blush Roses - Quicksand

Vintage lovers prepare to swoon. How gorgeous are these roses? This variety called Quicksand are the most amazing fleshy blush pink shade. Check out the subtle variations within this one wrap of roses. 

At one glance they appear to be putty pink, look again and they're coffee cream. Beige would be an insult ( I mean who wants to be beige after all? ) but think natural, neutral, nude and you're definitely on the right track.

This batch came in with quite a small slightly cone shaped head. Quite a similar shape to Amnesia. I haven't yet put them together but I'd be interested to see how they work because they're both very much dusky antique shades. 

Look at those amazing tints of raspberry pink on the outer petals. They are just begging to be paired with fruity deep pinks and incredibly subtle silver foliage.

Mmmm. How would you have yours?

Classic Wedding Flowers - Lily of the Valley

A firm favourite of both Hollywood and British Royalty, Lily of the Valley was the flower of choice for the classically beautiful Grace Kelly when she married her prince and last year was used by our own fairytale princess Kate Middleton for her dainty bouquet. 

In honour of Will and Kate just having celebrated their 1st Wedding Anniversary, I thought it only right to shine the spotlight on this little gem and run through some of the different ways you can use Lily of the Valley in your wedding.  

As a hand-tied bouquet its so sweet. This simple style really shows how delicate and exquisite the flowers are.

• A simple posy of 30-50 stems is helped by foliage used through the bouquet to separate and add oomph. 

• Bigger bunches of 100+ stems are fab with the lily's own leaves framing the flowers. 

• Add glamourous details like ivory satin ribbons pinned with antique brooches or cameos.

Kate's shower bouquet (top) used Hyacinth pips and Lily of the valley along with Myrtle, and Ivy all of which would have had to have been individually wired.  This sort of bouquet requires great skill and time to create and prices tend to reflect that.

If you're keen to recreate this royal beauty, bear in mind that out of season they can be extortionately expensive for such a tiny flower and because they are so dainty you need quite a few stems to achieve a similar effect. 

Worth it though, I'd say.  

Alternatively you could always use a few mixed with other seasonal flowers like frilly sweet peas, with trailing fritillary, or dotted through a handtie of peonies.

Be warned though, that with other larger flowers they can get overshadowed, so to avoid this ask your florist to arrange a grouped bouquet, or use them in clusters throughout to add texture and of course a wonderful scent.

• For table decorations use them in little glass jars, sparkly mercurised silver votives, or antique crystal wine glasses. 

• For a little novelty diy pierce plastic cups, thread with ribbon and secure before filling with flowers and hanging from pew ends or chair backs or wherever takes your fancy. 

• Or you could have a go at making a wire heart. Using pliable thick wire available from hobby stores and more than likely your local florist, bind a few stems at a time with reel wire to your outline shape until all the wire is covered. Make a wire loop or hook for hanging or attach with a ribbon. 

It is worth noting, if you are planning to prep any of the flowers yourself, that as with a lot of the most delicate flowers, they do have a short life as a cut flower and are best conditioned by the experts, kept in water and not bought or used too far in advance. 

Are you thinking about using Lily of the Valley in your bouquet, or perhaps you used it for your wedding flowers? It'd be interesting to hear what you make of this little flower. 

Pop back next week for more classic wedding flowers when I'll be chatting all things Hydrangea.

Ta ta for now x

Images from here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here

Classic Wedding Flowers - Calla Lillies

  

The second in a new feature On Classic wedding flowers, this week I'm talking all things Calla lilies. Arum and Calla Lilies have become a modern classic. I've seen them grow in popularity since the 90's with their tubular flower heads and clean linear stems providing a perfect match for simpler gowns.

Theirs is a very understated beauty, that won't overshadow the finer details of your dress. What makes them so stunningly elegant is their simplicity, so stick to simple designs and try not to overcomplicate your bouquets and arrangements. 

If you're opting for Hand tied flowers, I would choose either a few of the larger fuller heads of Arum Lilies, or more of the tubular Calla Lily for a good bridal bouquet.

They also lend themselves to shower or cascade bouquets, where you could combine them with roses, and phaleanopsis orchids for a really wowee bouquet.

A great way to avoid blowing the budget is to give your bridemaids over the arm bouquets. A few Calla lilies, some choice foliage and grasses is perfect for simply elegant floral touches and because you only need 3-5 stems, they won't break the bank. 

As for gents, unless your chap is a statuesque rugby or basketball player, I'd recommend using the smaller Crystal Blush Calla for buttonholes as larger varieties can swamp all but the biggest lapels.

Callas can work right through the theme - they're elegant in tall vases, or stunningly simple tied or spiralled in low vases or fishbowls. I'm really liking the clean minimal style of having flowers within vases too.

And don't you just love the styling of this stairway. Groups of long stemmed bunches have been used in vases on plinths and arranged so that they criss cross. You'd want to use fairly sturdy glass vases or possibly even pinholders to have avoid topples as those leaning lilies could be top heavy.

A stunningly simple idea that could be adapted to decorate all manner of venue and table displays.  Next time, I'll be looking at Lilies and asking if they still have a place in modern weddings.

Images top to bottom from here, source unknown, here, here, here, here, here, via here, and here.

Purple Rain

I love the colour purple. Its strong, deep hues, a combination of reds and blues, are both rich and cool at the same time. One of the most requested colours for bridal flowers lately, I thought I'd give a quick run through some of the options available if you're thinking of using purple in your wedding.

Incredibly versatile, it can be soft and pretty with pinks, creams and lilacs but can also work with creams and vibrant sunny yellows, and I love it with orange (its opposite on the colour wheel) and lime green. Mix it with reds and you have a very seductive combination.

These above and the lilac flowers below are Eustoma, more commonly known as Lisianthus. Sometimes mistaken for a rose and also known as a chinese rose, its not related but you can see where the confusion arises. Like the rose it does have soft blousey petals but its perfect spiralling buds are all its own.

If you like natural country garden style flowers these below are Veronica. They work really well with Lisianthus, thistle and spray roses for a cottagey feel. They look sweet popping out of mixed spring bunches too and are relatively inexpensive and widely available pretty much all year round.

When you're choosing flowers, whether for a vase at home, a gift or a wedding it helps to think about the effect that different types of flowers have on your arrangement. Your florist will advise with this but its usually a good idea to have a combination of linear and rounded shapes.

Clematis below has a beautiful lightness to it. Its stems curve and climb and can lend a lovely rhythmical  movement to your arrangement so that it flows and looks natural.

Hydrangea in contrast are quite a weighty flower with large heads of lots of little flowers. As a general rule, its a good idea to keep your heavier focal flowers towards the base of arrangements and lighter smaller blooms towards the top. In vases, space and foliage help to balance out different shapes.  

This Hydrangea is a lovely variety with the most amazing variation of colours on one head. And no, this is not a trick of the light, these flowers actually have green, pink, lilac and blue tones on each tiny head. Amazing aren't they?

If you prefer cleaner lines there are still plenty of options out there if you're looking for purple flowers. Vanda orchids come in a few different shades of purple from the more commonplace vibrant pinky purple, to dusky browny purples that would work well in vintage themes, and this new variety which is a great strong "Cadbury's" purple. 

Tulips are perfect for classic, clean bouquets and do come in purple, although they look more pink here they are definitely more on the mauvey/magenta side of purple. As always I'd recommend sticking to using using them when they're in season as not only are they cheaper they're also much stronger and longer lasting.

So there it is purple - the colours of kings and queens and er, Prince - the tiny put him in your pocket prince of pop. Hence Purple Rain. And it has been raining quite a lot here, just not purple. That'd be worrying.

Where the wild things are

I have a tendency to like my flowers a little wild. Nothing too orderly or neat for me please, I prefer something a little more wild and free. Rustic and relaxed. Like me I suppose.

This little bouquet is a bit of a wild thing. I was inspired by these white and pinky/purple edged Ranunculus called Cappucino. The Astrantia, a great little flower that lasts really well and seems to be available pretty much year round, is a perfect companion.

Thistle, always looks a a bit wild too, so in it went. And a few magenta carnations. I know carnations, who'd have thought it.  Oh and I foraged a little Apple Blossom and honeysuckle. Ok it was from the garden. So more suburban than rustic.

Then all she needed was a little brown velvet binding and some pink pearl pins to keep everything in place. Pretty. But not for neat freaks.