We had the most wonderful afternoon at Hoghton Tower yesterday, huge thanks to Melissa and her team at the Tower for organising such a successful event
The ladies enjoyed drinks in the parlour before moving through to the Banqueting Hall for tea and demonstration, it was so wonderful to see the very lovely Gill & Georgina from Dreamcatcher Bridal
Each guest was presented with a Rose and a sprig of fresh Rosemary for remembrance, Shakespeare visited Hoghton Tower so I felt it appropriate to include a little of "Hamlet" (My daughter Rebecca's favourite play)
“There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray, love, remember; and there is pansies, that's for thoughts.”
Rowley's had brought along their exquisite vintage china, which complimented our "Country Living" style vintage table centre pieces
The Banqueting Hall was set out perfectly with everyone having a great view of my little stage
Exquisite Darcey Roses from David Austin, Sweet Peas, Nerines & Peonies what could be lovlier?
Each table had it's own flavour...
Beautiful posies of Ocean Song Roses, Peonies, Bridal Gladioli and Sweet Peas
The fabulous Jonny Draper arrived to photograph the event and a full and fantastic posting of his professional photographs will be here very soon
Richard one of the incredible volunteers from Hoghton Tower gave us a brief history of Hoghton Tower including the knighting of the loin of beef by James I to become "Sir loin"
The super talented entertainer Howard Wing was on top form
My most favourite waiter Dan "DPH"
Exquisite flowers and lovely ladies, Joanne Kerr from Dan Kerr Bridal
The first part of my demonstration a fresh flower and delicious cake combination, the splendid chocolate cakes were provided by our great friend Joe Hargreaves from Specialized Cakes
Our audience was so atentive and a joy to create flowers for
The chocolate cakes and flowers really are the perfect combination
Keeping to the Afternoon Tea theme, we used some lovely vintage cups and saucers and tea pot and filled them with fragrant David Austin Roses
Howard couldn't resist taking in the fragrance of the Patience Roses
The savouries were presented elegantly by Ben and the superb Rowley's team
Howard and the most handsome young man in the room William Wing
Jason, Jonny & Renske tucking in to some splendid Rowley's fayre
Howard with the utterly fabulous Michelle Doherty
Te beginnings of our "Totally Tropical" design
Singing it's in the genes....
The completed Tropical creation lots of Heliconias and tangerine floribunda Roses
Howard and Jonny Duo "King of the Swingers"
More fabulous table flowers, Green Goddess and splediferous Roses
The delicious cakes, the sweet and gorgeous part of the tea
Still "Swinging"
Powder Blues, Purples and lavender, Sweet Peas, Hydrangeas and Love in the Mist on this three tier design
I used some very lovely Eryngium and lime green Dianthus
Love in the Mist in little test tubes wrapped in gingham ribbon
Sweet Peas in test tubes wrapped in lilac Polka Dot Ribbon
Oscar Rowley doing a great job of handing round more cakes
The completely gorgeous Sheree from One & Only Bridal Couture
It was so lovely to see Jacqui from Blesma
Frayer did a great job looking after all of the lovely ladies
Finally a simple modern three piece design of Alliums and Scabiosa
All too soon it was over, raffle prizes distributed and before we knew it we were on our way home....
The lovely Janice Flynn was very pleased with her winnings
And there's no show without Punch!!! the super gorgeous Vera!!!
These events wouldn't be possible without a huge amount of effort from an awful lot of people, so I am incredibly grateful to ... Melissa & Lisa from Hoghton Tower, the fabulous Chefs and Service Team from Rowley's, Howard Wing wedding singer extrodinare, our great friend and incredibly talented photographer Jonny Draper, our Flower Design Events Team particularly Vicky, Shirl & Renske who'd worked so hard on the preparation of our designs and most of all my better half Jason without whom nothing would be possible!!!!
