Royal Wedding Inspired Photo Shoot - Part 2 (Bouquet Flowers)

Designing what could be done inside Buckingham Palace came easily for me.  I sat and thought about Kate's bouquet for almost a week before I knew what I wanted to do. 

Since I think Kate will be wearing a very classic, elegant and full sleeved gown (for the ceremony at Westminster anyways) without a long train (she is travelling in a car to get to Westminster), I wanted her bouquet to be simple, yet beautiful enough to stand out on it's own.  A biedermeier bouquet is perfect for this!  This style of bouquet is european-inspired and has very dramatic circular rings of flowers that are each tightly packed and carefully arranged.  The geometry and contrast of a biedermeier is unsurpassed by any kind of bouquet and would suit Kate's style perfectly.  As for colour, it must be white.  Even with her blue engagement ring, Kate reminds me of a modern day Jackie O and I don't think a coloured bouquet is her style.   

The centre point flower had to be a scented one as well as dainty, so gardenias were perfect.  I then surrounded it by ranunculus and finally freesia.  Underneath the freesia I placed a few stems of purple lavender, which is a royal british wedding tradition.
The ribbon work on the handle had to complement the bouquet as well as be fashionable.  I didn't want to go over the top, so I used 2 different kinds of ribbon.  The base ribbon to make it look like a pleated and layered skirt, and the top ribbon to be a more dainty, and feathery as an accent.  A great complement to a simple and stunning bouquet!

Credits:
Floral and Tabletop Design: Petals, Stems & Leaves
Photography: Deborah Schauer

Royal Wedding Inspired Photo Shoot - Part 1 (Reception Flowers)

Having been to London, England many times to visit family, I felt particularly inspired by all of the discussions and talk revolving around the upcoming Royal wedding between William & Kate.  This is something that will only happen once in my lifetime! 

After having done quite a bit of research before I started, I realized this was a bit more complicated than what I thought.  The reception immediately after the ceremony (hosted by the Queen) and the dinner/dance (hosted by Prince Charles) are both to be held at Buckingham Palace.  The only room within the Palace that is large enough to hold that many people for a luncheon reception (600 people) or a sit down private dinner/dance (300 people) is the Ballroom.  The inside of the Ballroom is absolutely stunning with red carpet, red and gold chairs and white walls with gold accents.  Even though the ballroom is beautiful, this colour scheme does make designing flowers and decor a little more challenging.  Along with the colour scheme, there are still protocols to be followed (i.e. they only ever use white table linens, the chairs are never covered, etc.).  It is also likely the candleabras, vases, table mirrors and flatwear will all be coming from the 'Royal Grand Service' which includes 18K gilded gold flatwear made for King George IV when he was Prince of Wales. 

Based on all of this information, I decided that a complementary red colour scheme that included shades of darker reds would be lovely, but that I also wanted to make it fresher and more modern with the addition of chartreuse.  As for style, the typical floral arrangements that are done in Buckingham Palace are quite traditional as well as being very open and airy.  I wanted to do a Della-Robbia style arrangement (mixing flowers, sometimes exotic with fruits and vegetables) with a contemporary twist.  The flowers would be grouped into clusters as well as being quite tight and compact.  

With the royal wedding taking place in early spring, it gave me the opportunity to use some very special flowers and a few that are not as commonly known.  The parrot tulips (one of my personal favourites), specialty roses, hellebores, red skimmia berries and viburnum just made it perfect! 

As for table accents, I couldn't help but do a simple napkin treatment, red candlesticks with red tapered candles as well as a fruit accent on each guest's side plate to match with the centrepiece.

Enjoy! 

Credits:

Floral and Tabletop Design:  Petals, Stems & Leaves

Props:  Chairman Mills

Chairs:  Detailz Couture

Photography:  Deborah Schauer