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Sarosh & Jemma

Posted on by Katherine

This beautiful couple got in touch just two months before their wedding date and I’m so pleased that we managed to pull this off in such a short space of time. To be fair, they had been kind of busy saving lives, him as a cardiologist and her as an intensive care nurse so the wedding plans had naturally taken a back seat. On our first meeting, we just clicked and I knew exactly what they wanted just from the one reference photo of a candelabra centrepiece that they showed me for inspiration. A riot of colour that would be symbolic of their two cultures and the union of their marriage.

 

 

I chose clashing colours of hot pink, coral, orange, deep red and lime greens and a mix of more traditional wedding flowers (peonies, dahlias and tulips) with something a little more exotic (nutans, amaranthus and umbrella ferns).

 

 

The couple were married in the magical grounds of Tournerbury Woods, a 50 acre estate with it’s own private beach. The day was split in three parts, with a traditional Irish ceremony by the waterfront, followed by a Muslim blessing in front of the gazebo followed by the wedding breakfast and dancing in the marquee. These fabulous photos and video of the celebrations were taken by the talented duo Oana and Valentin at Tell Your Story Photography & Film. And they really did tell the love story of Jemma & Sarosh.

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the video below to watch a very special film of their big day with heaps more inspiration. Jemma & Sarosh were so very pleased with their wedding flowers that they sent these lovely words the very next day whilst on honeymoon in The Maldives. Thank you for choosing Katherine Bly Flowers guys. It really was my absolute pleasure. K x

 

“You did an absolutely incredible job of the flowers. You made our dreams into a reality (and we had very lofty dreams!!) by just looking at one picture we provided. We had so many compliments on how beautiful the marquee looked decorated with your flowers. You can really tell how passionate you are about your work and that really shone through. Our sincere thanks J&S”

 

Lauren & Oli

Posted on by Katherine

This couple were so much fun to work with and I loved all the quirky, personal touches they had at their wedding. They chose to get married in a beautiful country club called Wickwoods, a hidden gem in the Sussex countryside surrounded by mature trees. Lauren had a her heart set on an unusual flower combination of roses and succulents in muted nude, pink and coffee shades. They perfectly complimented the mocha bridesmaid dresses and in fact one of the variety of roses we used was called ‘Cappucino’.

Oli’s wore a striking blue suit and I ensured that some of the roses also perfectly matched his bright pink socks. Don’t you love guys that embrace pink?

 

These gorgeous images were taken by the brilliant Sara Reeve Photography, who is also a fellow member of The Sussex Wedding Collective. Thanks lovely Sara for letting me use these images.

 

Congratulations L&O. I love this photo of you both, totally gone with the wind! And so pleased to say that this wedding was admired so much, it also appears in Wedding Ideas Magazine, the no 1 Bridal Magazine in the UK. Hurrah! Katherine x

 

 

David & Sarah

Posted on by Katherine

Well just look at these two. Aren’t they just the cutest? I’ve never seen a couple look so happy, relaxed and in love. This photo makes me want to cry with joy. Well done to Nick Parker at Parker Shots for capturing them so perfectly. It was clear from our first meeting, that these two knew exactly what look they wanted to create for their wedding at the glorious Chafford Park. Sarah wanted bright, zesty lemon flowers with fresh lime foliages. I selected David Austin roses, peonies, veronica, solidago, olive and ferns with which I created floral designs that were natural, loose and had a slightly wild look to them. It perfectly suited the rustic farm setting.

 

 

For the ceremony, Sarah and David wanted a relaxed look in The Granary Barn and chose a birch arch decorated with floral tie backs and white drapes. I love how pure and simple this looks against the wood panelling. And the yellow flowers really pop!

 

 

After the ceremony, guests were treated to champagne and canapes on the lawn whilst admiring the collection of classic cars – David’s pride and joy. The line up included a beautiful Ferrari F40, a Porsche Speedster and a classic Morris Minor that David had worked on extensively with his father. They were a great talking point, especially with the flower walk which ran behind the vehicles and acted as a pretty backdrop. (Fun Fact: I’m a real petrol head and I’ve actually driven this gorgeous Ferrari F40 at 160mph around the track at Silverstone!)

 

 

For the wedding breakfast, guests were then taken next door into The Hop Barn. The size and scale of this space is not to be underestimated. It is stunning but huge so small table arrangements would have got lost. Sarah knew this and had already asked for tall centrepieces so that colour would be drawn up to the ceiling. These fabulous arrangements were over 150cm tall so they certainly added drama to the room, which was amplified by the stunning drapes installed by Not Your Average I Do.

 

 

As you can see there are so many fabulous photo opportunities at Chafford Park including the barns, lawns, meadows, pond, farmhouse and more formal gardens which total 300 acres in all. I’m looking forward to creating more wedding flowers there next summer. In the meantime, many congratulations D&S. Thank you for letting me be part of your special day. K x

 

 

The Suppliers:

Photographer: Nick Parker at Parkershots https://parkershots.com

Florist: Katherine Bly Flowers http://www.katherinebly.com

Venue: Chafford Park, Sarah Swiderski http://chaffordpark.co.uk

Décor / Styling: Not Your Average I Do. Kelly Kearly http://notyouraverageido.com

Hair & Make-up Artist: Christina Jessell http://www.christinajessel.com/

Bride’s gown (Designer and boutique) Mikaella Bridal. Sally at Helena Fortley in Caterham https://www.helenafortley.co.uk

Groom / Groomsmen suits: Groom – Ted Baker. Groomsmen – Dickies of Crawley http://www.dickiesofcrawley.com

Rings: Engagement ring by The Diamond Store. Wedding rings by Chisholm Hunter (Bluewater)

Caterer: Red Anywhere, Imogen Boath http://www.redanywhere.co.uk/

 

DIY Brides

Posted on by Katherine

For the budget conscious bride, I’m now offering a new service called “Buckets & Bouquets”. There’s no minimum spend (except that you need to order the main bridal party flowers from me including the bride bouquet, bridesmaid bouquets and buttonholes).

 

  • Bridal bouquets (regardless of style) £95
  • Bridesmaids bouquets £55
  • Gents buttonhole £7
  • Ladies buttonhole £8 each
  • Buckets of flowers – £90 per bucket (3 focal flowers, 4 filler flowers and 3 foliage 8 stems of each, 80 stems in total, no need to return buckets)

 

It is a first come first served service and only one order will be accepted for each available date.

 

Collection is from our studio in Haywards Heath although local delivery within 10 miles may be available upon request for a nominal charge.

 

Alternatively, if you want to create ALL your wedding flowers, why not try our Bridal Workshop, where you get to learn how to create the perfect hand-tied bouquet for you and your bridesmaids, buttonholes and centrepieces. Here’s Abi who came on the workshop back in June. What a great job she did creating her perfect wildflower bouquet this summer.

 

Club Tropicana

Posted on by admin

Well what else are you going to do on a rainy day in May than try and create a tropical paradise in the heart of the Sussex countryside? This photo shoot was a creative collaboration with other like minded wedding suppliers at the hidden gem of a venue, Decoy Ponds near Arundel. The owner Karen and her husband have been in residence for some 25 years, but it’s a relatively new venue, established after their daughters got married in the grounds of their stunning home. The beauty of this shoot was captured by the one and only Jacob Malinski who captures light like no other photographer. I want to personally thank him for the way that he managed to hero my flowers, oh and manage to take an off the cuff portrait of me….but more of that later.

 

 

The shoot was organised by the indomitable Nicola Austin Weddings & Events. I met Nicky through a mutual friend and was really impressed by her organisational skills and ability to just get the job done. The brief was quite open but I knew I needed to include a mix of hot pinks and oranges so chose Heleconia, Gloriosa, Ginger Lily, Dendrobian Orchids, Nutans and Peonies with a mix of palms, ferns, monstera and banana leaves. I designed an unusual assymetric bouquet with trailing ribbons in complimentary colours. I also felt that this wedding style would lend itself to a heavier, opulent flower crown which is very on trend. (Fun Fact: The beautiful models Stephanie & Ben are actually a real life couple who recently got married themselves!!) Stephanie’s hair was created by the talented Glamour by Martine and her make up was by the formidable Olivia Agate.

 

 

For the ceremony, I chose to decorate the beautiful birch arch hired from The Beautiful Day with tropical palms with went really well with the lush green foliages of the grounds. They also supplied the lovely vintage oak barrels on top of which I added pedestal arrangements. The beauty of these is that they can then be easily moved to the reception afterwards. Small sprays of tropical flowers then lined the aisle to carry the colours through the whole design. Again, these can be moved afterwards to the chairs at the top table.

 

 

 

The exquisite marquee, handmade in nearby Chichester, supplied by Tents N Events provided the perfect canvas to the bold, bright colours. I really loved creating the hanging installation using a vintage ladder, palms and orchids. When the tent is this beautiful your guests really should be looking up!

 

 

For the top table, I created a triptych of wooden woven baskets containing mini pineapples and bamboo amongst other tropical flowers. Bold, orange hemmed hessian runners made by Eloise at The Beautiful Day complimented these perfectly and I positioned Fatsia leaves on each place setting along with beautiful acrylic placecards handmade by You Make My Dreams.

 

The tropical sunset inspired four tier wedding cake was created by Kasserina Cakes and it took pride of place in the marquee setting, ready to be cut by the bride and groom.

 

 

Finally, here’s the pix of me larking around on set (not quite acting the model but more of a fool). Kx

 

Angela & Chris

Posted on by Katherine
What a beautiful spring wedding this was set in the magical grounds of Great Fosters, a Grade One listed venue with some 50 acres of stunning gardens. I was introduced to Angela and Chris by the indomitable wedding planner Inspired By Susie Evans. Susie knew that the flowers were central to the wedding theme and that she needed a a florist who could interpret the ‘Bright Spring Blooms’ brief and create natural seasonal wedding flowers with heaps of contrasting colours and textures.

From our meeting, Angela and I just hit it off. She was such a sweetheart to work with and luckily for me knew so much about flowers. She definitely wanted to include Peonies, Garden Roses, Ranunculus and Lily of the Valley and together we finalised the selection based on colour, shape and texture. The wedding flowers were perfectly captured by the very talented Paul Read Photography and I want to personally thank him for letting me use these images on my blog.

The reception drinks were held in the Painted Hall where guests could look at the fabulous ‘planted’ table plan using my vintage apple crates. Each of the tables was named after one of the featured flowers and Angela cleverly made all the table cards herself including the meaning of the flowers too. Such a sweet idea and it smelt divine!
After champagne and canapes, guests then moved into the Tithe Barn for the wedding reception. Here I used a combination of high and low centrepieces to create the wow factor. The beautiful gold chiavari chairs were hired from Coordination Catering Hire and the fantastic lighting system was created by Creative Spark.

 

Angela’s attention to detail was exemplary and she wanted the wedding cake to feature complimentary flowers so I liased direct with the amazingly talented Emma at Wicky Woo Woo Cakes. All the flowers were sugar crafted and handmade to perfection using the reference pictures I supplied. I just loved how Emma incorporated figures of Angela, Chris and their beloved terrier Frank too!

Thank you so much Angela and Chris for being such a fabulous couple. It was my absolute pleasure to be part of your perfect day. Katherine x

Let them eat Cake!

Posted on by Katherine

I was invited to take part in this promotional shoot for Nadya’s Cakes & Bakes in the grounds of The Chiddinglye Estate. There is so much lush woodland to choose from, we were spoilt for choice. We settled on the beautiful woods, just where the trees parted and the sunlight dappled the leaves and spread across the moss covered banks. Alex Rickard Photography took some stunning shots for Nadya and her fledgling business and we were all thrilled with the results. What do you think?

 

Perhaps you’ve got a business that could benefit from my flower power to sell your products? If so, please get in touch using the contact page. I’d love to help K x

Suppliers:

Photographer: Alex Rickard http://www.alexrickardphotography.com/

Cakes: Nadya’s Cakes & Bakes http://www.nadyascakesandbakes.com/

Flowers: Katherine Bly Flowers http://www.katherinebly.com/

Top Tip: Fake Peonies!

Posted on by admin

So what do you do if you LOVE peonies but you’re not getting married in season. That’s May-July by the way. No problem. Just fake it. Here’s a handy tip…..just use carnations. I know. I know. They’re the scourge of many a modern florist, best known for their presence on the petrol station forecourt. But they are making a comeback honest. And if you’re careful using the right colour and tone, they can be turned into the most convincing blousy peony. Particularly handy when the cost per stem is too high or it’s the middle of October. There’s basically two different methods; 1) The Cut Down and 2) The Tie Together. In the image below, you can see three flowers; far left is the original sized carnation still in tight bud (the older the carnation, the more full the effect), middle is the cut down method and the far right is the tie together method.

 

 

1) The Cut Down Method

Take a single stem carnation and using a florist knife cut down the green part that connects the petals to the stem. The part that holds the blossom all together). Cut clear from the top to the bottom. Stop at the part that attaches the stem and only cut through the green part.

 

 

Use your fingers to “fluff” the flower out. Since you’ve cut the base of the stem, the petals now have a little breathing room and can properly spread out.

 

 

That’s it! The more you fluff, the fuller the bloom. I’ve used one tone carnations but this method looks even better with variegated carnations.

 

2) The Tie Together Method

Hold three stems of carnations together at the base of the flower head. Group each flower head together, placing and replacing until they perfectly fit in unison. Tape together. That’s it!! Talk about simple.

 

 

So what do you think? I hope you can see that the overall effect is much more than a single carnation on it’s own. Happy creating. Hope it helps you. Kx