Tag Archives: jewel coloured flowers

Stem in glorious colour

March/April 2014 Wedding Flowers Magazine

Stemgirl is very proud to have a double page spread in the March/April issue of Wedding Flowers and Accessories Magazine.  It’s a fabulous publication that is packed full of ideas for stunning flowers as well as all sorts of fun and interesting bits and pieces to beautify your wedding with.  Grab it while you can!

stem flowers londonI really enjoyed putting together this riotous collection of flowers.  And found an excuse to go mad with my glue gun on those cool chalk-board place settings (they have a tiny peg attached to the back) and my vintagey sequinned headband.  All a bit bohemian, jewel-inspired.  I was put a little in mind of Ellen Terry or Vita Sackville-West….

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!  

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

fun at the flower market

I spent a busy and really exciting morning at New Covent Garden Market last week for a Summer Wedding Flower extravaganza.  There was a smorgasbord of floral designers, demonstrations, music, discussion, networking and excellent bacon sandwiches!
Flowers from Country Roses at Josselyns FardMost exciting of all was the wonderful news that I can now buy fabulously romantic David Austin roses (based near Wolverhampton) and a wonderful array of roses and hedgerow flowers and foliage from Country Roses (near Colchester).  Hooray for British flowers! They might be a bit more expensiveRoses from David Austin per stem but they are so completely gorgeous that I hope my clients will see that they are worth it. I was also really pleased to see that my fantastic wholesalers, GB Foliage, continue to have a really magnificent array of seasonal English foliage for me to choose from.  Their stand is like a lush forest of green at the moment.

There were some other fantastic displays to gawp at.  MostHanging balls of flowers at Moyses Stevens striking were the hanging balls of flowers by Moyses Stevens.  I think that there should be more space in the world for floral spheres.  Rebel Rebel were as cool as ever with (rather handsome) DJs and strawberries hanging delicately from wires and Zita Elze focussed on extremely detailed, intricate garlands for chairs and tables.  Strong deep jewel colours continue to be a strong theme (thank goodness) as do block colours and lots of foliage.  Bring on those leaves!

Visiting the market is a really vibrant experience, which is why I love taking brides and grooms (in particular) there when they’re choosing their flowers .  These seasonal events are a delightful way to spend a morning – and you don’t have to be trade to go.  Keep an eye on www.newcoventgardenmarket  for the next one…..