One Flew Over Recently...

March has been chilly but signs of Spring are emerging. 

The sweet peas we planted over winter are growing taller and stronger each day;

Our friends lucky enough to have ducks tell us the first eggs have been laid;

And after nothing much happening in the wintry garden, Oscar is suddenly glued to the promise of movement and excitement (anything small that moves and THE OTHER CAT).

At the beginning of the month we exhibited at, and were floral sponsors for, the superb A Most Curious Wedding Fair.  

(Check out last week's blog on foliage-a-plenty wedding inspiration, with photos from the various elements we decorated at A Most Curious...)

A wedding fair like no other, A Most Curious curates original and creative suppliers from London and beyond, and pops them all in a non-intimidating and super fun environment. With a bar. What's not to love?

It's possible that we got a little over excited about our pop up flower beds, cramming them full of ranunculus, anemones, lilac, mimosa, clematis, wax flower and basically anything else we could fit in! 

Plus, we got an opportunity to create an enormous, and possibly completely mad, bouquet.

Which Charlie was kind enough to model with some more bended knee bouquet shots;

Check out Helen's round up of the fair on her excellent blog The Wedding Bazaar which includes photos (rather than our terrible phone-tos!) by the bloody lovely Tasha at Ikonworks photography.

Photo: Ikonworks photography

And also, Rona from the comprehensive and informative flower inspired blog Flowerona, has featured us in her Wedding Wednesday post (although PLEASE excuse how awkward we look - we genuinely cannot take a good photo. It's a serious problem...) and also featured all the florists at the fair in her Rona Reflects vlog.

Aside from the fair, we have been revelling in the delights of a new season with our weekly contracts; delicate blossom, blousy and bossy fritillaria persica, and bold pops of coloured florals.

And we even managed to squeeze in a much needed holiday each over the easter break.  

In the Lake District, THIS HAPPENED...

Oh, and finally, check out this here beauty;

Wedding Inspiration at A Most Curious Wedding Fair

This past weekend we joined A Most Curious Wedding Fair for the third year running.

Photo: A Most Curious Wedding Fair

We love this fair.  

Mainly because it doesn't feel like a wedding fair, which bring to mind highly stylised stands, fake smiles and a hard sell.  

A Most Curious feels like a group of independent creative businesses who just want to make weddings beautiful and cool, and have tons of fun doing it.  

Photo: A Most Curious Wedding Fair

This year, we were the floral sponsors for the event, which meant dressing various spaces around the pretty enormous and industrial Truman Brewery on Brick Lane.

The theme of the fair was Bush and Wood... ahem... For us, this meant it was all about the foliage, and no flowers!  

Using our installation pieces at A Most Curious, we thought we'd give you some wedding inspiration, showing you how to use foliage for maximum impact at your wedding!

The main entrance window was inspired by a Kinfolk Dinner vibe - a laid back and simple installation of sprigs of foliage pegged to draping lengths of twine.  

This is a really easy way of dressing a window and would look particularly effective against a large, white wall space in industrial venues.  It could also be built onto a frame and used as a a table plan, with luggage labels tied around the foliage sprigs.

For the main staircase, we went for a wild and wispy textured foliage garland.  This is one of our absolute favourite ways to decorate a venue.  Omitting flowers in favour of foliage means this is a cost-effective choice for your staircases, pillars, balconies, archways, basically anywhere! And by using seasonal foliage, garlanding can be appropriate all year round, not just for winter weddings. 

The Style and the Bride catwalk was the epicentre of the fair.

The back walls were built with a Gas & Air Studios pallet backdrop, which we topped with long, tumbling pieces of eucalyptus, ruscus, and asparagus fern so that they crept through the slats of the pallets.  This idea would look great atop wooden beams in a barn venue setting, or even suspended on a swing in a marquee.

We also suspended a fig branch draped with ivy and asparagus fern above the start of the catwalk.  A fuller version of this makes a unique ceremony backdrop, or this idea can be used to demarcate certain areas of your wedding, such as the bar or a quiet zone, in a big open warehouse space.

A pop-up foliage bed of berried ivy, leather leaf, asparagus fern, salal and eucalyptus lined the end of the catwalk.

Pop-up flower or foliage beds can be used as aisle runners or path markers, to line window sills, to brighten up unused church benches or pews, or as long centre pieces for trestle tables - we love them, as they are a super fun way of decorating any space! 

For all those in East Anglia and the surrounding areas, A Most Curious Wedding Fair is coming to Norwich this weekend, so be sure to get down there for more wedding inspiration!

Proper Weddings: Sarah and Simon

We first met Sarah and Simon at A Most Curious Wedding Fair in March 2015.  They were getting married in September; the venue was planned and they were on the hunt for flowers and a photographer.

The ceremony was held in a beautiful countryside church in South Weald in Essex (we didn't do any flowers in the church but Jess put the wrong post code in the sat nav so we ended up there anyway...)

The reception was held in a marquee erected in the grounds of Great and Little Warley Cricket Club - a clearing in a woody area that has amazing views over London.

A country church and a woodland reception calls for a certain type of flowers - relaxed, with a touch of whimsy.  Sarah loved the English garden look, with a rustic and natural feel, incorporating trailing greenery and 'fluffy' foliage.

The bridal bouquet had a hand-picked, loose and unstructured feel - more of a gathered bunch than arranged bouquet.

We used David Austin Juliette roses for a muted apricot tone, quicksand roses for a washed out pink, scabious and clematis for the pops of blue and purple, white lisianthus for a bit of bud-dy height, pink heather and wax flower for texture, a variety of mint and white freesia for scent, and then mimosa and asparagus fern for a touch of wild and whimsical greenery. The bouquet was then tied off with raffia, for that country vibe.

Sarah's maid of honour had a smaller version of her our bouquet, but without of the Juliette roses.  This is an good way of setting the bridal bouquet apart from the bridesmaids', while still giving them a lovely, substantial bouquet to hold.

Sarah and her bridesmaids all had flower crowns for the day.  

We'd like to take the credit for the beauty below,  but it's really down to Sarah and her babeing hair.

 Sarah's crown was full and full of texture - scabious buds, berried euc, wax flower and heather, silver mimosa, pink and white lizzies, spray roses, hydrangea, clematis...

And tied at the back with a soft pink ribbon.

The bridesmaids had slightly less full versions, filled instead with more of the small, budded stems.

Following the ceremony, it was off to the cricket club where we had installed enormously long, textured foliage garlanding down lengths of the marque poles, and Sarah and Simon and their friends had meticulously suspended pastel coloured paper pom poms.

Sarah and Simon had opted for neutral table runners topped with tree trunk blocks and pine cones, where we placed a variety of different height and shaped clear bottles filled with flowers and foliage.  In addition to the flowers used for the bridal party, we used pink snowberries, alchemilla mollis and purple freesias.

The couple also hired a number of old-fashioned wooden ladders, which held more bottles and some lanterns for the night time (party) atmosphere!

Thanks to the wonderful photographer Ellie Gillard for these smashing snaps!

Houseplant of the Month: March

Houseplants: like the perfect man... long lasting, great looking and low maintenance.  

What is not to love?  

Which is why the Flower Council of Holland are continuing their Houseplant of the Month Campaign throughout 2016.  Each month they have chosen their favourite Houseplant and given a ton of information on the history and uses of the plant, how to choose a nice healthy one, and how to take proper good care of it.

We thought we'd do you all a favour and follow their lead, condensing the info in our own monthly feature.  

In the third part of this year's series...

March : White, fragrant plants

For this month, the houseplant focus is on scent for the first time.

Flowering houseplants such as Gardenia, Jasmine and Stephanotis smell flipping delicious and are a fair whack cheaper than a Jo Malone candle. 



And when we're still not quite out of this blustery, chilly, rainy funk, a bit of floral interest in the home can perk you right up. 

Luckily, Jasmine is a big fan of winter and peaks throughout these months.  Stephanotis and Gardenia, while often available throughout the year, come into their flowery own in the Spring and Summer.

Like all flowers, white varieties speak their own language.  These speak of purity, chastity, simplicity, innocence, truth, perfection, calm and natural love.  

But don't be put off by all that - they are also totally badass.

So, who’s who?

Stephanotis is recognisable by its dark green leaves and clusters of tubular white flowers, like little antennae.

Gardenia has shiny, waxy, green leaves and large, bloomy flowers which look quite rosey. 

And Jasmine grows into tendrils with airy, small leaves and clusters of pinkish buds, which produce the tiny flowers.

Now, don't forget... it's Mother's Day on Sunday.  

Get down to your local (independent) nursery or florist, buy a Jasmine, Gardenia or Stephanotis plant (or better yet, all three) and pot them up for your mam!

Then tell her to lovingly place her pressies in a light area of the house, to keep the plants well watered and well drained, and to pick off any sad looking flowers so that new, fresh buds can grow through thick and healthy.

And also, do a roast for your mum on Sunday, because you know, she deserves it.