One of our couple chose this gorgeous Vera Wang inspired cake created by Cakes By Krishanthi set off with a few blooms by Passion for Flowers.
Florist: Passion for Flowers // Cake Designer: Cakes By Krishanthi // Venue: Cripps Barn
At the end of October Passion for Flowers transformed The Birches, Hampton Manor’s wedding ceremony barn, into a woodland rustic wedding ceremony setting for their Wedding Fair. We wanted to style the barn for an Autumn woodland wedding ceremony, below are just a few photos, by Fjona Wei-Ling. More photos to follow shortly.
To line the aisle we placed a couple of stacked tree slices with a mix of moss, succulents and candles to create a woodland walkway for the bride to walk towards her groom. At the end of the aisle where the couple stand to say their vows and promises we wanted to create a woodland area to frame the couple.
The woodland wedding arbour to frame the couple as they say their vows and promises was a mix of moss, foliage, wax flower, amaranthus and roses. At the base we used large tree stumps in varying sizes covered in moss and succulents with the addition of candle light to add a rustic glow to the area.
A garland was laid on the floor in a semi circle for the couple to stand inside when they say their vows. 
For the Wedding Fair we also showed our wooden wedding favour cart, which we hire out to our couples. This was filled with jam wedding favours and popcorn favours. Our chalkboard signs were hung over chairs to give couples more ideas for decorating the wedding ceremony barn.
Karen delivered an inspiration session at Hampton Manor’s wedding fair, helping couples work with the seasons for their wedding. Our set of vintage ladders was used to hold jam jars filled with flowers and foliage from different seasons.
Styling / Florist: Passion for Flowers // Venue: Hampton Manor
Are you thinking of choosing deep purple and burgundy tones for your wedding flowers? Recently we were asked by Wedding Flowers Magazine to take our designs down to London to be shot for their November issue. We used deep purple / maroon / burgundy flowers mixed with a touch of gold to add some glamour.
For the bridal bouquet we used an natural mix of smoke bush and clematis foliage, deep toned dahlia perfect for an autumn wedding with scabious, scented Kiera rose, sloe berries and touches of trailing amaranthus. The mix of ribbons created a soft romantic finish.
For the centrepiece we created an asymmetrical design in an antique crystal bowl filled with autumnal foliage and blooms, the gold plate added a touch of glamour and height to the design. The combination of autumnal foliage smoke bush, clematis with a mix of sedum and deep toned blooms were the perfect fit with the lush Kiera roses.
For the escort cards we used a mix of mini bottles with guests name and brought the outside in by incorporating snippets of foliage and flowers to set the tone for the day.
Sometimes you have a once in a lifetime opportunity…
I had just such an opportunity in April and decided to attend the Chapel Designers Conference London 2015. This amazing event was put together by floral rockstar Holly Heider Chapple founder of Chapel Designers with the help of Nick Priestly of Mood Flowers.
From the moment we all gathered for drinks in the aptly named The Rose pub to our final tearful moments leaving Simon Lycett’s studio 3 days later we made lifelong friends. Love of all things floral binds us together and allows this esteemed group of Chapel Designers to nourish and grow. I am honoured to be part of this family of florists from around the world.
We had the most wonderful experience and jawdropping selection of florals to choose from at our base in Brixton East. The love, laughter and emotions we all shared encouraged us to create the most amazing florals.
I am truly grateful for the opportunity to meet so many talented designers. Holly inspired me to create this freeform bouquet.
Photographs above kindly taken by the amazing Modern Vintage Weddings.
Jo Flowers and Susanne Hatwood gave us a wonderful masterclass on their romantic, natural style of floral creations both have amazing styles and worked effortlessly to create delightful masterpieces. The compote design above I created after being inspired by their designs.
Rhona Wheeldon of Flowerona joined us for a session on Social Media and is was a highlight to meet her and gain some insights to the world of social media.
The photos below are a snapshot of instagram photos and offer an insight into the amazing times we shared. A masterclass from Robbie Honey who created the dramatic rose and eucalyptus urn, an inspiring behind the scenes visit to Simon Lycett’s studio and so much more.
Yesterday we were on location at Birtsmorton Court, here is a quick sneak peek of the gorgeous bride and groom. A dream team of wedding industry suppliers from The West Midlands collaborated on a wedding shoot, more photos to follow soon.
Photo credit Daffodil Waves Photography
Flower crown in blush pink and peach tones using ranunculus, lisianthus and roses.
Natural free-form hand tied bouquet in peach and cream tones including willow, astilbe, ranunculus, David Austin roses, Quicksand roses, Super Bubbles roses, lisianthus, lilac and amni hand tied with ribbons.
The button hole included a Quicksand rose, ranunculus and snippet of astilbe finished with soft peach.
Ever wondered how to make one of those pretty flower crowns you often see brides and bridesmaids wearing in our weddings? Well here you go, we have put together a step by step guide so you can learn how to make them. This is another of our DIY tutorials we have done in collaboration with Rock My Wedding, see more of our DIY floral guides here.
For this example floral crown we have used a mix of roses in nude and pink colours in different sizes as well as wax flower for texture. You can use any flowers for this, the larger the flower heads the less you will need, we suggest using flowers that will be used elsewhere in your wedding and in your bouquet.
1. Measure the head of the bride or person wearing the crown. The easiest way to do this is by using a piece of string. Add an additional 4cm to the length, these will be used to create hooks to hold it together.
2. Using the medium guage wire cut this to match the length of the string, then cover it in florists tape.
3. Select your flowers. For the roses cut the stems just below the flower head and push wire up through the centre of the stem. Add silver wire horizontally through the stem and twist it to secure with the main wire.
4. Cover all the wires with tape, stretching the tape and pulling it as you wind around the wire to keep it as thin as possible. (no need to wire the wax flower)
6. Once you have done this for all the flowers you are going to use in your flower crown you can start adding them to the longer piece of tape covered wire you prepared in step 2. Working from one end, place the first flower and fasten to the circlet wire with florists tape, wrapping it around the wires to make sure it is secure, then add another flower and another. Try alternate the flowers on either side of the wire for a natural look and make sure large and small roses are interspersed with the wax flower for texture.
Let us know if you have a go at this yourself – we’d love to see your creations.
Credits – Florals: Passion for Flowers // Photography: Adam Crohill // Featured originally on Rock My Wedding
Why not pin the whole tutorial to your pinterest board to save it for later.
Caroline and Rob’s wedding has been featured on Rock My Wedding today! We loved working on this wedding last summer, Caroline and Rob’s wedding at Shustoke Farm Barns was oh so beautiful. Their colour palette was a range of pastel tones inspired by watercolour.
The bouquets were a mix of blues, greens and pinks using hydrangeas and roses for a blousy look. Caroline loved her flower crown, she wore it all through the day.
We blogged this wedding back in the summer, see the full feature here to read all about her flowers (bouquets, flower crown, hanging globes & crates) and even more wedding details.
See the feature on Rock My Wedding here
Credits – Florist: Passion for Flowers // Photographer: Weddings Vintage // Venue: Shustoke Farm Barns
Are you thinking of having a go at doing your wedding flowers yourself? We have been working with Rock My Wedding to put together some easy to follow step by step guides (see our other step by step tutorials here). Today we show you how to make a floral wedding centrepiece for rustic style weddings using a wooden crate as your container.
Follow our step by step instructions as this is what you will end up with – perfect for a rustic centrepiece.
To create a relaxed rustic or country style look we have chosen a mix of flowers, including pittosporum, light blue hydrangeas, blue delphiniums, pink wax flower, Sweert Avalanche roses, dahlias, amni and blue veronica.
A similar wooden crate can be purchased from our online boutique, The Wedding of my Dreams, you will need to paint this white (or leave it with a the wooden finish it is up to you).
1. Line the wooden crate with cellophane or even a plastic bag if you don’t have cellophane.
2. Cut a piece of oasis to size and soak in a bucket of water.
3. Place the oasis inside the wooden crate on a plastic oasis tray.
4. Now it is time to starting adding the flowers, to begin with edge the box with your chosen foliage. Here we suggest edging it with the pittosporum and pink wax flower.
5. Once you have added foliage you should position the key flowers in the oasis. So, this is the hydrangeas, roses and dahlias.
6. Remember to cut your stems on a diagonal to increase the surface area which enables them to drink more water.
7. Fill in any gaps with your remaining flowers.
8. As this is going in the centre of you tables, or perhaps running down the centre of a long table make sure you look at it from different angles to make sure there are no gaps. If you find some gaps just fill them in with foliage or any remaining flowers.
This centrepiece is ideal for a relaxed rustic or country wedding. If blue and pinks aren’t your colours you can use different flowers. Have a look at our pinterest board ‘Flower Library – What’s That Flower Called’ to browse some of our favourite wedding flowers, it also tells you which season they are available in. Or if you are having long guest tables rather than round we suggest you make a few of these and line them up down the length of the table, this can also look good on the top table.
Leave us a comment if you have a go at making this, we’d love to hear how you get on and see pictures.
Credits – Florals: Passion for Flowers // Photography: Adam Crohill // Featured originally on Rock My Wedding // Wooden Crate: The Wedding of my Dreams
As you may know here at Passion for Flowers we exhibited at The National Wedding Show in Birmingham last weekend, we absolutely loved the whole weekend meeting newly engaged couples and industry friends. We plan our stand months in advance it was amazing to see our visions come to life, we believe all the hard work and planning paid off as we were thrilled to be awarded The Outstanding Exhibitor Award.
We invited Nicola of Daffodil Waves Photography along to take some photos of our stand for those of you who couldn’t make it to the show.
We chose to create a rustic glamour setting for our stand this year, we often work at rustic style wedding venues (barns and farms) and love adding a touch of glamour to the tables mixed in with the natural rustic look.
The long table scape was our main feature this year, we set it for 6 to give an idea of how it could be used at a wedding. More venues are offering long tables for receptions now, or these florals could go along a top table.
Down the centre of the table we created a sea of flowers in bronze, gold and crystal glass vases with three gold candelabra to give height (all available to hire from Passion for Flowers).
The mix of flowers we used on the table were Quicksand roses, Secret Garden roses, Vendela roses, Bombastic spray roses, Café Au Lait dahlias, white ranunculus, white anemones, scabious seed heads, wax flower, brunia, dusty miller and eucalyptus.
We used a number of decorations from our sister company The Wedding of my Dreams for extra styling, including bronze ribbed tea light holders and chunky bronze vases. At each place setting was an advice for the bride and groom coaster – we love this as an alternative wedding guest book.
The stationery was by Tom Gautier of Paper & Things, we loved the individual menus and name cards with the floral illustration, and the table plan cards too. The name cards were used in our bud vase name card holders, which are just like old fashioned salt cellars.
Along the back wall we displayed a tall centrepiece in a relaxed style, this could either be used as a centrepiece with a grouping of smaller bronze vases around the base or as a floral display at the wedding ceremony. The table plan is one of our newest and favourite table plans we hire out, we created a floral garland around the arch of the window shutters table plan with blush pink and nude florals in bronze vases running in front of it.
We had two bridal bouquets on display, both tied with glamorous gold ribbon to trail. The first was a blousy loose hand tied bouquet of Café Au Lait dahlias, white ranunculus, dusty miller and white astilbe. The other was a rose bouquet of Quicksand roses, Bombastic spray roses, wax flower and eucalyptus.
On the chair backs we used a couple of chalkboard chair signs from The Wedding of my Dreams, Mr & Mrs as well as Here Comes the Bride. On the other chairs we created floral chair garlands of eucalyptus, ivy, soft ruscus, scabious seed heads and wax flower for a relaxed rustic look.
Each day at the show we wore flower crowns created with a similar mix of flowers we had used elsewhere in the displays.
We used crates along the back wall to showcase some of our other favourite ideas, including rustic tree slices with a grouping of bottles, succulent wedding favours, sprinkle me confetti bags and our welcome wedding sign. Of course we proudly displayed our Best Wedding Florist in the West Midlands award.
Here at Passion for Flowers we strategically chose a stand next to the champagne bar, mainly so we could treat ourselves at the end of a busy day! We created table centres for the tables on the champagne bar using soft pastel pinks and creams. The flowers we used in theses centrepieces were Sweet Avalanche roses, Bombastic spray roses, astilbe, wax flower, astrantia and white hydrangeas.
We also loved creating the garlands for Wedding Magazine’s stand, and made the girls flower crowns to wear throughout the show. The garlands were in keeping with their bright pink logo so we used Kate David Austin roses, lisianthus, Wizard Of Oz dahlias, Harmony dahlias, Blue Curiosa roses, veronica, sedum, astrantia and poppy heads.
We love their comment…
The flowers on the stand were the best we have ever had, and we all LOVED the flower crowns you very kindly made.
If you came along to The National Wedding Show and after meeting us and browsing our website feel Passion for Flowers are the wedding florists for you we would love to hear from you. Get in touch with your wedding details on our contact us page.
Much love Karen & Gemma x
If you are hoping to make your own buttonholes for your wedding you will love our latest collaboration with Rock My Wedding. Lolly and Adam came over and learnt how to make rustic buttonholes. They have detailed the whole process on their blog with step by step instructions and photos. We chose to show how to make rustic buttonholes as they look fab with the stems on show which means you can make them the day before and keep them in water – rather than leaving them until the morning of the wedding.
See the full feature over on Rock My Wedding.
Photography credit: Adam Crohill
We styled the buttonhole on one of our wooden tree slices – available from The Wedding of my Dreams, you can also get the twine from there too!
Caroline and Rob tied the knot at Shustsoke Farm Barns on 1 August surrounded by family and friends. Caroline enjoyed the planning of her summer wedding and had a great eye for colour, the one thing she was certain of was she wanted to wear a flower crown for her wedding cermeony and hanging globes in the barn.
At our first meeting Caroline arrived with a gorgeous water colour board with inspiration for her day, tones of pinks, blues and greens. The flower crown we designed was very blousy and suited her curls on the day with a mix of pink, blue and green hydrangea with Sweet Avalanche and Ocean song roses. When the flowers were delivered in the morning the squeals of delight were wonderful to hear. The happiness captured in these photos at the start of the day continued throughout the day. What a beautiful relaxed and happy wedding day.
The ceremony barn was filled with flowers, Rob had made a rustic wooden planter for us to fill with blooms from the day – hydrangeas, feathery astilbe, eucalyptus and roses with moss to edge. Together with the large hanging flower globes filled with a mix of hydrangeas and eucalyptus the wooden planter gave just the look Caroline and Rob had hoped for. I just love the rustic tree slice ring box.
The boys had a mix of rustic styled button holes with hydrangea and eucalyptus finished with twine with a billy button for the youngest. How cute is his Ring Security shirt!
Caroline brought one of the dresses over to show me so we could finalise colours for the bouquets and we had great fun selecting such lovely bright summer flowers in colours of pink, green, lilac and blue. The long lace trailing ribbons for the bridesmaids added a good contrast to their floral dresses and finished off the look. The lace was also used to trail from Caroline’s flower crown. The bride herself carried a large bouquet of mixed hydrangeas and roses to offset her flower crown. Caroline bought cream jugs and attached personal tags for each of her maids.
As guests and finally the bridal party arrived at Shustoke Famr Barns they were greeted by a rustic country style flower garland hanging above the oak doors to the barn. Once inside everyone was greeted with a wonderfully hand crafted table plan and so many other personal touches.
The top table was the centre of attention for the meal and speeches with the rustic crate handcrafted with love by Rob taking centre stage. The crate was over a metre in length and looked as if it was made for the barn.
Caroline had a water colour theme to her tables with handmade table numbers, beautifully hand dyed cloths in soft pastel tones on to which we added a mix of organic bottles and vases simply filled with just the right pastel toned blooms.
Caroline had seen photos of one of our previous barn weddings and just knew she wanted large flower globes to be part of her day. The hanging globes are a great treat for us to create and we just love how they can transform this large space. If you are having your ceremony at the barn, followed by the meal and then the evening the hanging globes can be enjoyed throughout the day and add that extra WOW factor to your day.
The wedding cake just needed simple blooms to add a touch of colour and be set on a rustic tree slice. We love the bit of whimsy with the beetle and the ladybird.
It is over a year since we first designed wedding flowers for Shustoke Farm Barns and we just love returning time after time as it gives us the opportunity to style it differently for each and every wedding. Our style is always in keeping with the natural look and feel of this wonderful wedding venue.
Credits: Florist – Passion for Flowers, Photographer – Weddings Vintage, Venue – Shustoke Farm Barns
We love creating rustic wedding flowers at Shustoke Farm Barns. The style of Shustoke perfectly fits with rustic styling her we used an abundance of seasonal flowers, tree slices and casual arrangements to bring the venue to life.
We initially discussed plans by phone and email with Yasmin and were thrilled when we finally met her with Paul to finalise details. At our consultation we always ask to see a photo of the wedding gown to gauge the style of wedding and the flowers that would be appropriate (don’t worry we always ask the groom to leave the room at this point). Yasmin’s gown was just beautiful with touches of gold and needed a romantic fluffy bouquet. We decided on a lush mix of white and blush pink peonies which are in full bloom in July, bombastic roses, wizard of oz dahlias and feathery astilbe.
The ceremony table at Shustoke Farm Barns is a stunning piece of wood and looks best with simple decoration. A mix of our glass bottles and jars created just the look with summer rustic ceremony flowers as well as the bridal bouquet on the table.
The six bridesmaids had smaller versions of the bridal bouquet complete with peonies in pinks and whites they looked just wonderful with their pastel dresses. If you chose different pastel tones for the dresses it is lovely to link your maids by choosing the same bouquet for all of them.
As your guests arrive at Shustoke Farm Barns there are two great feature tables to display family photos, and leave space for gifts and cards. Don’t forget to add some flowers to this area to set the mood for your wedding day. The LOVE mugs were a great find and looked simply stunning on the day with some blooms in them and are something now treasured by the bride and groom.
Wooden crates with rustic summer flowers create just the right ambience for this rustic setting. Filled here with large hydrangeas, chrysanthemum blooms, olive foliage, roses and astilbe. A great a great mix for a summer wedding.
Yasmin loved her tree slices and glass bottles for the centrepieces. We used a mixture of different sized bottle and jars filled with flowers and herbs to create a rustic look. The tree slices add some height to the tables without blocking anyone’s view.
The naked cake was beautifully decorated with fresh summer berries and highlights of summer roses.
Credits – Florist: Passion for Flowers // Venue: Shustoke Farm Barns // Photographer: Milly Molly Photography
We love creating Cripps Barn wedding flowers especially hanging globes. It is always a pleasure to travel down to the Cotswolds and create wedding flowers for our couples tying the knot at Cripps Barn. Claire and Ben booked us more than a year before their wedding after they had seen us setting up at Cripps Barn. They were looking for a relaxed rustic wedding celebration with family and friends. Ben is a true romantic and I loved the pearls he had chosen for Claire. The boys were at Cripps the morning of the wedding adding some hand made touches while the girls finished getting ready. Don’t you just love the directional signs lovingly made by Claire’s Dad. All photography by Jen Marino Photography.
Claire and her bridesmaids had wonderful dresses and needed simple just picked flowers to complete their look. We worked with a white and green palette with highlights of purple and blue adding touches of lavender and veronica in the bridal just picked bouquet. To keep the bouquets rustic in style they were finished with hessian.
Rustic button holes with twine suited this rustic style wedding and its setting at Cripps Barn. The button holes were all a little different and finished with twine. Name tags are great to help with handing out the button holes on the wedding day.
At Cripps Barn you can choose to have your ceremony in the wonderful ceremony barn which is a simply stunning way to tie the knot. Jars of just picked flowers on the ceremony table and huge just picked hanging globes are all that is needed to complete the look. The beauty of the hanging globes can be enjoyed later in the day for the evening celebrations. The young flower girls pomanders also looked perfect hanging as pew ends from their chairs.
The long top table at Cripps Barn looks warm and inviting with an assortment of jars and vases with just picked flowers from the day. Just Married hessian bunting was added to the front of the top table as well as a hessian runner for another rustic touch.
The guests place settings were finished with lavender for the girls and rosemary for the boys. It is always welcoming to add a floral place setting for your guests.
The lovely cake was finished with a mini Mr and Mrs bunting and we added rustic flowers hand tied with twine to finish the look. Wedding cake decoration should always tie through into your day so this was just perfect for a rustic wedding at Cripps Barn.
The hanging flower globes are a ‘must have’ at Cripps Barn as they are enjoyed by guests throughout the day and are the last thing seen at the end of the evening. Claire and Ben had the hanging flower globes high up on their list of priorities as they had seen ones we had created for previous weddings. For a rustic wedding we combined lots of fresh scented eucalyptus and dill, dreamy gypsophila and blousy hydrangeas.
One of the lovely comments from our happy couple after the wedding was that the globes smelled really amazing.
If you are looking for a wedding florist for your Cripps Barn or Shustoke Barn wedding we would love to hear from you.
Karen x
Credits – Florists: Passion for Flowers // Photographer: Jen Marino Photography // Venue: Cripps Barn // Extra Decor, Cake Topper, Hessian: The Wedding of my Dreams
It was lovely to see the rustic shoot we worked on last January at The Moat House, Dorsington featured on Boho Weddings. We love seeing our work published on blogs and this shoot is just perfect for Boho Weddings. We worked with along side a talented team for the shoot and we created rustic tablescapes on long tables. We used hessian runners and an assortment of rustic vases and vessels filled with seasonal flowers. We created bridal bouquets and button holes, a table plan on apex ladders and more. See the full shoot over on Boho Weddings or see more detail about the flowers on our blog post of this shoot.
Credits – Florist: Passion for Flowers // Photography: Captured by Katrina // Venue: The Moat House, Dorsington
I first met Leanne at a wedding last summer and were more than thrilled when she asked if Passion for Flowers would be able to help her with styling and flowers for her spring wedding at South Farm. Leanne runs Blooming Lovely Films and we have admired her work and just love her style. We had great fun when we met David at the Wedding Industry Awards and were introduced to Ross Harvey who had been asked to photograph this epic wedding. Over the last months we met Leanne a number of times, shared pinterest boards and generally agreed on all things floral.
As it was our first wedding at South Farm we took the opportunity to meet up with Leanne and Dave early this year to see the how we could decorate and enhance the natural beauty of South Farm.
Leanne’s vision for the day was a relaxed day of happiness with family and loved ones. We know she did this and were so happy to be chosen as her florist. As she talked through ideas from the doors to the vespa to the Easter Egg hunt we knew how gorgeous their day would be and of course her divine Claire Pettibone dress.
Ross Harvey has done such a fantastic job at capturing this beautiful day.
Leanne and her bridesmaids enjoyed their morning of preparations and we were delighted to meet up with some of our industry friends Make up by Jodie and Helena Sinclair Bridal Hair when we arrived with the flowers.
South Farm is simply stunning and we worked with its natural beauty to create timeless yet rustic elegant flowers. A mix of roses, clematis, wax flower, pittosporum, hellebores, broom with nigella seed heads created just the right mix for the day.
At her final consultation Leanne and I agreed on a gorgeous look for her rustic elegant bouquets. The long trailing ribbons looked wonderful with the elegant dresses chosen for the bridesmaids.
David and his best man Jim set the style for the boy team and we loved their coloured jackets. Rustic elegant button holes with spray roses and a mix from the day, finished with twine fitted the bill perfectly.
South Farm is perfect for an outdoor ceremony and we were thrilled with the finished result and were just so lucky with the weather. When Leanne made her entrance through the doors everyone was so moved. Just to let you into a little secret the doors were something Leanne had hoped for from the beginning of her planning and David organised for them to be delivered and set up for us to decorate on the day. They made a perfect frame to the ceremony area with a delicate flower garland and crates of flowers.
Shepherds crooks with simple posies lined the aisle and were later used to decorate the outside tables.
We talked about a flower crown and felt it would work beautifully with Leanne’s wedding dress by Claire Pettibone and the relaxed style of her day. The flower crown was Leanne’s crowning glory and one of the many parts of her day she treasured. I just love the photos on the vespa – we added a surprise posy of flowers to the handlebars.
The barn was full for the wedding breakfast and we used a mix of timeless silver vases and crystal vessels filled with flowers to continue the rustic elegant look. We added elegant candle sticks and a garland of flowers to the top table What a fabulous day they had and a wonderful start to their married life.
We will leave you with their beautiful wedding video below.
Much love, Karen and The Passion for Flowers team x
Leanne + Dave // My wish came true from Jeff Wood Visuals on Vimeo.