Smaller weddings, the future for the next few months!

After the government’s latest announcement last week I wanted to give you a little update on what has been happening here at The Rose Shed and my take on smaller weddings, the future for the next few months! Covid 19 has affected the wedding industry (just like others) in a huge way… weddings are based on gatherings, coming together of friends and family from all over the country and quite often the world. Weddings focus around love, happiness, dancing, social interaction with lots of hugging and kissing! It is therefore not a great surprise that weddings are going to be continually affected by the pandemic. It is positive news that weddings are able to go ahead of course, and now with the news that we can have up to 30 people in attendance afterwards at a reception.

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This is brilliant news for couples who have postponed and cannot simply wait to be married any longer, or have been waiting on tenterhooks to see whether their big day can go ahead. But this is not the ideal situation for most, who will want all their loved ones there, or if you have family who are still shielding who will not be able to attend. It is an impossible situation, I get that… we are coming together to try to eliminate this virus, and so mass gatherings will be one of the last events to be allowed to continue. Since lockdown we have seen postponement, after postponement of weddings. Clients that we have spoken with for the last year and a half sometimes, who we grow close to and are just as excited for their big day as they are! It has been heartbreaking having so many conversations with my couples who have had to make the toughest decisions to move their big day.

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Not only has this been a stressful and upsetting time for everyone emotionally, it has also been logistically difficult in terms of trying to fit everyone in who has rescheduled on their new dates. Couples work with lots of amazing suppliers, so trying to make sure everyone has the suppliers they have originally chosen on their new date has involved lots of chats, emails and date swapping! Where we would usually be knee deep in flowers throughout the summer, we have mostly had our head in the diary!! Speaking with my industry friends we have all been in the same boat and luckily have managed to fulfil most couples dates, however sadly there are times when this was not possible.

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So smaller weddings, and what does this mean for weddings going forward and what does this mean for flowers?! These last few months have been so unpredictable, and the next few months will continue to be so. I have couples who have moved from the start of lockdown and the following months, to September so again the uncertainty is still there. I am working with couples who have decided to go ahead with the smaller numbers, as tough a decision as it is to make, there will be lots of contributing factors…. I for one will be so grateful to be back working on wedding flowers again. Others are deciding to move dates again… so they can have their original, huge celebration that they have been dreaming of. I am working with both types of couple at the moment, and each one of you your own decisions are the most important and I respect that and will carry out your floral wishes!

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What does smaller weddings mean for flowers?! I am bias of course, but just because you are having a smaller wedding this does not mean that you need to go small on flowers! Despite lower numbers being allowed at weddings, we will still be needing at times to dress the original space, so we will be looking at how we can create a more intimate setting and flowers are a great way to do this. So big floral vases or urns placed inside the room can fill gaps and create a more intimate feel. As Princess Beatrice showed us this weekend, you still can have you big floral arch and your show stopping photography! It will be just as important to decorate your ceremony space, the place where you say ‘I Do!’ creating that beautiful surrounding with florals as a backdrop for your ceremony.

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Table numbers may be fewer, or we will most possibly be looking at smaller amounts of people on each table… so individual households, instead of larger groups of 10 people, or longer banquet tables that are so popular at the moment. You can still go to town with florals here, so consider tall statement vases on some tables to create impact and fill space within the ceiling, and lower beautiful, overflowing urns on the other tables. I am looking forward to creating some stunning florals over the next few months!

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I have recently been getting more enquiries for smaller weddings too, so couples who are just thinking ‘let’s do it!’ this could be a last minute decision, or they have left choosing florals to the later stages. This is completely exciting and I have the space to accommodate more smaller weddings now. You may only be wanting bouquets for brides, bridesmaids and buttonholes so this is something I am offering for collection from the Paintworks studio. I am looking at working on a more ‘ready to go’ ‘wedding menu’ style of flowers, so rather than the full bespoke service I tend to offer. These wedding flowers will be equally as beautiful and lovingly put together by myself, yet a more laid back approach will be taken when choosing flowers. For example consultations will be done over the phone/email and flower choice will be left up to us choosing the most seasonal, beautiful blooms we can get our hands on for your day, in your colour palette. Easy to collect table decorations such as kilner jars/low vases and bottle clusters will be available for you to collect, set up and keep afterwards! Stay tuned for more details on this, but for now you can email or ring for wedding enquiries!

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Despite all the uncertainty, one thing we can be certain of is that couples will always want to mark their love with a celebration amongst friends and family! Weddings have been a huge tradition forever, and the fact that we all love a good wedding and party will not disappear. The way we view weddings over the next few months may just have to change. With many of you planning various celebrations to be able to include everyone so getting married this year, then having a huge party next year! I am keeping the faith that there is light at the end of the tunnel and we can continue to carry on our big celebrations at some point in the future…

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Photos: Naomi Kenton

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Venue: Aynhoe Park