Portfolio styling

I spent a few hours styling this mini photoshoot for  Helen's celebration cakes.
Helen brought a selection of her most popular designs down to the studio, Shes been designing and making wonderful cakes for many years and they taste as good as they look!
There are many many talented and creative people whose portfolios  don't do their work justice.
I've lost count of the number of websites I've seen with images of flowers on a dirty floor and a dustbin in the background! Whats the point in having an extensive gallery of poor quality images?Better to have a few well styled clear photographs with continuity.   
Creating a good portfolio is essential for anyone in the wedding industry but it can be a catch 22. You need a great porfolio to bring the work in but you need the work to create the portfolio!
The solution is a mini photoshoot like this one.
 We're helping more and more people create their own styled pictures for their websites and online galleries with one to one sessions like this one or on our styling and portfolio workshop.
Interested? Get in touch!

    

 

hand-tied masterclass

I had to share these images we took of designs created by Tracey who came to our hand-tied masterclass on saturday. We spent the morning perfecting the technique for a hand tied bouquet with spiraled stems.The final design was then beautifully gift wrapped.
We then created a contemporary hand-tied using Lucky bamboo, Orinthlogalum Arabica, Akito roses, bear grass and fatsia leaves.

After lunch we focused on the hand-tied as a bridal bouquet, using Blue curiosa roses, Akito roses, Hyacinths Ami magus, phlox,Tulips and Eucalyptus Tracey created the most  beautiful bouquet.
The stems were then finished with lilac satin ribbon and pearl headed pins.

I

I always enjoy teaching the workshops that we run and when I see results like this I'm very proud.

Jar Jars Jars!

Funny how times change, a couple of years ago it was all martini vases and candleabra.
Rustic chic seems to have taken a hold and I for one love it!

I found these green tinted storage jars recently, many of the mason or recycled glass jars

have a green tint which really sets off the colour of the flowers.

Mini photoshoot

I had some left overs at the weekend so I used them to create a mini photo shoot.
Its really worth spending a little time creating a few good designs and getting the look just right for the camera. Often when we're doing a real wedding we're rushing around early in the morning and don't have the time or the light to get the images we would like. So for good portfolio images we tend to take photos in a more controlled enviroment.

  First, tulips, lilac astranthia, genestra and clematis arranged in an old urn which I painted green.

   The same flowers were then mixed with prima donna roses and narssici to create this bridal bouquet.

  The tulips were then cut down and used to make this pomander.

And finally, small broken pieces were turned into buttonholes.

Lilac and lavender

A little lilac and lavender inspiration from some of our recent photoshoots. We've been seeing a lot of 2012 brides with this colour scheme.

Red Roses for Valentines day

Here are the most popular red rose varieties this valentines

Which is your favourite? 

The Wedding awards

We designed  this sweetie table for the 2011 wedding awards held in London on 13th January 2012.
The theme was pink black and silver. Guests pick and mixed cream soda lollypops, liquorice pipes, silver dragees, Bon bons, Sherbet planks, Jelly belly strawberry beans macaroons and Biscuit pops.
Accessorised with white ostrich feathers, crystals and pink roses.  Very bling!

Sweet and dessert tables are finally becoming popular here with many weddings featuring a candy or dessert buffet, believe it or not there is an art to getting the design right. Its not a case of just throwing a few sweets together in jars and putting them on a table!
 We probably spend more time on one of our tables than we do on some of our flowers!

Here are a few more from last year.


For a pretty country wedding we designed this dessert table, with the top tier of the wedding cake at the centre and a floral heart hung behind the selection of mini cup cakes, doughnut pops, marshmallows, meringues, jelly and pretty candies in pinks, apricot,cream and gold.

 A summer peaches a cream dessert table with Cup cakes, brownies, peach jelly, bon bons in vintage china, cloudy lemonade and Peaches!

 Full of colour we loved doing this traditional sweet shop table with candy striped cloth, rainbow satins ,bon bons lollypops and personalised chocolate bars.

Peony 'The national flower of China'

For 2 weeks  From the 23rd January Chinese People all over the world will be celebrating Spring festival which is the beginning of The Chinese new year.
2012 is the year of the Dragon, the most auspicious of the Chinese zodiac signs.
Flower and  plant sales are extremely high during this peak period with prices more than doubling.
Imagine a valentines day lasting 2 weeks!
A favourite are miniature orange trees thought to bring good luck and wealth.Clivia, Cyclamen, Orchids and Azalea are also very popular.

The most popular of all is the Chinese sacred lily (narcissus tazetta v orientalis) the bulbs of this miniature narccisus are peeled and grown in water in traditional bulb bowls and feature in almost every Chinese home during the festival.

The Peony, recently named as China's national flower is out of season but Chinese growers will be forcing plants to provide beautiful blooms in time for Spring festival.
Here in the UK peonies have always been one of our most popular cut flowers and the season as become longer and longer with more varieties coming on to the market.
However, I have to say the range of colours and varieties grown by the Chinese Peony nurseries has to be seen to be believed.
The worlds largest peony garden is located in  He Ze in Shandong province which boasts an annual peony festival each year.

These images from  www.xqpeony.com   who raise  and export peony roots seeds and flowers.
I think some people will be amazed to see peonies in colours other than white pink and dark red. I particularly like the purple, green and apricot varieties quite stunning.
But then The Chinese people have been growing these beautiful flowers for over 2 thousand years!

                                The latest G Lily video tutorial. Ideas for chairback decoration.

2012 Colour predictions

The Pantone colour institute has named 'Tangerine Tango' its colour for 2012.
Described as 'sophisticated but at the same time 'dramatic and seductive the institutes's Leatrice Eiseman its a radiant red-orange which we'll be seeing reflected in fashion, cosmetics and decor.
 Of course its a colour designed to cheer us all up and I'm sure on a day like today with a storm raging outside and nothing but doom and gloom in the news a 'spirited reddish orange' is going to lift the spirits better than a cool blue or pewter grey.
So how does this colour trend impact on wedding flowers?

We used flowers in a very similar colour for a tablescape on a photoshoot last year.   

In general UK brides do not choose bright citrus colours. Yellow/ lemon/cream are usually reserved for  spring weddings reflecting the season. Orange /rust/ brown are fairly popular for autumnal weddings with deeper red/ clove/ burgundy popular for winter.
My experience is that the majority of brides still choose a neutral or monochromatic colour scheme.
I had a look at our 2011 weddings and 45% of brides chose ivory/white/green
50%  Chose vintage colours like dusky pink/faded lilac/  We had 1 Yellow /white wedding 4 Blue/white 1Apricot/champagne and 1 Lemon/cream/blue and 3 red.
For 2012, the vintage pallet is still strong with silver/pewter coming through as a popular choice for bridesmaids. So far no orange!
I think citrus colours work really well in hotter climes. With so many blogs / magazines featuring weddings in California/S Africa/ The Caribbean where the light and sunshine are perfect for brighter colours its easy to see the appeal but do they look as good under grey overcast English skies?

As with any trend, its about adapting it for your particular market.
 Tangerine Tango can be diluted to create a more wedding friendly Apricot/salmon/sand pallet which works works well with a number of other colours including pewter and pink.

One of our bouquets: Miss piggy and prima donna roses,Dhalias and dusty miller foliage.
Finished with really pretty ribbon picked up in an amazing ribbon shop in Bergerac.

My tip for 2012. A simple fan trimmed with lace and decorated with a single bloom.

A great alternative to the wrist corsage, easy to holds, chic and affordable.    

Centrepiece of Miss Piggy roses, hydrangea dahlias and asters. We used an old biscuit tin covered with  wallpaper and trimmed with pretty sand coloured lace ribbon.
Both these designs created for Wedding flowers Magazine. www.weddingmagazine.co.uk
If you're smitten with tangerine tango then here's some colour inspiration for you from our Tangerine portfolio!