The tones of autumn are my absolute favourites to work with. For me, the rich tans and mustards of this time of year totally make up for the colder days and longer nights.
Pippa & James got married on a lovely but rainy autumn day in the village of Alfriston. It was full of winding little cobbled streets and ancient little high streets with tiny doors. My team member for the day was Anna who is originally from Italy and absolutely fell in love with the quirks of the place.
The brief for the flowers was to really reflect the season and bring in the earthy reds, yellows and orange tones. During our consultation they gave me clear direction to avoid ‘Easyjet orange’ as no-one really wants that as their wedding colour…. instead we went for ochres and burnt tones to scale down that brightness and avoid a budget airline looking wedding.
The ceremony took place in a beautiful chapel in the centre of the village where Anna and I created two floral columns to flank the bride and groom where they were to say their vows. This type of design has be created at the venue as it would be too delicate to try to transport otherwise. It also means we can take a step back and see how things look more easily and create exactly for the venue. I always bring a big tarpaulin as it often gets quite messy when we’re in the zone!
We used lovely little vases with metal handles to hang over the chairs in order to create beautiful pew ends filled with flowers which we then reused as table flowers. Their chairs and other gorgeous furniture were from the lovely Rachel at Hire Love who have the most gorgeous furniture for hire that I always want to take home when I work with them.
Once we had finished setting up, we went to grab a late lunch and explore the village a little more. On the way to a cafe we had spotted, we turned round and saw the bridal party walking down the street! Tom the photographer did an amazing job of capturing the scene. It was raining but not pouring and they didn’t let this take the shine off the day one little bit.
Once the ceremony was over (and Pip and James officially married – yay!) Anna and I transported the ceremony flowers over to the reception nearby. We took the floral poles and placed them either side of the top table to really frame the room and create a lovely backdrop for the speeches. The pew ends went on the tables and we were finished! That’s when we said our final goodbyes to the couple and headed back home through the gorgeous countryside.
“Thank you for all your hard work… the flowers were absolutely stunning – they got so many compliments” – James & Pippa
Photography by Tom Jeavons Photography