Jackie & Anthony Gradwell 28th September 2008

The very wonderful Inn at Whitewell was the setting for this full on romance wedding. Congratulations to Jackie & Anthony, you both looked totally gorgeous!
A candle lit top table, with a small bouquet for Jackie to throw later...
The extremely elegant cake dressed with fresh "Old Dutch" Roses, Lissianthus, Veronica and Viburnum berries.
Fabulous ceremony pedestal And Top Table design in an autumnal garden style, with lots of lovely flowing foliages and fragrant herbs.
Anthony before the ceremony his buttonhole included an Amnesia rose

The lovely registrars complete with coordinated buttonholes
Jackie with her bouquet of Roses, Schwartwalder Calla Lilies, Snow berry, Black Berry and Autumn leaves.
We loved your outfits girls, all three of you look stunning
The beautiful bride with her sister and her lovely Mum.
The marquee at The Inn is in the most idyllic setting with the view of the river and the rambling hills beyond.

Sharon from The Inn looked after everyone beautifully and ensured that the day ran smoothly. The choice of foliage at Flower Design is absolutely essential, we used, Oak leaves, French Ruscus, Eucalyptus, Fresh Rosemary and Pepppermint.
The bouquets ready for delivery to the bride and bridesmaid
A close up of Anthony's Buttonhole
The photographers for the day were Abigail & Sarah from Abigail and Eye, we can't wait to see their photographs, I know they are going to be truly lovely, because when they take them they always are. Take a look at their website http://www.abigailandeye.co.uk/

Tulips in September

http://www.kaphotgraphy.co.uk/ Check out the website

These beautiful shots were taken by Kevin & Anita of K & A Photography.
Jason was lucky enough to work with this dynamic duo (K & A Photography) on Zoe & David Kelly's wedding on Saturday. Jason said they were brilliant, there was a huge amount of photography work to be done on the day, lots of groups which really isn't their usual style (normally they capture beautifully "real" moments throughout a day) but they tackled it with their usual brand of professionalism and artiness, and even found time to take these stunning shots of seriously out of season Tulips.

Jane & Andy Symonds Autumn Wedding Day

The weather was glorious and the day was absolutely perfect. Jane & Andy wanted a look of absolute simplicity and elegance. Grand Prix Roses for the bridal bouquet with some seasonal hypericum berries the foliage was simply luscious rose leaves and trails of fresh grasses.
The Bridesmaid’s bouquets were created from Avalanche Roses, tied together with ivory satin ribbon with the stems left semi naked.
The Junior Ushers escorted the bridesmaid’s into church with maturity.
The very charismatic Father Damian at St. Annes Parish Church conducted the ceremony with his usual mix of humour and sombre reverence (The Brazil Nut story is one of our favourites as is Father Damian himself).

The Brides Mum wore a lovely rhubarb shaded outfit, we made a beautiful corsage of co-ordinating orchids to complete her outfit.



We decorated St. Annes Parish with a pedestal of fresh fragrant larger and smaller roses, the focal area was emphasised with huge Grand Prix and Avalanche roses and lovely fresh foliages framed the design.

The Groom’s Boutonnières of Avalanche Roses with loops of China Grass, and glossy Ruscus leaves.


Aubergine & Barley were the colours favoured by the Groom’s Mum and again the corsage we created harmonized beautifully.

The Grand Hotel, Looked beautifully elegant with simple white chair covers, red & white roses in Goldfish bowls, hand tied posies and magnificent design on the top table.

Wedding At The Ashton Memorial Photographs by Aggie McGuinnes

Claire our gorgeous bride carried a fabulous wedding bouquet of Mango Calla Lilies, Dakar Roses, Sedum, Eryngium and autumnal berries.

I included some Quercus, Champagne Grass and Skimmia to complete the seasonal selection The Bridesmaid wore a cinnamon shade and carried amatching smaller simpler version of the bridal Bouquet

The Groom wore a boutonierre of Mango Calla, Eryngium and Rolled Dakar Petals

Inside The Ashton Memorial a simple designe in autumnal shades sat on the registrars table

And a more dramatic pedestal sat at the side

Aggie McGuinness is a fabulous photographer, we love her work and thank her for supplying these photographs

Puss in Boots

I am a little concerned, you know when you get to an age when you can’t be sure if something is appropriate for example don’t show your knees over 45 (Unless you are a super model), my daughters keep me in check regarding certain phrases nothing whatsoever is “Cool” any more, “On Trend” never “Trendy”, “Vibe or Groove” are words never to be used in public.
Ugg’s, boots that is, seem to transcend all age groups, we all know we don’t look great in them but they are so damn comfy, like a snuggle on each foot, small children wear them, grandma’s wear them and middle aged florists wear them. Wellies are useful, sometimes glamorous, apparently though over the knee boots are completely out of the question for ladies enjoying the middle or in fact later decades of their lives, however once you are over 70 you can wear, say and do almost anything (Except show your knees) and you will be considered as a bohemian, an eccentric in fact downright fabulous.
Rebecca has taken up a new position in a Boot shop in Camden Lock called “Berty & Gerty” Rebecca has been a frequent customer at this establishment, buying boots that were previously owned and loved by none other than David Bowie, these boots are in a size 9 Rebecca is a 6 and Jason says that you can see her coming long before she’s arrived. She loves this job and managed a substantial bonus on her first day, this has, however catapulted Rebecca into the position of footwear style icon/Guru, today it seems, she is wearing red ribbed tights (not a leg wear colour to be worn by the previously loved or owned group of society to which I belong) along with blue snakeskin fold over boots and a navy & white polka dot skirt, this ensemble is her uniform for “Flyering” (Her other, theatre based job), as she was crossing the road, stranded on the centre island the traffic was stopped for Prince Charles and Camilla, I wondered if they spotted a seriously patriotic looking young lady trying to entice them to the theatre!

Wedding Ideas Magazine

Check out this magazine, one of our beautiful brides Siobhan and her lovely husband John feature, as do her spectacular flowers.

Gigantic Chrysanthemums

Autumn has arrived here at Flower Design and that is official, in Holland they have these huge Chrysanthemum plants on either side of their front door, or as part of a small tableau with pumpkins, gourds, a small table and chair and some outdoor lanterns. We go to Holland every month from September through to June and it really is great to see the change in the seasons.
These Chrysanths are such a bargain only £9.99 each or a pair for £15.00.

Be My Guest

The simplest ideas are so often the very best ideas, on Saturday I met a brand new entrepreneur with a fabulous idea, Rachael Wilkinson runs a small business “Be My Guest”. Basically their help assists you to be a guest at your own party, from a small intimate dinner party to a full scale corporate bash, they will wait-on, serve drinks, wash up, tidy up and leave your kitchen as you would love to find it in the morning. Rachael herself is very impressive, articulate, immaculate, driven and passionate about her own business, she understands that getting her pricing right is imperative to the success of her venture and for as little as £50.00 for an evenings assistance (I know friends who have paid their own children more, to do, considerably less) what are we all waiting for?. Obviously the prices increase with the number of staff required and hours after midnight etc. So if you are due to have a dinner party/party give Rachael a ring on 07763 749032 and if you are planning such an event don’t forget to order the flowers…

Surprise, Surprise! Wedding Day

So as surprises go this one was pretty huge, gargantuan in fact. Jason & I have known Jackie & Andy together & independently for more years than we would like to remember, they were both involved in the import of artificial flowers consequently our paths had crossed on many occasions, over the years we have become friends.
On Wednesday Jackie came in to see me, this is always a strange one but when someone says “can you keep a secret?” you do need to think about it rather carefully “Am I allowed to tell Jason?” “Yes you are” relief, thank goodness for that, because I honestly can’t, keep a secret that is, from Jason. The plan was that special guests were invited to Jackie’s 40th birthday party, they were asked to bring flats/trainers, and they’d be going on a little jaunt, a trip to the beach or to see a horse who knew? The coach left The Rooms and suddenly, mysteriously broke down outside The White Church. The Groom Andy

A very surprised bridesmaid Sophie
Delivering the bouquet to The Bride, Jackie

The Reverend David Phillips, Jason & I complete with buttonholes & bouquets were there to meet them, there was a lot of bewilderment, a lot of “I guessed” & “I told you so’s”, an awful lot of laughter and tears of joy!


The very shocked & excited bridesmaids altogether there were seven, Ellie & Beckie, Sophie, Trinity, Esme, Sophie & Jade.

Everyone applauded the Bride Groom in.
Everyone seemed to be quite spellbound, caught in the moment!

The service was really fab, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a congregation sing louder (out of tune, maybe, but seriously loud), you know all the bits where you want to applaud but are usually mindful of church etiquette and don’t, well they did, with gusto!

Sam, Jackie, Danielle, Ben, Serena & Joe

The Brides Mum, Jane


The New Mr & Mrs Baker A Very Extatic Couple!



How Happy can one girl be?

Great Legs!
Bride's Mum & Dad Jane & Barry
Sam's left holding the trainers!

The First Dance

Carried over the threshold
The Fish Pie was definitely better than the curry!
Congratulations and thank you so much for inviting us, it really was an honour to be included!

Flower Design Lytham St Annes