At the start of July we headed to Underbank Chapel School Room - South Yorkshire, to install a ‘Perfectly Bespoke’ wedding for our wonderful clients Emily & Nik. For our bespoke couples I always find it really useful to sketch out final drafts before the install to help set the floral narrative in stone for our clients, which really helps to imagine what the floralscape will look like on the day. I’ve also had past couples make prints of the artwork, which has made for a sweet memento of their special day.
Emily and Nik’s brief was clear and as with many of the bespoke couples I work with, they have a great sense of personal style which really helps to inform the design process. Emily supplied me with images of the table linens and was really sure of a palette which I guided into a colour story, with her trusting in my expertise to interpret and execute their vision for the day. I used plenty of ethereal, seasonal stems as always with peonies some early season dahlia’s for punctuation and stunning foxtail lilies for gestural movement.
A selection of 50 bud vase bottles were filled using annual phlox, scabious, grasses, calendula cut fresh the day prior to travelling to South Yorkshire. These informal bud vase bottles are a great way of creating impact on tablescapes and can be easily moved and distributed around food, cutlery and glassware.
I designed a series of aisle meadows in our cement troughs that could be moved after the ceremony and be lined up in front of the top table. These clever additions really can be very transformative, especially in smaller location venues such as this beautiful village hall. The designs were created to bring a sense of seasonal abundance, like a summer hedgerow you’d see in a cottage garden in the British countryside.
Nik’s groomsmen buttonholes were hand formed using grasses, achillea, scabious and tweedia. Finished with gingham ribbon. Carrying on the colour story and bringing the designs together from their outfits to room styling.
The meadow scenes are each created by hand with my diligent event assistant Ruby handing me each stem as I work through installations. I create each scene using only sustainable techniques i’ve engineered and trialed in-house and on site over the past 5 years. We never use traditional floral foam and where possible we re-use as much as we can from each install - with clients returning vessels on a 14 day hire contract. I am practically doing double the work, with twice the effort, but first and foremost comes our concerns for environmental change within the floral industry and that will remain the way far into the future. An installation of this measure takes around 25 hours in studio (phone/email consultations, sketching, curating designs, flower conditioning and prep work) and 7-8 hours on site. 4 hours the day prior to event and 3 hours on the day for final finishing.
I take great pride in the level of detail and organisation that goes into bringing these visions to life for our clients and couples, always aiming to go above and beyond. Adapting well to new venues and additional assets needed throughout the event process.
A huge thank you to Emily and Nik for inviting us to work on this wedding brief, and to event assistant Ruby for being my logistical dream maker as always.
Our books are currently open for 2024/2025 and I recommend contacting early to secure your date. You can email me at hello@honourfarmflowers.co.uk - where it’d be more than happy to discuss flowers with you for your special day or event.
You can read our reviews and testimonals over on Bridebook, where we are currently rated #1 on the search for Wedding Florists in the West Yorkshire.
Hattie x