Wedding Flower Trends

This feature is to give you some ideas for your own wedding or commitment ceremony.

One of the biggest trends, which seems set to continue is the vintage country garden look. Lots of dusky pinks silver/greys and greens. Roses (Amnesia, Metallina, Silverstone, Old Dutch, Something Special) hydrangeas, scented stocks, scabiossa, seed heads and fragrant herbs. Herbs have proved to be a massive influence to florists as they have become a lot more available year round and given a much greater opportunity to add interest to arrangements and of course fantastic fragrance. The brilliant thing about herbs as well is that they make great table names, Rosemary, Lavender, Sage and Thyme for example and you can tie your whole event theme together with the food. We have done some great weddings and partnership events where the menu has included Lamb with rosemary and minted new potatoes for example, then we have put a sprig of rosemary on each napkin and added mint and other herbs into the arrangements. Or rose buttonholes with a sprig of rosemary for the wedding party. It is a really thoughtful and easy way to look to tie everything together. You could add little packets of wildflowers seeds as favours for example?

If you are really wanting to have living plants on the tables instead of flowers. You can have pots of herbs in silver pails each herb to match the table name. A sprig of something nice and fragrant on the napkin, a few vintage coloured rose petals, some sparkling tea light holders and you have got a great look for any barn, marquee or celebration venue. What we have done is come up with a number of table names as herbs to get you started.

Lavender
Basil
Borage
Sage
Thyme
Parsley
Rosemary
Mint
Coriander

Another great theme is butterflies. The link between butterflies and flowers is a nice one to follow through with table names and then with silk butterflies added into the table arrangements; they also look great attached to birdcages. Phaleanopsis orchids also look fantastic with any butterfly theme.

Table name ideas - Butterflies

Red Admiral
Holly Blue
Marbled White
Small Tortoiseshell
Painted Lady
Purple Emperor
Pale Clouded Yellow
Dark Green Fritillary
Peacock
Meadow Brown

Sussex native trees is another good one – so much nicer than table 1,2,3,4.

Beech
Wild Cherry
Lime
Oak
Alder
Silver Birch
Field Maple
Yew
Crab Apple
Wild Pear
Cherry Plum
Rowan
Whitebeam

All these themes go well with flowers and if there is one trend that has really come to the fore it's about personalising your special event so that it is unique to you - Go for little touches that don't have to be expensive but make your day stand out, you can find unique suppliers  at www.pollenflowers.co.uk/webdirectory, We understand that it helps to save money too where you can so we have items for hire at www.pollen4hire.co.uk if you want to do some of the decorating yourself.

Finally are really great tip for next year! Tea lights and candles for summer weddings. I know you're probably thinking it's not exactly new. But with the weather being so unpredictable it is really worth considering having tea lights and candles in the summer too (check if your chosen venue allow candles- some listed buildings don't). If it is a dull day or dare we say it a bit rainy- get those candles lit early and the venue will be transformed. We have found 8 hour burners so they will last; if you are buying your own make sure you get long burners or plenty of spares just in case and nothing too scented that will overpower the natural fragrance from your chosen table centres. If you would like to make an appointment to see Donal to discuss your ideas informally, please use the new consultation request feature. Wherever you are we wish you all happy and successful event planning. We hope these ideas give lots of inspiration and of course everything we do comes not only from our feelings and experiences but also from initial ideas our clients suggest to us, so keep on inspiring us! Dex at Pollen.

PS - Don't forget if the weather on your special day is overcast or dull, its actually great for the photo's (ask any photographer) so there is always an upside!