Embracing summer blooms for both a church and marquee wedding: how to ensure consistency throughout your wedding day.

There is nothing more special than a good old fashioned country church wedding followed by a marquee reception, as a wedding florist in the Devon countryside these are often my most popular types of wedding. However, quite often my couples come to me worrying about how is is possible to ensure planning both the church and marquee wedding flowers at the same time runs smoothly. Potential concerns include is there time to dress both venues? Will the florals be able to be moved? How do we ensure there is a consistent floral theme throughout both locations?

We have vast experience in working on wedding flowers for marquee and church weddings so I hope this blog post will explore in more detail some of the issues that may arise during your wedding planning chat, and how they will be overcome resulting in you having picture perfect wedding flowers for your big day.

CHURCH WEDDING FLOWERS:

If you are planning a church wedding then the flowers are extremely important in setting the tone of the day, it is the first glimpse of the insight to the look and feel of your special day that guests will see, so it is crucial to get right. There are key places that are a must to decorate, in my opinion, beginning with the church entrance. You can go high impact creating the wow factor with a full statement floral arch, through to asymmetrical floral pillars or stylish urns or churns filled with overflowing seasonal flowers. How full you dress the entrance is up to you, but I would highly recommend that this is the first place you should think about decorating.

The altar is important, it is were you will say your vows, and your family and friends will watch you become happily married! Flowers here are vital, large statement urns work well, or you could again focus on creating a floral and foliage installation by bringing the outside in. Branches of natural. organic foliage with floral placements are a fabulous way to emphasise the altar. Every church is so unique and that is the beauty of them, some churches will have beautiful wooden structures surrounding the altar, some have grand steps or magnificent stained glass windows. Be sure to check the church interiors and ask your florist how best to compliment them and ensure the flowers reflect their surroundings in a positive way.

georgeham church wedding flowers:

I am thrilled to share these wedding photos from my one of my recent couples who were married at Georgeham Church, North Devon last May. The prettiest country village church, it has a winding path leading up the ancient front door which is crying out for a statement floral arch. This was really important to my couple and so we really went to town on flowering the whole entrance. May is a fine time for seasonal blooms with branches of white lilac providing scent alongside blousy peonies and roses. I used hydrangea and foxglove plants in wicker baskets to sit amongst the flowers and foliage to really create that full look. The soft blue and peach tones really warm up the ivory and green colour palette and really shows off the May seasonal blooms on offer.

what flowers are in season in may?

This wedding was held in the middle of May and allowed me to use the most stunning seasonal varieties that this early summer season has to offer. It is that beautiful time of year when some spring varieties are still available, such as ranunculus, but you are also lucky enough to be able to choose summer varieties such as peonies. May is a fabulous month for country garden style blooms such as foxgloves, the peach foxgloves have to be one of my all time favourite flowers, dare I say it desert island flowers that I could not possibly live without! White lilac is also in abundance in May and cow parsley will line the hedgerows and verges creating the most magnificent frothy display.

My bride wanted to add in some touches of pale blue to the peach and ivory flowers, as a nod to the coastal location of their wedding. I used oxypetalem, which is a pretty, dainty pale blue flower and works well if you cannot get hold of forget me nots. I also used British grown wild rocket, orlaya, aquligiea and sweet peas alongside blousy roses, spray roses and touches of mocha lisianthus.

ARE floral PEW ENDS A GOOD IDEA?

I am going to be brutally honest here and say no, I do not think they are. In some churches they do work well if you have the space to create large, tumbling effective arrangements, that truly create impact. But quite often than not, this Is not the case and the aisle may not have the amount of room necessary to hold such statement pew ends. Which leaves you with having to have a token, small bunch attached to the pews, which in my mind does not create the amount of impact necessary or deserving of your aisle. I prefer to use this budget and create some beautiful statement pieces at the end of the aisle, or beginning. Sometimes you may have a certain row of pews that is higher, or naturally lends itself to being decorated. I would much rather dress a few pews in an impactful way, meaning they are there with purpose and intention, rather than just a token sake.

MARQUEE WEDDING FLOWER INSPIRATION:

As wedding florists we get to travel all over the South West and work in the most stunning locations, the marquee was situated at the top of Putsborough above the Groom’s family home. The views of the beach are incredible and you really feel like you are in the most magical setting for a wedding. The marquee was a short drive away from the church, always a good thing on country roads in the middle of North Devon! So we were glad to stay at move the church flowers after the ceremony over to the marquee. The arch could be repurposed to dress the front of the marquee creating a fab entrance, whilst the urns were placed on the guest book and cake table. The tables were dressed with low ceramic bowls full of tumbling seasonal florals, a simple yet super effective look for round tables. We accessorised with taper candles in peach, mocha, ivory and pale blue to complete the whole tablescape.

If you are planning a marquee wedding in the South West and are looking for wedding flower inspiration, I hope this post has been helpful! If you need any further inspiration do check out the website portfolio and blog and you can easily book a consultation with me via my contact page. A huge thank you to Gabrielle McMillan for these wonderful wedding photographs.