All quiet on the blog posts for a week so I thought I'd show you a sneak peak of the start of our festive season online. I am particularly excited to show you our range of fresh Christmas wreaths.
I am totally in love with Christmas wreaths and I have to say I've fallen head over heals with the vintage inspired wreath with dried lavender and the most beautiful old fashioned tea roses ever! I have a thing about lavender and go completely barmy for it. Although not in true seasonal spirit, it looks amazing combined with miniature pine cones, berried ivy and the natural willow twigs ... very Country Living!
I think people often feel a little sad that they spend money on a wreath for the outside of their door and then spend most of the time inside not looking at it. But it doesn't have to be this way ... we always have a door wreath during December and as soon as we're entertaining and the guests are inside we whizz outside, take it off the door place in the centre of the table with a grouping of thick church candles in the middle and voila, from door wreath to table arrangement in under 5 minutes flat.
Learn how to make your own stunning Christmas door wreaths and dress your table to impress
Green Parlour will provide you with all the knowledge and materials to create your own Christmas door wreath. Perfect for celebrating the festive season!
There will also be expert advise on the latest interior trends, as well as some inspirational ideas on how to dress your Christmas table from Lynda Tillotson at L Interiors, Chapel Row, Bucklebury, RG7 6PB.
Taking place at The Bladebone Inn, Chapel Row, Bucklebury, RG7 6PD classes will start promptly at 7.30pm and finish at 9.30pm. You will be greeted with a glass of wine before a brief demonstration on how to create the perfect Christmas wreath. You will then be invited to create your own wreath for your front door. Lynda will then guide you through dressing your table beautifully for Christmas Day.
Each class costs £45.00 per person, per course. Places are limited.
There is something about white wedding flowers that I love. Perhaps its there timeless elegance and the fact they can be a complete chameleon! Able to transform from crisp modern orchids right through to a relaxed, English country garden theme, they retain their simplicity and grace of style no matter what venue, vase or dress they find themselves near.
I personally love white flowers in a relaxed country feel, a look that suits Bradfield College perfectly, complimenting the dark wood that is present throughout the Main Hall and bringing a taste of the buildings gorgeous grounds inside. Filled with Avalanche Roses, white Veronica, scented Eucalyptus, Majolica spray Roses, Astilbe and Waxflower these glass cylinder vases work perfectly with the relaxed but elegant brief we were given!
I had to take a snap of the Bride and Groom's cake of cheese, the woodblock is amazing! and the theme of the white flowers become a little more obvious.
Anyone who reads a few of our notes will know that I have a huge amount of love for kissing balls! This one is a particular favourite of mine, the heavy oak door leading to the Main Hall in Bradfield College would not be out of place in a Harry Potter film is the perfect backdrop for a kissing ball filled to the brim with scented Eucalyptus, Ammi Majus, white Veronica, Majolica and Avalanche roses. Yum!
Sometimes you get the opportunity to meet a bride who wants something a little different for her wedding day, and is willing to put in the time to make it happen.
It was such a joy to meet Alice (the Bride) and Penny (Alice's Mum who just happens to be handy with a needle and thread and growing flowers amongst other things!) way back at our first meeting in deepest darkest depths of February. As soon as they started describing the theme for their wedding, relaxed elegant English country garden with a fete, party feel in the afternoon. Perfect! Its exactly how I'd have my wedding.
Alice's dress sounded perfect - lace with an elegant vintage feel and was having a birdcage hat specially made, their ideas for the marquee they were erecting in Mapledurham Estate just outside of Reading, Berkshire were getting more elaborate and ornate by the day.
I always have images of Penny sitting there surrounded by mounds of pastel coloured triangles ready to be made into the pretty bunting that adorned the interior of the marquee and definitely will never forget the amount of jam jars they collected ready to house the pretty table flowers that ran the entire length of the marquee. I think if you flashed a jar in front of them, to this day they would be able to identify exact content of the containers. Filling them with small hand tied arrangements was an absolute joy and I love the en mass look they create effortlessly. Less is definitely more.
At one of our first meetings Penny informed me of the plan to decorate the church, St Celement in Ashampstead, Berkshire, themselves. So a few weeks before the wedding I was invited up to Penny's house in the blazing summer sun to take a look at all the flowers she has been growing ready to be cut and arranged by her and her sister on the Thursday before the wedding. I was greeted with a garden full of lovely goodies including Ammi Majus (one of my all time favourite flowers) as well as Molucella with their lime green zest bringing the garden alive! At this stage, been in complete awe of her talents I decided that I want Penny to plan my wedding!
We set to work on creating the bespoke flower decorations for the big day, using all the wonderfully shaped jam jars and filling them with an abundance of seasonal flowers. Each jam jar was individual and so the flowers reflected this too, really adding to the mismatched relaxed look that the day was all about. I really think spreading the arrangements across the entire length of the table, scattered between cutlery, cake stands and, later on, storm lanterns created a pretty, country tone to the marquee, and I always think its lovely when your guests can leave with a little floral gift. The flowers reflected the time of year with some of my personal favourites including Peonies, Roses, Eycalyptus, Scabious, Ammi Majus, Molucella, Sweet Peas and Guelder Rose.
My favourite item however had to be the large kissing ball that hung from the central point of the marquee. Filled to the brim with a whole host of Eucalyptus, Ammi Majus, Avalanche and Deep Water Roses and Guelder Rose, it suited the theme and venue perfectly! I love having an unexpected twist in marquees and the kissing ball fits the bill perfectly.
They also hired an aeroplane stunt man to draw a heart in the sky.
