A Colourful Celebration of Love

Around this time of year the Forest team can get really busy creating floral arrangements for summer weddings. One recent noteworthy client was Lou’s long-term friends, Jess and Chris, who naturally turned to Alice and Lou to help them design and install their dream wedding flower arrangements. Read our roundup of the perfect day that went off without a hitch! 

A Story 10 Years in the Making

Chris and Jess met at university and have been together for 10 years, so understanding each other and the vibe they were going for felt natural to them. Recent work opportunities saw them both move to the US just over a year ago, but they knew they wanted to return to the UK for their wedding to be with their closest family and friends. Both Chris and Jess are fun, vibrant and kind people and wanted this to set the initial starting point for their wedding - a relaxed celebration filled with colour, joy and thoughtful details. 

 

The Venue: A Beautiful Barn in the Cotswolds

A stunning barn in the Cotswold was chosen by the couple and this also acted as their starting point for the colour theme reflecting their desire for a joyful atmosphere filled with warmth and colour. The charm of the location synchronised perfectly with their vision of flowers that were colourful, warm and rustic. Jess is a product manager, so her detail-oriented approach naturally meant the day was planned meticulously and thoughtfully to ensure that everyone felt like a special part of their wedding day. 

The Creative Process  

Alice worked closely with Jess to ensure that her vision for the flowers was exactly as imagined. They kickstarted the process with an initial video call several months ahead of the wedding where Alice walked through some Pinterest boards to glean some insight into Jess’ preferences followed up with advice as to which arrangements would work at their chosen venue. What materialised was a stunning selection of seasonal flowers designed to represent joy, love and warmth. The final selection included hot red anemones, fuchsia pink tulips, blousey pale pink ranunculus, butterfly ranunculus, deep red carnations, sweet avalanche roses, red roses, and pink hydrangea accompanied by softer, complimentary flowers to highlight the key colour them. 

 

 

Following this call, Alice liaised with the venue directly to establish whether Jess’ ideas were going to be possible. Once confirmed, Alice maintained communication with the venue all the way through to the install to ensure timings and the installation itself ran smoothly. The floral design needed some last minute adjustments due to changes in the seating plan, but Alice was flexible and resolved it quickly so Jess didn’t have to worry about a thing, leaving Alice to make her vision a reality. Full trust was placed in the Forest team meaning she could simply focus on preparing for her special day. 

 

 

Ahead of the Ceremony: Bouquets and Bubbles 

Jess and her six bridesmaids (including Lou) participated in a flower arranging class the night before the wedding, led by Alice and Fran from Forest, where they had the opportunity to make their own bridesmaids’ bouquets. They chose flowers and velvet ribbon to match each of their dresses, echoing the intention that Jess wanted from the start - to make everyone feel part of the big day. Techniques like stripping the flowers and reflexing the petals (a process that involves bending the petals to make the flower heads appear bigger and more dramatic) were demonstrated to the group. Under the guidance of the Forest team, each bridesmaid created a unique bouquet that reflected their individuality and allowed their personalities to shine through. The night was topped off with pizza and champagne, creating a sense of fun and intimacy ahead of the celebrations. 

The groom, his three groomsmen and his dad, all had a delicate red spray buttonhole flower arrangement – understated, elegant, and in keeping with the romantic palette.

The Wow Factor

Guests marvelled at the various flower installations throughout the day, in particular the ceremonial archway, the stunning flower chandelier, and hedge lining the head table, full to the brim with flowers. 

 

 

 

As a thoughtful gesture to commemorate the day, Jess and Chris gifted the flowers to their guests. Lou dismantled the floral hedge and archway and created small take-home bouquets for every guest - some were dancing right until the end of the night with their bouquets in hand! This was also a meaningful way to reduce waste and extend the warmth of the wedding theme to the days following.