Brooklyn's Finest

Sometimes I don't get the opportunity to meet a bride before the big weekend, this was the case this weekend as our couple were based in New York. Before I met them I googled them to find out a bit more information; I like to do my homework. Big mistake. The bride is a photographers agent for a company described by Italian Vogue as 'one of the most prestigious agencies of the world' Then there's the groom, he's a TV/film editor credited on IMDB. To say I felt intimidated would be the understatement of the year. Alas it was much ado about nothing, turns out they're just lovely people, all be it uber cool lovely people. So somehow, despite many weeks of stressing, waking up in a cold sweat and the like I managed to pull it off...phew!

Brides bouquet of peonies, dahlias, sweet pea and roses

 

 

Pew end of peony, sweet pea, hydrangea, gyp, scabiosa, alchemilla mollis

 

Arrangements for bedrooms

Buttonholes and corsages

Gyp circlet for flower girl's hair

Coffee table arrangement

Circular tree base and hanging flowers

Hedgerow styled tree base for the ceremony

Jam jars outside the barn instead of the rustic cones

Barn entrance with blackboard written by Mary, curtain and chandeliers

Confetti system hanging over dancefloor

The barn ready for dinner

Placecards in wine cork holders

Table centres in vintage silverware

A Whiter Shade of Pale

Pew ends in position. Photo by Tom Darrieau

Fab couple Joanne & Ashley kept their colours simple to great effect, the flowers were all white  highlighted with a gorgeous steely blue ribbon. The colours were repeated throughout all the elements of their stationary from invites to orders or service and resulted in a very classy coherant overall look to their wedding back in August. 
For the ceremony here on the lawn at Rigaud we marked the special spot by hanging chrysanthemums and dahlias from the tree. Instead of the awfully fiddly fishing line this time I opted for 6mm white ribbon which was not only much easier to work with but I think looks prettier (will be ordering more of that for next year and banishing the fish line to the bottom of my kit box me thinks!) Another simple but incredibly effective element were the aisle runners using freeze dried white rose petals. Joanne's bouquet was made up from old favourite, David Austin Roses (where would I be without these when peonies are out of season!) sweet peas, bouvardia, dahlia and a selection of herbs from the veg garden here at Rigaud.

Lovely pic courtesy of Rigaud's most popular photographer Tom Darrieau

Dahlias and chrysanthemums threaded onto ribbon

Close up of pew end

Joanne's bouquet

Understated Vintage Glamour

Antonia's bouquet

If there was ever a perfect example of how to do understated vintage glamour then Antonia & Ian's wedding was it. The bride wore the most amazing hand-made lace veil worn by not only her mum at her wedding but also her grandmother at hers, the wedding car was a classic french citreon 2CV and the flowers were inspired by the fantastic 'Real Flower Company'.
 Antonia introduced me to this award winning English business who do the most amazing things; creating their own rose varities, running rose farms in both England and Kenya, creating some beautiful bouquets oh and if that wasn't impressive enough launching a pop-up store in Anthropologie! Check out their website at The Real Flower Company

Antonia chose a palette of ivory, lilac and green, after careful consideration we selected David Austin Roses, Freesia, Hydrangea, Sweet Pea and Peonies as well as using a mixture of Rosemary, Sage and Mint from the veg garden here at Rigaud.
 

Bouquets

Garlands at the church

 

Parma Violet

Ever popular and perfect for a spring wedding lovely bride, Sarah, opted for a lilac colour scheme. The flowers of choice included hydrangeas, sweet peas, delphinium, lavender and peonies, we even managed to sneek in a few flowering artichoke heads from our veg garden! Complementing the violet tones perfectly were the two grey urns found lurking in the corner of the Rigaud lounge which were allowed out for the day to make a trip up to the church at Pujols. As we packed up the little white citreon C5 van I remembered the wise words of my tutor Duncan at McQueens who told me to always ensure arrangements were very secure for transportation, I'm not convinced he meant that I should wedge myself in the back of the van with the flowers but needs must. I imagine the image of me peering out through masses of purple flowers as we zoom through the vines, shouting at Eric to slow down seems quite funny now...

Rustic cones at the church

Urns from Rigaud Lounge at the church