I love the wedding florals. From the bouquets, buttonholes, table decor and feature arches – they add colour, texture and bring together the atmosphere of your wedding day. This week Somerset wedding florist extraordinaire, Suzy from Blooming Divine, discusses her insight into wedding flowers.
What is your philosophy for wedding flowers?
Anything goes! I’m a firm believer that you should have YOUR day the way YOU want it. It’s all too easy to be swayed by well-meaning friends and family or a swanky Pinterest board, but it’s important to stay true to who you are and what you like! Flowers are such an integral part of the day, there really is no better way to personalise your day.
How do brides best communicate their vision to wedding florists?
Pictures are a great way of explaining your ideas. Usually, I will arrange an initial phone call to discuss the style of your day, I love hearing all the details! Most brides don’t have huge amounts of flower knowledge and that’s fine, that’s what I’m here for! They do however usually have plenty of photos of wedding flowers and styles that they like. This is a great way for me to really build up a visual picture of their big day and make suggestions for flower varieties depending on the season.
What is your favourite flower and why?
What a difficult question to ask a florist! I would say I’m a sucker for anything that’s in season, whether it be a big spikey Dahlia, some delicate Clematis or a fluffy Peony … give me them all!
What is your role on the wedding day?
The week running up to the wedding is always a busy one! The flowers arrive a few days before and need conditioning, a technical term which basically means removing leaves and cutting the stems on every single flower … no mean feat! Then the fun begins, creating all the bouquets, buttonholes and venue florals, it can take long days and nights but the end result is always worth it! On the morning of the wedding, I deliver off bouquets to the Bride (a hugely emotional moment that usually involves me crying!) After I’ve composed myself I deliver the buttonholes to the Groom and head to the venue to fill it with flowers! Although I’m there as the florist, I’ve been known to help with other jobs too, anything to help your day run smoothly!
What do you love most about your job?
I love getting to know my couples, hearing their story and their plans for the future. It’s the most rewarding part of the job, especially when years later they contact me to say they have baby news!
What one piece of advice would you give to couples when planning their wedding flowers?
Work with the seasons! There are so many beautiful seasonal flowers and a good florist will be able to tell you which varieties are available for your wedding day.
What wedding trends do you think we will see in 2021?
I’m hoping it’s more texture and foliage, two of my favourite things! There’s definitely a swing towards the quirky with dried flowers and preserved foliage being used and I think in 2021 we will see more of this … bring it on!
To view more of Suzy’s work check out her website www.bloomingdivine.co.uk
