Pink Love

Four weeks in and I had the pleasure of working with Kate and Greg on their French wedding in the sun. I first met Kate back in November on one of Chateau Rigaud's wedding planning weekends; we have a couple of these every winter which gives couples the opportunity to come down, stay for a few nights and plan every element of their wedding. From the food, the wine, the activities and of course flowers and styling, all in a relaxed cosy atmosphere - think red wine, log fires, spa treatments and a film in the cinema! From the start Kate was a lady who knew what she wanted: pink ranunculus - and lots of them.  Being May we were in luck and managed to order them from our trusty supplier in Holland. 

One of the things I love about my job (hey what's not to love?!) is the variety of different people I have the opportunity to work with. This week I met a fantastically lovely and hugely talented photographer called Amy Murrell, check out her portfolio at especially amy beautiful don't you think? Anyway hopefully I'll be able to share her much better pictures with you soon but in the meantime here are a few of my snaps from the weekend.

The Plan

Kate's bouquet

The menu for the wedding meal

Tables were named after French cheeses

Table set up

25 buttonholes and corsages

Ranunculus buttonhole

 

Ranunculus wedding bouquet

Ranunculus bridesmaids boquets

Pew end and order of service

Tour de macarons

Cake of cheese

'Wedding' bunting over the gate

Paper poms in the tree

Paper poms

Barn set up; band soundcheck

The happy couple; Kate and Greg

What Katie Did

 Wow, what a wedding! Lots of photos from fab couple Katie and Oli's creative, fun and picture perfect wedding this weekend that not even the rain could put a dampner on. Be prepared for big balloons, luscious flowers and a very special whisky all the way from Islay...

Willow obelisks with gypsophila

Pew end with hydrangea, rose and peony

Rose pomanders on chairs in church

Pew end with peony, rose and gypsophila

Church porch with gypsophila garlands

Gypsophila garland

Rose and succulent buttonholes

The balloons catching a ride with Eric

Balloons dotted round the gardens

Katie's bouquet of peonies, David Austin roses, equador roses and sage

Bridesmaid bouquet of peonies, roses and sage

Vintage suitcases of pashminas

Oli's grandad's very special single cask whisky from Bruichladdich distillery on Islay was bottled on his 90th birthday and was served to guests from a dedicated whisky bar

Table setting with grey linen napkins made by Katie's mum

Whisky favours

Barn door with curtain

Rustic cones on the barn doors

Willow obelisks 'recycled' after the church in the gardens

Outside the barn

Wedding barn

Candles lit in the barn

Succulent plant table centres

Candle shelf

Chef Steve saves the day capturing a rouge balloon with his special balloon capturing device (kitchen tongs)

Beautiful bride Katie looking happy after being re-united with the escapee balloon

Shake it like a Polaroid picture

I love Pinterest it's such a great tool for me to share ideas with brides when meeting with them isn't geographically possible. This weeks lovely bride, Simone, built up a fantastic Pinterest board which helped me create the look she was after. The five bridesmaids all wore short coral dresses - perfect for a hot, sunny day!  The flowers were a mixture of white, lemon and coral. We used the grey linen table runners in the barn and painted wooden numbers for the tables; the photobooth prop box made an appreance but it was the table plan that was the biggest hit styling wise. Hats off to the bridesmaid Anna who managed to take a polaroid picture of everyone as they arrived in their finery and note down their name, I then whisked them off to peg them on to the 'here's one I made earlier' board. Some trouble ensued as I debated which of the three Ben's might be at table 2, hmmm who did he look like he was most likely with...? Everyone got a seat (whether it was with the correct 'Ben' is anybody's guess) and Simone and Sean got a unique artwork from the day.
Bridal Musings Blog Piece 

'Coral Charm' peonies

Peony, ranunculus and chamomile pew ends

The polaroid table plan

Protea and elderflower with painted wooden table number

Peony, ranunculus and protea on table 2

Mr Blue Sky

"Sun is shinin' in the sky
There ain't a cloud in sight
It's stopped rainin' ev'rybody's in a play
And don't you know
It's a beautiful new day hey,hey"

  

A week before the wedding this was looking very unlikely; it rained everyday of April, the forecast was for thunderstorms, marquees and umbrellas winged their way from the UK - not what you want when you've travelled 9000miles across the world for your wedding. But alas the magic of Rigaud happened and the sun shone down on Angela and Edward and their glamorous guests. Angela choose a beautifully simple white and green theme for the flowers with a pop of fuchsia pink to contrast with the vibrant blue of the bridesmaid dresses.

Hot off the sewing machine the Dove grey runners were used and really helped to lift the tables in the barn, 90 wine corks were sliced to form place-card holders in keeping with our location in the heart of the Bordeaux region, paper confetti cones were rolled and stuck, the outdoor sofas were given a luxurious make-over with beautiful new cushions Mary, one half of Rigaud's winter chef team, was comissioned to write the place cards and blackboard with her fabulous handwriting. Not only that but our new-look garden themed canape tables were unveiled for the first time.... phew busy week with lots of photos to share!

Table flowers and grey table runner

Wine cork place-card holders

Bride's bouquet feauring peonies, roses, bouvardia, astilbe rosemary and eucalyptus

1 of 3 fuschia pink bridemaid's domed rose bouquets

Planted trug for vegetarian canape stand

Foie gras and bayonne ham stand dressed with tree trunk stumps

The re-styled vegetarian canape stand

Oysters and saucisson stand

Broncante shopping day purchases

Pew end

pimped up sofa cushions

Barn entrance cone and blackboard table plan

Table centres featured individual flower types in different jam-jars, candles and mirrors

Wedding Barn set-up

Beautiful wedding cake dressed with fresh flowers