Author Archives: stemgirl

cool and cosmopolitan

Hooray!  Have a look at Stem’s gorgeous flowers featured in the October/November issue of Cosmopolitan Bride.

Stem provided the flowers for Jude and Dave’s fabulous wedding at The Swan at the Globe in London (p.46-48).  More photos of their day will follow as soon as this very proud stemgirl gets back into the world of the organised blogger!

As I think I’ve said before, features in magazines or on other blogs and websites are the kind of publicity we just can’t buy.   I know I’m not an expert at the whole publicity thing but I am increasingly underwhelmed by the effectiveness of paid-for advertising.  That is, I don’t think it’s worth the cash.  I suspect our clients are most interested in recommendations and information about Stem from people who know what they’re talking about (i.e. other brides and grooms) rather than glossy ads that tell you nothing real about us.  That’s not a hint about recommending us, by the way.  Really not….

passionately pink

Well, I think there’s no denying it.  Pink flowers are completely and utterly gorgeous.  And pink peonies and roses are just about as good as it gets.  For this summery wedding, Stem used an abundance of marshmallow pink ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ and lipstick pink ‘Dr. Fleming’ peonies throughout Beauberry House.  Then there were the armfuls of delicate pink and fragrant ‘Sweet Avalanche’ roses and romantic, lacy ammi.  Ooh, and tiny-leaved variegated ivy just to finish things off.

I love the simple groupings of flowers on the tables which were made a little more fancy with Stem’s posh silver-leaf votives!  And the newly painted pink wall in the Entrance Hall was zingingly complemented with loads of peonies, roses and acid green molucella (that’s Bells of Ireland to you and me) in a grown-up not grannyish pedestal display.  Little details, like the floating peony heads up the stairs with sparkling wire, make everything feel just a little more thought out and special.  A stunning, beautiful, romantic, sexy collection of blooms!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

spring has (nearly) sprung

In fact, it was bucketing down with rain for alot of Easter Saturday but Stem Flowers brought the gorgeous fragrance and uplifting colour of Spring inside with (English) sun-yellow narcissi, purpley-blue hyacinths, and old-lady’s-p0wder-puff-pink lisianthus.

Vases filled with Tete-a-Tete narcissi and yellow pansies not only made a simple but beautiful mantelpiece display but also provided plantable gifts for the guests to take home. 

The White Room at Beauberry House was filled with prettiness and had the whimsical feel of Miss Marple’s local tea-room! 

  

 

 

 

roses are really red…

February has been a busy and romantic month for Stem Flowers.  Hooray for brides who choose the most gorgeous, most sexy red flowers for their weddings during this month!  Although the cost of red flowers (in particular) are really a bit silly around the 14th, my brides just went for it and chose rich colours, lots of candles and plenty of seasonal foliage.

We used fabulous ‘Royal Velvet’ and ‘Red Lion’ amaryllis and stunning ‘Majestic Red’ calla lilies.  And then, of course, there were the jewel-like ‘Grand Prix’ and ‘Black Baccara’ roses…..  Completely spectacular!  

properly in print

So stemgirl finds herself quoted in the latest edition of Wedding Flowers Magazine which I’m really pleased about.  Especially as it’s in a feature about ‘green’ weddings.  Check out pages 50-51 of the February/March issue.  One of my quotes is in pink at the centre of the page! 

Featuring in a respected publication like this (or other wedding and events magazines) is absolutely fantastic for a business like Stem Flowers.  It generates lots of interest from people who happen to read about us and think we sound cool.  And then make contact with us.  And then ask us to work for them.  It is sometimes far more effective than placing adverts which I often find inordinately expensive when one takes into account that they will often generate no interest at all.
How gutting it is, then, to have a lovely quote or two from me in a lovely magazine which lovely people read and NO MENTION of the name of my business or any contact details….AAAARGGHHH!

autumnal abundance

English hydrangeas

How better to ease oneself into Autumn, but with enormous bunches of English hydrangeas?  Each gorgeous bundle combines all the colours of the season – russety reds, jewelly pinks, antique greens and even touches of blue that  echo the sky on those crisp, clear sunny days that make this time of year quite fabulous.  The market is full of them, they’re great value for money and they not only last well in the vase but dry beautifully too.  I like to mix them up and used them here with black-red ‘Black Baccara’ roses and zingy-red ‘Tornado’ alstromeria.  To complement the wonderful hydrangeas, I’m also making good use of the magical colours, textures and berries of locally grown foliage which work naturally and fantasically in larger displays.  How stemgirl loves this time of year! 

English hydrangea, Black Baccara rose and  Tornado alstromeria table centre

a riot of colour

Dendrobiums, delphiniums, roses and mint

“Apart from the vows, the flowers are the most important part of my day” said my bride when I first met her.  No pressure, then!  This wedding was a real challenge for me because I knew how vital it was to get things right.  Not because Emily had outrageous demands but because getting the colours and textures spot-on were fundamental to making a massive, creative impact.  Oh, and the flowers needed to be individual, distinctive and un-weddingy….

Bridesmaid's bouquet of Grand Prix and Milano roses with mint and bupleurum

Flower girl's bucket of dendrobium orchids, Grand Prix roses and bupleurum

 

 

 

 

 

I have to say that I absolutely adore the combination of flowers and foliage we decided upon.  Magenta dendrobium orchids, intensly blue ‘Volkerfrieden’ delphiniums, deep cerise ‘Milano’ and garnet red ‘Grand Prix’ roses literally popped out of lush green flowering mint and zinging green bupleurum.  And the little details of red and pink satin ribbons on the bouquets, or the red pail for the flower girl, just added to the slightly quirky impact of the flowers.  Completely gorgeous!

Colour-filled tableAn abundance of flowers for tablesAbundant table vases

Beauberry House is a very beautiful venue and a fabulous backdrop for gorgeous flowers so the absolute abundance we had really did the job of bringing colour and excitement to every room.  A wonderfully riotous and (not so) random selection of vessels and flowers adorned every availabe windowsill, table, mantelpiece and loo with everything coming together in an enormous expolsion of foliage and blooms in a contemporary Entrance Hall pedestal.  The two olive trees at the main doors didn’t get away with staying as they were – red and pink ribbons were candy-striped down the trunks and complementary kalanchoe plants were crammed around the bottom of each.  A rather exhausting day for stem flowers, I have to say, but there’s nothing so good as knowing that a venue looks fantastic and that the bride and groom love what you’ve done!

Olive tree with candy stripe ribbons with red and pink kalanchoes

loving lush greens

Broad beans and my alchemilla

OK, so I swore I wouldn’t bore anyone with unimportant information about what I’m reading or listening to or what I’m going to have for supper. However, my first bowl of this year’s delicious and vivid broad beans reminded me of something I think is simply so uplifting that I want more and more of it! From glossy dark fatsia and berried ivy to emerald trachaelium and fresh green sedum or ‘Green Goddess’ arum lilies. From silvery eucalyptus, through the limes and acids of molucella, shamrock chrysanthemums and bupleurum to vintage ‘Green Shadow’ hydrangeas, abundant use of this colour really is good for the soul.

Green and white

I’m doing a wedding in September and the bride is going all the way with each table featuring lily vases overflowing with nothing but cinerea eucalyptus. How cool is that? Oh, and I’m listening to Rio (Duran Duran) and reading The Importance of Music to Girls (Lavinia Greenlaw). Just in case you were actually interested….

Alium in my garden