Soft pink vintage flowers and a blast from the past

This week the rain has been playing havoc with my cycling plans.  I've had the bike all done up.  It's got a new chain.  The seat remains uncomfortable, but there is nothing to be done.  It's one of those mountain bike ones.  It's bright blue.  It's functional.  Sadly, it is not a classic, vintage style, black, slim framed, 'designed for ladies wearing nice dresses' one with a basket on the front for your shopping.  That is the bike of my dreams.  If the weather improves, I'll keep you posted on the journeys of the magical mountain bike.  Until then, flowers it is.  Not bad really.

Today is brought to you by the letter V.  V is for vintage.  It is also brought to you by the letter P.  The letter P is for Peonies (British ones - their nearly done now), Pink and Pedestal.  More on this below.

Christines wedding was lovely.  All blousy flowers with lots of lovely textures.  The peonies opened perfectly (there's another P) and the weather was warm.  Christine needed it to be that way for her lovely floaty Jenny Packham number.

Here's her wedding in the final (well almost) Letter P - Pictures.

Laura x

 Very magical light. I rather like it.  Feels a bit creative.

 An urn of blooms that look simply magical.  Hazel and honeysuckle feature.

 Delphinium.  Always provides glamourous height.  The floral equivalent of Laboutins.

 Flowers on film.......my old mate Bradders getting all the detail in.

I'm going to try my hand at Sweet Pea growing.  Success will be blogged, lack of success will be erm......not mentioned and politely glossed over.

Pretty bridesmaids bouquet.  Love it when a British Peony does you this proud.

The Jenny Packham dress was a cracker.  So are these flowers.  I wanted to hug it.  Best not.  They're pretty delicate blooms.

For the final P.  Perfect.

Learning to dance and a rather large number of tulips

Today I've managed to take a little bit of time out.  We take breaks at funny times us florists.

Most would consider a break to be sitting down with a cup of hot chocolate whilst doing the crossword, time out to walk the dog or wandering round the Trafford Centre.  But as I've run out of hot chocolate, can never achieve much on the Times crossword, don't have a dog and I view clothes shopping as a chore that must be got through in order to reap the benefits (much like weeding your patio I suppose) I took a couple of hours off to go and learn a new foxtrot and revise the quickstep and the waltz.  I do this in readiness for my exams.

Exams - yes exams.  Mad - yes mad.  But we all like a little challenge I suppose?

We all love it when Len says 'Severrrrn' don't we?  Fingers crossed.

On the way back it occured to me that I'd not blogged the wedding of the tulips.  This was a treat indeed.  Siobhan was a fab bride.  So much fun.  She wore red converse under the posh frock.  Very, very cool.  She's a teacher of English and used to send me letters.  On her quote I used elaborate language.  She gave me top marks.

I miss her.

Here's the day of tulips taken by me, a photographer that never will be.

Enjoy!

Laura x

Tolu and Michael's stunning Monastery wedding

Tolu and Michael married at the incredibly beautiful Gorton Monastery in Manchester on a crisp sunny day at Easter. I wasn't really blogging regularly at the time so I'm delighted to share this stunning wedding with you. The Monastery offers such a fabulous space to work with and height was the order of the day! Tolu loved simple which seasonal flowers, grouped together for a chic effect, so I was delighted that she loved her bouquet of peonies, ranunculus and avalanche roses as much as I did. A huge congratulations to Tolu and Micheal on their marriage xxx



Tolu's bouquet of seasonal white peonies, gorgeous ranunclus and ranunculus buds with avalanche roses.

A circlet for the little flower girl created using ivory rose buds.


Tall arrangements of lilies (one of Tolu's favourity flowers) in metre high vases. The ribbon was selected to tie the wedding colours in and matched the colours in the stationery that was designed and hand created by Tolu's sister. Mirrors were put into place to reflect the incredible ceiling in the building.

The beautiful chair covers were put into place by Chapman Holmes who also did all the catering and event management. The smell of my food made my mouth water! The team were an absolute pleasure to work with on the day.



The wedding ceremony was set up with two huge displays of lilies - absolutely gorgeous!

Striking purple and lime at Laura and Andy's zesty and glamourous wedding

Meeting with Laura for the first time at her Mums house was lovely. We had a hot cup of tea and I met the family hound, very cute! Laura had a picture of her stunning diamond white dress and one of her bridesmaids dresses which was a beautiful rich deep purple. Laura, her Mum and I talked through her venue and the sort of look she wanted to achieve, and settled on a striking colour scheme of purple, ivory and zesty lime green which were perfect for the scorching hot day in July this year.

The elegant Tudor room where Laura and Andy became Mr and Mrs Butler was decorated with a simple arrangement of giant allium, lime green chrysanthemum, gladioli, Bells of Ireland and contemporary foliage.

The top table was decorated with small vases of mixed flowers and a hanging ribbon backdrop of kermit chrysanthemum, singapore and stunning vanda orchids.

A trio of vases containing mixed flowers with tea lights for natural candlelight.

Each table centrepiece used the same glassware layout set with striking cube candles. The flowers were used differently across each table with flowers including allium, trachelium, vanda orchids, lisianthus, chrysanthemum and roses.

This stunning contemporary arrangement welcomed the guests to the evening reception. Giant alliums take centre stage on this one!

A table centrepiece of stunning flowers.

Gorgeous flowers done on a grand scale.

The pretty cake decorated with a little grouping of purple flowers.

I didn't take pics of Laura's amazing bouquet (silly me!) so hopefully she'll send them across when the snaps come through. Can't wait to see them xx

Tasnim and Mo celebrate their wedding in traditional style

I had such an amazing time putting together Tasnim and Mohammed's wedding flowers. As a couple, they were great fun to work with, and had THE most romantic story on how they met, never did they think that a mistaken parking space allocation could lead to a wedding! Flowers were an incredibly important part of the day. Tasnim wanted her bouquet to 'sparkle from afar' so a stunning collection of roses were set with tiara diamante so that it dazzled. Their stage was set with an amazing 10ft wide by 4ft deep floral display and simple yet effective glassware and floating flowers reflected the light of 100's of candles in front of over 500 guests.

Can't wait to see their wedding pics!

Laura xx


Tasnim's stunning collection of fresh roses and sparkling diamante.



A stunning 10ft wide backdrop of flowers for a fabulous couple.

One of the garlands created for the ceremony using fresh roses and diamante. I've seen Mohammeds sister since, she's pressing the flowers from one of them as a keepsake of the wedding :-)

The room (well, a section of it!) all set up with low, contempory glassware and candles. I'll put more photos showing the room from one side to the other on www.facebook.com/lauracolemanflowers.

What a fabulous wedding! x

Laura set to appear on Channel m!

We're getting into the Christmas spirit, and so are Channel m! They've invited Laura to appear on the channel on Monday 01 December at about 7.30am to show the steps in making their own Christmas wreath. For more information on Channel m, and how to view www.channelm.co.uk.

Laura is really looking forward to it, and Laura Coleman Flowers is running a workshop on 06 December showing you how to make a wreath. Laura will be there to demonstrate, and then will provide all the materials and a step by step approach so that you can make your own sparkly wreath to take home. For more information and to book go to www.lauracolemanflowers.co.uk/courses or call 07941 888654.

See what else we are up to for Christmas by visiting www.lauracolemanflowers.co.uk.