The awards ceremony took place on Thursday evening at Café de Paris in London, both Gemma and I went down to the awards ceremony and spent the evening celebrating with our wedding industry friends and the judges.
PASSION FOR FLOWERS VOTED BEST WEDDING FLORIST ENGLAND
We are absolutely over the moon with this award and want to thank each and every one of our couples who took the time to vote for us.
There is no doubt about it, Passion for Flowers made our wedding. Karen read my mind when I talked about what I wanted and I never expected the flowers and styling to look as amazing as it did on the day. Karen really did go above and beyond what I asked of her, she really is the best in her field.
From the moment I met Karen I knew our flowers and venue were going to look exquisite. Karen is such a wonderful lady and the flowers and our venue looked truly breath taking!
Karen was simply amazing, from helping to bring all our crazy ideas to life, to chats round at her workshop, even on the day she was a calming influence and acted like a true professional helping out in every way possible. The flowers were stunning and really brought our theme to life.
Stunning flowers!!! We were completely overwhelmed by the flower displays at our wedding. The tables looked amazing with the candelabras, the top table garland.My bouquet and bridesmaids were exquisite, I couldn’t have wished for anything more! Karen made our day so special!
Passion For Flowers were excellent. Karen somehow managed to interpret my very sketchy thoughts and ideas and turn them into the flowers of my dreams. She put me completely at ease throughout the whole process and I knew my flowers were in very safe hands. I couldn’t recommend them more highly.
As winter is on it’s way we thought we’d share with you one of our all time favourite winter wonderland weddings. This winter wonderland wedding had a black, white and silver colour palette with a hint of sparkle. We did this wedding back in the winter of 2012 and still love this classic timeless look.
FLOWERS USED AT THIS WINTER WONDERLAND WEDDING
We used white flowers with highlights of black, including frilly honeymoon tulips, white gypsophila, black and white anemones and white hydrangeas. To bring in the silver and sparkle elements to the décor we used mercury silver vases, white and silver branches / twigs as well as fir cones to bring a natural winter look to the tables.
Wow what a year it has been! We are now slowing down with only 2 weddings before the New Year so we thought it was time to sit back and reflect on an amazing 2014. We have loved every single wedding we have worked on this year, our brides, grooms and their families have been a pleasure to work with. We love seeing weddings come to life throughout the planning process, from the initial concept at the first consultation to the finished result on the wedding day, reliving again when we see the talented work of so many photographers, each of our weddings has been truly uniqiue.This year we have been privileged to work at some fabulous new venues with both new and established wedding suppliers and friends.
Being voted Best Wedding Florist in the West Midlands at the Wedding Industry Awards for the second year running was a real highlight for us, and we enjoyed celebrating with our team and other industry friends.
This post takes you back through a highlight of some of our favourite wedding moments of 2014.
WEDDING BOUQUETS
WEDDING BUTTONHOLES
CEREMONY FLOWERS
HAIR FLOWERS & FLOWER CROWNS
CENTREPIECES
EXTRA DECORATIONS
VOTED BEST WEDDING FLORIST IN THE WEST MIDLANDS
To see these weddings in more detail browse our blog, you will be able to see full details of the weddings and full credits.
The above photos are by the following photographers with our thanks:
Here at Passion for Flowers we love seeing our work in print. A couple of months ago we took our floral designs down to London for a shoot with Wedding Flowers and Accessories Magazine. Here is the finished result – we created mixed blooms in pinks, blues and greens for a bright Summer look.
THE BOUQUET
For the bouquet we created a relaxed hand tied bouquet of pink, white, green and blue hydrangeas with touches of pink astilbe, veronica, wax flowers and seeded eucalyptus. Tied with vintage lace and a brooch.
WHITEWASHED WOODEN CRATE CENTREPIECE
For the centrepiece we used a wooden crate (available from The Wedding of my Dreams) and painted it white. We used similar flowers to the bouquet for a relaxed look. We included mixed colours of hydrangeas, blush pink roses, wax flower, astilbe and eucalyptus.
BUTTONHOLE
The buttonhole was an amnesia rose, snippet of blue hydrangea and eucalyptus tied with rustic twine.
PLACE SETTING
The place setting shown on the green napkin was a small bunch including a snippet of blue hydrangea, blush pink rose, eucalyptus and wax flower tied with twine. These make pretty place settings for the ladies.
This mix of flowers would suits a relaxed wedding, perhaps at a barn or in a marquee during the Spring or Summer. This mix of colours are also perfect if you have chosen a watercolour theme for your wedding.
FAIRYTALE BOUQUET – WHITE WEDDING BOUQUET
Another of our bouquets were also featured within the magazine, this white wedding bouquet is hand tied with lace. We used a mix of white winter flowers for this bouquet including white ranunculus, white hydrangeas and white roses.
As you may be aware we have recently changed to a new blog (when we relaunched our website) this means many of our older but still very popular blog posts are in our archives. If you haven’t had time to scroll through our archives don’t worry, from time to time we repost the most popular blog posts on here for you to see.
This post is filled with spring inspiration, with a blush pink wedding bouquet and flower arch. The delicate blush pink florals used in the garland and bouquet would look stunning and could be incorporated into your wedding if you are getting married in the spring.
BLUSH PINK WEDDING INSPIRATION
As part of the love inspired shoot for Rock My Wedding back in January we created a delicate archway garland to frame the bride, we kept the foliage and flowers whimsical wispy and delicate to complement the beautiful lace wedding dress. We used delicate foliage including pieris with spring catkins as a base for the garland and then wired in the softest pale pink tulips, lisianthus and scented narcissus.
BLUSH PINK WEDDING BOUQUET & FLOWER ARCH
The small delicate blush pink bridal bouquet posy was a spring mix of narcissi, ranunculus, palest blush pink lisianthus and snippets of delicate blush pink broom hand tied with textured ribbon with a blush pink satin overlay, finished with a bow. This mix is perfect for a blush pink spring wedding.
Another of our DIY tutorials was featured on Rock My Wedding this week. If you are thinking of making your own wedding centrepieces or maybe your Christmas dining table centrepieces then have a look at these easy to follow instructions. This step by step guide shows how to make a floral centrepiece using a ring of oasis, we have added a mercury silver hurricane vase to the centre for a rustic glamour look with ribbed silver tea light holders to finish. You can change the flowers and central lantern to create a floral centrepiece of a different style using the same guidelines.
For example you could use a clear glass hurricane vase or ribbed glass lantern in the centre, or for a more rustic look perhaps a bark lantern.
STEP BY STEP GUIDE HOW TO MAKE FLORAL WEDDING CENTREPIECES – RUSTIC GLAMOUR
To keep this example simple and stylish we have used four ingredients, you can use more if you wish. We used eucalyptus (a lovely grey / green tone for winter), brunia (grey balls to add textures and soft tones), thistles (these add more texture and bring in a subtle blue tone) and finally fluffy white hydrangeas.
The above example is perfect for a rustic winter or rustic glamour wedding. Alternatively you could use different flowers for different seasons.
Spring example: for a pink and white scented spring wedding we suggest white ranunculus, soft pink freesias (adding a lovely scent), blush pink Sweet Avalanches Roses and greenery of your choice, seeded eucalyptus would look stunning. You could lighten with sprigs of gypsophila.
Summer example: for a peach and green toned summer wedding we suggest peach Juliet David Austin roses, cream David Austin roses, Wizard Of Oz Dahlias, tanacetum daisies and vibrant green amni and alchemilla mollis.
Autumn example: for a nude, grey and bronze toned autumn wedding we would suggest dusty miller, large cafe au lait dahlias, Quicksand roses, brunia, olive foliage and scabious seed pods.
We love seeing our work in print, this wedding at South Farm was one of our favourite weddings of the year, Leanne runs Blooming Lovely Films, as she films beautiful weddings as her job we knew her wedding was going the be amazing – and it was, with incredible photography by Ross Harvey. We are thrilled to see this wedding featured in Wedding Magazine.
See our full write up on this rustic elegant wedding here. Leanne wore a delicate flower crown, they had a nude and dusky pink colour palette with flowers on the vespa, arches and garlands for the outdoor ceremony, and rustic florals in elegant vases on the tables.
LEANNE & DAVID’S RUSTIC ELEGANT WEDDING FEATURED IN WEDDING MAGAZINE
Wow!!! Here at Passion for Flowers we can’t believe it, we have been voted the BEST wedding florist in the West Midlands for a second year in a row in the 2015 Wedding Industry Awards. The awards ceremony took place at one of our favourite venues, Mythe Barn and we spent the evening celebrating with our team (unfortunately not Gemma, who is still out in New York but was keeping a close eye on the results on twitter). When they called out our name as the winner the whole room cheered, it was so amazing to share this moment with so many of our industry friends.
BEST WEDDING FLORIST IN WEST MIDLANDS 2015 WEDDING INDUSTRY AWARDS
We are absolutely over the moon with this award and want to thank each and every one of our couples who took the time to vote for us. We haven’t read your comments yet as have now made it through to the National Finals and will take samples of our work down to Fetcham Park for further judging.
THE RESULTS: THE WEDDING INDUSTRY AWARDS 2015 – WEST MIDLANDS WINNERS
Victoria and Richard had a beautiful wedding at Hampton In Arden Church followed by a wonderful reception at Hampton Manor. This summer wedding had a vintage country garden style to it, including highlights of pink, peach and white to complement the mint green bridesmaids dresses.
PEACH AND PINK WEDDING BOUQUETS
For the bridal and bridesmaids bouquets we added highlights of peach and pink flowers which look stunning during the summer months. We used dahlia Cafe au Lait, a mix of vintage roses in creams, soft and deeper pink and peach tones of Magic Avalanche, Pearl Avalanche, scented Kiera garden roses, astrantia, eucalyptus and olive foliage with rosemary for a relaxed look. Long trailing ribbons completed the look.
PEACH BUTTON HOLE
Richard wore a lovely peach rose button hole which looked perfect against his suit jacket and tied in perfectly to Victoria’s bouquet.
PEACH AND PINK BOUQUETS WITH TRAILING RIBBONS
The bridesmaids wore celadon mint green dresses, their bouquets were a smaller version of the bridal bouquet with trailing ribbons.
PEACH FLOWER CROWN
After the church service Victoria changed to wearing a flower crown of mixed summer flowers including peach garden roses which totally suited her relaxed day and vintage country garden style.
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.
PASSION FOR FLOWERS – A WEDDING FLORISTS STAND
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.
LONG TABLE WITH A SEA OF FLOWERS AND GOLD CANDELABRA
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.
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.
TALL GLASS VASES FOR CENTREPIECES
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.
BRIDAL BOUQUETS
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.
CHALKBOARD SIGNS
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.
FLOWER CROWNS
Each day at the show we wore flower crowns created with a similar mix of flowers we had used elsewhere in the displays.
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.
WEDDING MAGAZINE STAND
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.
Emma and Nathan chose Hogarths Hotel to tie the knot. They planned a gorgeous day with a colour scheme of soft muted pinks, cream and navy for the girls dresses and we created a romantic look with a mix of soft flowers in muted pinks and creams.
CANDELABRA CENTREPIECES HOGARTHS HOTEL
The tables looked amazing with large silver candelabra draped with pearls and a lavish arrangement of blousy roses including cream and dusky pink roses, scented freesias, astrantia, astilbe (feathery) in soft pink, gypsophila as a delicate filler and small touches of pittosporum.
We had a fantastic weekend at The National Wedding Show, Birmingham. Thanks to everyone who visited our stand. We were thrilled to win the award this year for outstanding exhibitor.
We have had lots of interest and bookings for 2015 and 2016. So, if you are thinking of booking us for your wedding flowers please get in touch as soon as possible as we are already filling up for key dates.
A few of our favourite instagram pics. As well as our stand we also created the flowers for Erik Meijer Photography, The Champagne Bar and Wedding Magazine as well as making flower crowns for the girls at Wedding Magazine and Erik’s partner Linda.
Huge thanks to everyone involved. The whole team who worked on the stand over the weekend, Midland Flowers for their constant support throughout the year, Tom Gautier for her stationery and to The National Wedding Show for putting on a wonderful show.
Here at Passion for Flowers, we love seeing our work published in magazines. Nicola and Mark were married in the most amazing village church in Whitewell, followed by their reception at Iscoyd Park just around the corner. Their rustic summer wedding featured peach Juliette David Austin roses, delicate daisies with rustic touches from the wooden crates.
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.
FLOWER CROWN – PINK, BLUE & GREEN HYDRANGEAS & ROSES
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.
SHUSTOKE FARM BARNS – CEREMONY FLOWERS
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.
BUTTON HOLES FOR THE BOYS
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.
FLOWER GARLAND AT SHUSTOKE FARM BARNS
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.
TOP TABLE FLOWERS IN A RUSTIC CRATE – SHUSTOKE FARM BARNS
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.
PASTEL TONED FLOWERS FOR THE TABLES – WATER COLOUR THEME
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.
HANGING FLOWER GLOBES AT SHUSTOKE FARM BARNS
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.
WEDDING CAKE ON A TREE SLICE WITH FLOWERS
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.
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.
SUMMER RUSTIC WEDDING CEREMONY FLOWERS AT SHUSTOKE FARM BARNS
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.
SUMMER RUSTIC BRIDESMAIDS BOUQUETS WITH PASTEL DRESSES
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.
FEATURE TABLES AT SHUSTOKE FARM BARNS – FAMILY PHOTOS, GIFTS & CARDS
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
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.
CENTREPIECES AT SHUSTOKE FARM BARS – GLASS BOTTLES ON TREE SLICES
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.
WEDDING CAKE FLOWERS
The naked cake was beautifully decorated with fresh summer berries and highlights of summer roses.
To see these weddings in more detail browse our blog, you will be able to see full details of the weddings and full credits.
THE BOUQUET
Credits: Florist – 
Credits – Florist: