Autumn Elopement Wedding

The colours of Autumn, I love them! As the leaves change, the days become shorter and we all start thinking about nesting, there’s something very reassuring about the vibrancy of rich autumnal hues. This elopement wedding last month, which took place at one of my favourite Devon venues was a perfect example of that.

Ever After is completely hidden away at the bottom of an ancient wooded valley next to the river Walkham. The fact that this beautiful venue is so private, makes it ideal for an intimate celebration. Beautifully styled and carefully curated details included a reception table dressed with warming tones of copper and slate blue, with natural textures of moss and bark.

Rich autumn florals of roses, celosia, freesia, alstroemeria, crocosmia and rosehips together with a roaring log fire set the seasonal scene - perfect!

Venue: Ever After A Dartmoor Wedding

Photographer: Rebecca Roundhill Photography

Wedding Ceremony Flowers

As a celebration of one of the most important days of a couple's lives, flowers are one of the most important elements, and a key component of a wedding ceremony. Whether you decide to exchange your vows in a church, a hotel, or a garden, flowers are the perfect way to make the wedding ceremony the centre of attention.

Before choosing your ceremony flowers however, you need to chose the setting. I know I’m biased, but I do believe that flowers are an essential part of the decoration for the aisle, the altar, and other areas. Whatever flowers you do decide to have, remember that as a couple you are the centre of attention. Your ceremony flowers should enhance the setting, not take over and overwhelm you. Well chosen arrangements should help focus the attention of your friends and families on you during the the ceremony.

The wedding ceremony venue will be the place where your marriage will actually take place, so it deserves some carefully thought out plans.

For a church wedding there are some important questions to ask before you get carried way in a floral fantasy! Many churches welcome outside florists with open arms, and are happy for you decorate as much as you like, but some aren’t. Over the years I’ve had many dealings with “the ladies who do the church flowers”, and some of them can be very territorial! They definitely don’t like the idea of an outsider coming in, so you may get a flat refusal, or be admitted grudgingly (as long as you make donation to the church funds).

If you are allowed free reign, there are many options for floral decoration. As a rule of thumb though, there are two main areas to focus your attention. The first is the altar, where large arrangements on either side should be large enough for everyone to see, and be seen from afar. The second is the aisle, where pew ends flowers can define it. These can range from single stems of flowers to large bouquets, but you need to check the fixings! Church pews don’t come in “one size fits all”, and I know from experience that the shape of some pews can make attaching flowers much more difficult than others.

If you are having a civil ceremony in a register office, these may already be decorated with flowers. Some register offices do however allow you to bring in your own floral decoration, as long as it’s removed immediately afterwards.

Image by Pippa Mackenzie

For couples who choose a licensed venue for their ceremony and reception, this is where you floral decoration can be multi purpose. To be honest, it’s rare for me nowadays not to be asked to move arrangements from the ceremony area and reposition them for the wedding breakfast. Depending on the venue, moving flowers can be logistically challenging, but in general it’s far easier to transfer the flowers from one room to another than move them from a church and reposition them during the drinks reception. Think about arrangements that will suit both rooms, and which could possibly double up as table arrangements.

Image by Pippa Mackenzie

If you decide to have an outdoor celebration, make the most of the scenery! If there is a particularly beautiful tree, why not consider dressing it with flower and foliage garlands. They’ll make an amazing backdrop to your ceremony, and can be used to dress the reception tables afterwards.

Whatever style of wedding ceremony you choose to have, religious, civil or humanist, take time to look at all the potential your venue has to offer. Do check to see what you’re allowed to do, and do take the advice of your florist who’ll be able to come up with some amazing ideas!

A Romantic Cornish Wedding at Boconnoc

A Romantic Cornish Wedding at Boconnoc Estate

One of the questions I'm most frequently asked as florist is "do you have a favourite wedding"? The diplomatic answer would be, "they're all so beautiful, I couldn't possibly tell you"! There are some weddings though that seem so special that you say to yourself, "did I just do that"?

Lucy and Michael's wedding was one of those, and will leave its mark as a highlight in my career. For many reasons I was thrilled when they chose me as their florist. Firstly it was in Cornwall, so as a cornishman I loved the idea of going home to do a wedding. Secondly the venue was the ridiculously beautiful Boconnoc estate near Lostwithiel which I have family connections to, and thirdly my husband Lester Gethings was the wedding planner!  

From the outset Lucy and Michael were dream clients. They trusted me to bring their vision to life and create a setting that reflected not only the grandeur of the house, but also their natural informality and love for life. They trusted Lester to coordinate a full blown 3 day celebration, which culminated in a wedding breakfast with banquet tables 100 feet long. With the house sitting in 7500 acres, the brief was to bring the outside in and create a romantic English garden. Working with a palette of blush pinks and green, my incredible team and I filled the estate church and house with peonies, roses, hydrangeas, dahlias and herbaceous favourites,  together with mountains of greenery, blurring the boundaries between the house and park.

Lucy's choice of soft blush pinks flowed perfectly from her bouquet to the church and reception. The look was romantic and abundant, which suited Boconnoc perfectly. The beautiful and evocative photography of Amy Shawe sums up why I love this wedding so much. I hope you do too.

If you're going to have heels, they might as well be a killer pair from Louboutin!

Lucy and Michael's dog Alfie was part of the day too, as he trotted up the aisle with their wedding rings attached to his collar.

A fabulous large scale urn overflowing with flowers dressed the escort card table, in front of the portrait of General Pitt, who bought Boconnoc with the proceeds from the sale of the Pitt diamond in 1717.

Something that Lester always does for his clients is a reveal. Before the guests go into dinner, he gives his couples a private view of the reception room. This is a chance for them to share a private moment and take everything in. I loved the look on Lucy and Michael's faces as Lester opened the door and showed them this beautiful setting. For me this really was a dream wedding, but I am only as good as the team I have around me. My team of fabulous florists, Amanda Randell, Amanda Winsor and Karen Egan pulled out out all the stops and helped me create a wedding I will never forget.

Venue: Boconnoc Estate

Wedding Planner: Lester Gethings

Photography: Amy Shawe

London Wedding Florist. Floral Trends for 2017

Wedding Reception Flowers. Image by Amy Shaw.

With the start of the new year, now is the perfect time to think about the design and style of your wedding. Flowers make a wedding, so what trends can we expect to see in 2017?

I’m going to stick my neck out here and say that vintage is over, and so are flower walls! From the sublime to the ridiculous, these two wildly differing looks have been featured endlessly in the bridal press as the must have look for weddings. At one end of the scale vintage has been seen as the perfect solution for the money conscious bride flowering a DIY wedding. At the other end, flower walls filled with literally thousands of blooms have been the floral must haves for those, bold enough and wealthy enough to afford them.

While both styles can and do look beautiful, I’m seeing a real trend towards floral designs that strike a balance between old fashioned tea party and vulgar ostentation. I noticed a definite swing towards something more elegant, stylish and dramatic last year, and I’m sure this will definitely continue in 2017. 

Glamour is back in a big way, with reception tables dressed with tall statement vases overflowing with romantic blowsy blooms in muted shades and plenty of greenery. Talking of greenery, I couldn’t be happier that this is the official Pantone colour of the year, so expect to see it featuring heavily on social media, especially Pinterest.

Foliage is an absolute favourite of mine, yet so often overlooked. Foliage is both versatile and adaptable. Amazing for lavish celebrations when used in huge quantities, but also for more modest weddings because it adds scale and drama to arrangements, giving the impression of expense. If you want to create the feeling of an enchanted garden, ask your florist how to create a fabulous opulent style with just the use of greenery. 

Overtaking the flower wall, floral and foliage chandeliers, as well as hanging flowers generally are among the latest trends. These statement pieces which look so impressive can often be a far more cost effective option. I'm very excited that there seems to be a real desire for good old fashioned romance in floral design right now. Many creative florists are transforming venues with beautiful garden style installations. Garlands for staircases, and banquet style tables, oversized statement urns and even statues are succumbing to this widely romantic look. So if this is a style that you love, think more about the green, and less about the flowers and be a trendsetter in 2017.

LondonWedding Florist Simon Nickell Design Featured in Wedding Flowers & Accessories Magazine

Happy New Year to you all! I'm very excited to start 2017 with some wonderful press coverage, courtesy of Wedding Flowers & Accessories Magazine. A few months ago I was asked to provide flowers for the magazine's Look Book section. Given the brief of mixed colours, I created a bridal bouquet and accompanying arrangements in shades of pink, white, lilac, lime green, magenta and deep berry red. The flowers are featured in the latest issue, which is on sale now, and I'm thrilled to see that my bouquet was chosen for the front cover. It's a pity that magazines don't came with scratch and sniff, because the scent from these gorgeous garden style roses was intoxicating! 

Also in this issue, you can read my interview with the magazine about how I started as florist, what I love about the job, my trend predictions for 2017 and expert advice. Thank you Wedding Flowers & Accessories for this wonderful feature.