Wedding Florist – Hybrid Flowers

Our top 3 images from our floral portfolio (and why they probably won’t be the ones you think!)

If someone were to tell you about an amazing company they had just discovered, where would you turn to first to find out more about them? We would hazard a guess that your first port of call would be their website or Instagram feed. In this image led, digital age both social media and websites are vital for getting a company’s message out there, and both require a fair amount of maintenance to ensure they accurately reflect the brand.

Relating this to our own, much nurtured website, we wondered which really is the most effective medium, our socials or our website, for generating the most enquiries. We asked the wonderful Abigail, from You and Me Collective, who said:

… We are hearing more and more that are clients are getting enquiries directly through their social channels, almost entirely missing the step between social and website….Websites and social channels are open 24/7 so how they look and feel is essential. I would never say you don’t need a website because this is the treasure trove of information where you sell yourself to a customer, a high quality engaging social channel is key alongside it.

You see, not so long ago we finished updating the Hybrid website with images of our most recent work. We must come clean and say that this process was possibly the most arduous task ever! We found it so hard to see the ‘flowers for the trees’ (so to speak) as we have thousands of gorgeous pictures of our work, and with the exception of a few of our absolute favourites it was nigh on impossible to whittle this vast number down. This resulted in hours spent scratching our heads over which images to choose.

We turned to our friends at Christchurch Creative for their advice. Sarah Worswick, Director said:

When choosing images for your website, quality is key. Make sure every image is sharp and reflects your brand identity. Use strong visuals to hook-in your site visitor, choose images which feature ‘real’ people too. Don’t forget to name every image you use. This way, you can optimise each shot you upload, as search engines can easily index them. Add in the alt text to describe what the image is showing, which will aid search engines, too.

After we had finally chosen the lucky few pictures and uploaded them and the whole process got us thinking: Can you really convey a message and the passion you have for your work in just one image? Are you able to look at a photograph of your own work objectively and if you are, should you only post pictures that will receive the most ‘likes’?

Abigail told us:

I get asked this all the time! Instagram and Facebook especially are to be seen as a portfolio… if you look at photographers, they’ll often post a detail shot (ring, flowers, table setting), then a couple shot, then a full party shot showing a 360 reveal of the party. Carousel posts and stories are always a fabulous way to show off – carousels allow you to post up to 10 pictures so you can really showcase the full gallery. Stories are a great ‘look’ into behind the scenes, what you’re doing as a team, the creative process and the event.

What we took from this is that you should only show images that represent you, your values and, most important of all, showcase your work. If you really want your audience to get more of a feel of that image and why it is so important to you then by all means elaborate on it in the comments part of your Instagram feed. And if you really want to give that image further meaning and authenticity then of course you must write a blog on it!

So, without further ado, here they are: our 3 most favourite images and beneath each is our reason why they just had to be featured on our website.

No 1:

This is the entrance to the Grand Hall at The Grand Connaught Rooms in central London, who knows how many times we have walked up and down this staircase in the last 16 years.

In fact, this is where it all started for Hybrid. We’ve done Christmases, weddings ceremonies, award evenings and installed flowers in this building, every week, since 2004. The event shown in this image, the launch party for DeVere, was our most favourite ever. The theme was the great British outdoors, so we covered this stunning marble stair-case with beautiful lush British grown greenery and flowers. We were so lucky to work alongside the supremely talented Chelsea Flower Show sculptor, Emma Stothard who included her amazing woven animal sculptures throughout the party.

No 2:

We adore this perfectly candid shot of Sophie’s wedding at the Landmark Hotel. For us it conveys a true ‘behind the scenes at London hotel wedding’ feel with our beautiful couple nervously preparing their speeches with the Master of Ceremony, surrounded by bridal party flowers, candlelight and waiting staff. The romantic early spring flowers were divine and the burgundy ranunculus were just perfect.

This image shows not just our clients, but also the staff of the hotel. For a wedding florist it is impossible to look back on an event and not remember the huge effort everyone who works at the venue puts in before the guests arrive. The professionalism and five-star service shown by all staff, and the wonderful excitement and anticipation that you can’t help but feel.

Ps. Here’s a little peak at Sophie’s beautiful bouquet and stunning dress detail too!

No 3:

We have such fond memories of this tablescape: it is such a simple design and this is precisely why we love it so much. It shows that less can be more, and a beautiful selection of elegant flowers in just the right colour theme can create a huge impression. We wanted to use flowers which would glow in a modern, clean way, flattering the stunning concrete surrounds of the ‘structural expressionist’ building that is the Lloyd’s Building in the City of London.

We loved working with the acid yellow of these callas which we set against the pale orange bell-like blooms of a very special flower called Sandersonia and combined both with deepest pink Gloriosa lilies. This is one of our most favourite combinations of fresh flowers and to top it off we were able to use our treasured classic brushed steel Conran candlesticks to complete the contemporary look. For us, this image serves as a reminder to create floral designs that in harmony with the venue and appeal to the type of guest sitting at the table (in this instance, one the guests was City of London legend, Mark Carney! We LOVE him!).

And so now we would love to know, does knowing more about the stories behind our top three images change your perception of us?

How to style a wedding the perfectly imperfect way

There is a school of thought which argues that Western ideals of beauty are based in symmetry and perfection, whilst in the East, aesthetic value can be found in the damaged or imperfect. For this particular wedding day, we were asked to create florals for our perfectly named couple Emily and Emile, who wanted beauty conveyed in an utterly imperfect way!

Not only did our clients eschew typically ‘perfect’ flowers, they were also into the aesthetic of broken things. To clarify, Emily and Emile are great admirers of the ancient and very beautiful Japanese art of Kintsugi.

The inspiration:

Kintsugi, which literally means ‘golden joinery’, is the art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer which has been mixed with powdered gold, silver or platinum. Dating back to the 15^th Century, it has evolved into an art form by which utterly unique and beautiful objects are created from once broken pieces.

In promoting repair as an intrinsic part of an object’s history, Kintsugi has become a metaphor and philosophy for life: for some it demonstrates human resilience and how we as people develop from negative experiences, taking the best from them and owning them, which in turn makes each of us who we are.

The brief:

And with this in mind, our challenge; should we choose to accept it, was to piece together a very relaxed look, with simple, unassuming flowers but in a very careful, impeccable way. We would need to incorporate wild, rambling natural foliage into very formal and historic London buildings: St John’s Church in Notting Hill and Merchant Taylors Hall in the City. Our clients wanted us to make everything look effortless and unaffected, whilst at the same time paying every attention to detail.

No problem, we accept!

We briefed the team that the look was to be disordered, but that we need to be meticulous about how we created it! We agreed to avoid using typical ‘flower-shop’ flowers –so no dahlia, tightly spiralled roses or trendy succulents – and turned our eye to using branches, foliage and simple, elegant flowers that could hold their own without shouting ‘everyone look at me!”. Through the usage of symbolic thistles and olive, our floral designs were to look very natural and gratifying.

The details:

September is the perfect time of year for wild looking late summer flowers. Using a floral palette of white, along with touches of red and blue to complement the venue interiors, we incorporated masses of stunning eucalyptus with lots, and lots, of candlelight.

We worked with wedding planner extraordinaire Knot and Pop to create a beautiful look for the bridal party, ceremony and reception. A loose and flowing bouquet for the bride was made from eucalyptus, dill, the most heavenly mix of garden roses and white scabiosa and astrantia, together with thistle, wild blackberries and twigs. The simple, delicate and timeless button holes for the gentlemen were made from the roses and thistle for Emile. With the cool tones of blue found in the thistle highlighting the stunning bridesmaids’ dresses and the tiles of the St John’s Church, the look for the ceremony was one of pure elegance.

The venue:

For Merchant Taylors’ Hall we created a feature entrance design to look as if it were growing around the formal grand stair-case. Simple white delphinium, hydrangeas, grass-like red sanguisorba, garden roses, blackberries, eucalyptus, olive and ruscus all combined to compliment this stunning historical hall.

The Parlour, with its 18^th Century original Chinese wallpaper, was simply dressed with a rambling, but not over-the-top, mantel design of matching flowers which perfectly complimented the collection of elegant furniture.

The courtyard, a hidden gem within the City of London, was beautifully set with white dressed drinks tables tied with swags of foliage and dressed with a smattering of key flowers. Later in the evening the courtyard became alive with the dancing, flickering flames and shadows from candles which combined to create an atmospheric and befittingly romantic space.

Rambling eucalyptus and olive garlands were laid along the stunning guest tables in the Great Hall, interspersed with blown roses, blue thistle and deep red juicy blackberries. The nodding seed-like heads of sanguisorba and scabiosa were entwined amongst lots and lots of candlesticks and perfectly set tapered candles.

No detail was missed from the perfectly positioned tables, the stunning dining chairs and exquisite place settings which were styled by Susie at Knot and Pop. And as for that reference to the beautiful art of Kintsugi? Well, everything that Susie touched that day, definitely received a dusting of gold!

All stunning images courtesy of M&J Photography

“Make those flowers clash!” … our vibrant celebrity wedding as featured in Hello!

Our first ever meeting with Ade Apepitan MBE’s future wife, Elle Exxe, was at Hybrid HQ in Vauxhall. The incredibly inspiring, self-styled music artist arrived with her wedding planner, the wonderful George Watts AKA “The Wedding Fairy” and proceeded to give us the most exciting floral brief: use any flowers you like, but they must clash!

Elle and Ade wanted to mix their Scottish, English and Nigerian backgrounds. They didn’t want their wedding flowers to be ‘flowery or pretty’, they wanted them to be bold and they wanted them to be beautiful. Best of all, we could use any flowers we wanted to create that look!

Elle had already decided to use Hybrid even before meeting us (soooo love it when that happens!) and she knew exactly the kind of atmosphere she wanted to create. She had been planning her wedding for two years with her TV presenter and Paralympian basket-ball player fiancé; it was to be the most exciting, vibrant and full-on happy day.

Their wedding ceremony venue was no less than the High Altar at St Paul’s Cathedral, not everyone can marry in this part of the Cathedral and it was only permitted as Ade is a MBE. As an approved florist for St Paul’s we always feel that tingly sense of excitement whenever a client asks us to work there and the fact that the wedding party would then travel to another of our most adored wedding venues, The Queen’s House, Greenwich via a boat we have had the pleasure of decorating many times, the Dixie Queen was the icing on the (wedding) cake! 170 family and friends from all over the world were invited, including top sports people and personalities from the entertainment business. It was going to be the most exciting day for us at Hybrid and we weren’t even the ones getting married!

A couple of weeks before the big day George informed us that the wedding was to be covered by Hello! Magazine. And (as you can imagine) our immediate thoughts on this snippet of information were as follows:

Hmmm, this is no biggie, the flowers are certainly going to look A-MAZING, but…. we must make sure Ade’s button hole looks perfect. We cannot abide magazine pictures of wonky button holes!

The morning of a wedding is always a very special and memorable time for any florist (let alone bride or groom!). The day you have working towards has arrived and you finally get to present the first part of your many creations to your clients.

Ade and Elle, stayed at the same City based hotel with a view of St Paul’s. Whilst their hotel rooms were next to each other, the atmosphere in each couldn’t have felt more different. Elle’s was a hive of activity, full of hair and makeup artists with friends and bridesmaids all excitedly rushing to and fro. Edinburgh, London and Nigerian accents could be heard whilst I presented the bride and the bridesmaids with their vibrant statement bouquets.

Next door was a different story, Ade was looking relaxed with his sister and looking out over the view in anticipation of the day ahead. I could tell how excited he was from his chatting: asking how the set-up at St Paul’s Cathedral was going and telling me about the grand-finale firework display over Greenwich Park. All the while I was attaching the most impeccable buttonhole of red roses, thistle, ginger petals and palm fronds to the coolest blue suit with embellished crystals I had ever seen. My overriding thought was:

this button hole is not going to move all day!

The whole wedding day was a delight; we caught glimpses of the couple and their guests as we travelled between venues and stood-by, with silly grins on our faces, as their day unfolded.

And the flowers! Oh the flowers….

The bridal party carried a mix of tropical gingers, gloriosa lily and roses along with asclepia, orchids and dahlia. We wanted each bouquet to be as vivid as the handmade African-print lined dresses and each pedestal design and pew end in the cathedral to be as colourful as the beautiful stained-glass windows.

The Ceremony

The Journey

The Reception

For the wedding breakfast in the Great Hall of the Queen’s House each table displayed a simple gold vase bursting with unique combinations of the most vivid blooms and foliage from all over the world. Tropical gingers, heliconia and gloriosa. Orchids, protea, anthuriums and asclepia. Croton, kentia, dracaenas, and ferns. Dahlia, hydrangea, delphinium, and thistle. Each table centre was different from the next and each place setting decorated with a tropical monstera leaf and the cutest menu cards we ever did see.

When we look back, it is not only the bright vivid flowers that we remember (did we mention that we could use any flowers we liked, as long as they clashed?) but the wonderful personalities that we worked with on the day. From chatting with two of the coolest female vergers at St Paul’s Cathedral (who gave their seal of approval for the flowers) to being an added tourist attraction to the inquisitive visitors looking round St Paul’s. The incredible caterers, Party Ingredients and the wonderful events team at Queen’s House were as usual, the perfect pros. And as for our stars of the day? Well they were the kindest, happiest and genuinely loveliest couple who truly deserved their very special day.

Two weeks later we received our copy of Hello! and were delighted with the coverage and are pleased to say that the button hole stayed put perfectly!

With thanks to the wonderful and highly talented reportage wedding photographer that is Allister Freeman for images.

Top tips for a floral career from the original Hybrid Heroes

On our Instagram bio we state, proudly: “The most amazing team of event and corporate florists.” This may sound a tad OTT, but we really do mean it! They. Are. Amazing! Not a week goes by when I don’t feel a sense of almost maternal pride whilst listening to the fabulous Hybrid staff chatting about their projects with such great enthusiasm and energy.

In fact, each member of our 14 strong clan contributes something individually wonderful and eclectic which, when combined, forms the very essence of Hybrid. Together, we form the most amazing team which, for me at least, has become even more than that: it’s an extended family, full of people you actually choose to spend time with, each with their own talent and personality.

We caught up with three of our most long-standing Hybrid Heroes whilst installing designs at a recent English Garden summer installation at The Brewery in the City of London. I wanted to ask them what made them become florists in the first place and if they have any words of wisdom for people thinking of a career in floristry.

Fiona has worked at Hybrid for four years, Liliana for nine years and Gabriella for six. This is what they said:

Do you think you were destined to become a florist?

Creating something memorable from flowers has always been in Liliana’s blood, ever since she and her brother would play outside as children in the countryside in Cordoba, Argentina, where they would make little characters from the seed-heads of clematis flowers.

For Fee, it was a childhood spent playing outdoors in Yorkshire where she would pretend to be a presenter on a TV cookery show and use piles of leaves decorated with flowers as food!

From an early age, Gabs, was drawn to the beautiful enticing and fascinating flower shops in her home city of Budapest.

Both Gabs and Fee chose to study Horticulture directly upon leaving school. Fee studied for three years at Leeds City College which for her was a welcome change from the formal dynamic of classroom learning. For Gabs, ‘horticulture’ was the first word that jumped out at her when she opened the book of careers given to all Hungarian 14 year olds at her high school. She went on to study six years of Horticulture at University in Budapest. Coincidently, both loved learning the Latin names for plants and the design aspect of their courses before deciding to specialise in floristry inspired by the flowers they had been taught how to grow.

Liliana travelled all over the world before moving to London in her thirties where she was inspired by her then house-mate to study on a 3 year floristry course at Southwark College. The alumni from the 2003 graduation year is one to be proud of, including flower experts and florists such as Rona Wheeldon, founder of Flowerona, Rafael Ballesteros, Manager of Galton Flowers and Mary Woolcot the owner of Windmill Flowers. Liliana’s tutor proudly stated that it was a very competitive year!

The first question we are always asked by people thinking of moving into floristry is, is it worth going to college?

All three whole heartedly agree that yes, you need to have a sound knowledge of the basics.

For Liliana, going to college gave her the confidence to be a professional:

For me, it was the most amazing thing I could have done as it opened my eyes to different forms of floristry and you need to have that knowledge to be professional.

Gabs agrees:

Studying allows you to be the very best you can be.

Upon leaving college, Liliana and Fee, were given lucky breaks by wonderful flower shop managers in London who believed in giving good college graduates a chance; they never looked back!

Do you still love flowers after all these years?

Liliana jokes that her hands certainly don’t! But all three agreed that they still love flowers. Liliana loves growing her own and using them in her house.

Fee explained that there are always new flowers emerging in the industry which make you fall back in love with the simplest flowers that you have used for years. Her passion is always sparked by new varieties of old style flowers such as the quirkiest varieties of carnations called ‘Nobbio Violet’ and ‘Peach Extazis’.

We asked what each would be doing if they weren’t working in this mad floral world?

For Liliana, it would be something crafty or artistic, perhaps fine art whereas for Fee, as well as creative writing, she would be immersed in history, delving into myths and legends and the history of ancient buildings. Which is why she always volunteers to install event flowers at some of our most historical London venues such as Merchant Taylors’ Hall, St Paul’s Cathedral and The Queen’s House, Greenwich!

Gabs however, would have liked to study Microbiology, especially creating new flowers, or an architect!

Do Gabs, Liliana and Fee have any tips for people considering a career in floristry?

Gabs advises to never stop learning, make everything as if you were making it for yourself and keep the passion. The industry is so intense that once you stop loving the industry, you will leave, so keep the passion alive!

Fee recommends keeping perspective and not sweating the small stuff. She said:

Listen and learn from the experienced florists, they will teach you new tips and tricks. Each florist, each shop and company does things differently absorb it all and you’ll find what works for you.

Liliana is more pragmatic, advising to be prepared for cold days, early hours and lots of psychical work:

It is very creative but you can never rest on your laurels. If you work in the flower industry, keep in mind that it is one of the hardest environments to work in as your product is perishable so you must always be thinking of ways to sell your creations.

Gabs added:

It is never boring! It is one of the only professions where you will be continually thinking, prioritising, calculating, selling, creating, physically lifting and moving, driving, liaising, marketing, planning, drawing, presenting and writing and that’s before touching any flowers!

Made up of individuals, Hybrid, is more than the sum of its parts: our combined experience means that we can always ask each other for advice or run new ideas past one another and there are moments of sheer joy when we sit down and simply chat, talk about the old times, discuss philosophies of life and learn something new about each other.

We hope you’ve enjoyed learning a bit more about the Hybrid Heroes and we are always happy to answer any questions you may have about a career in floristry.

How to be the coolest bride

How can you not be thought of as the coolest bride when your response to being asked if you have a preferred colour theme is:

Anything at all as long as it goes with my shoes.

In fact, how can you not be the coolest bride when you own an entire olive grove in Greece and yet you arrange to marry the love of your life in the coolest place in the borough of Southwark, South London.

In our humble opinion, Kate will always be one of our coolest brides for two very important reasons:

She wanted to have an informal and relaxed wedding where people felt comfortable, did not have far to travel and, most importantly of all, had fun.
She and her husband George chose to host their wedding in ‘our manor’ of Peckham, London. The place where dreams are made (no seriously, they really are….)

After all, SE15 is where both Alan and I each bought our first flats. This gritty, vibrant, varied and culturally mixed London district is the place we know so well. Well before the sun was up, we would drive through it’s (virtually) silent streets on our way to the flower market. On rare days off as we would relax on the glorious Rye and on many a night we would sit in one of it’s local pubs (the Only Fools and Horses kind we hasten to add) and discuss all of our dreams (and nightmares!) as we found our place within the wonderful world of floral design.

For Alan and I, for Kate and George, and for thousands of other people ‘in the know’, Peckham is in all likelihood THE coolest place on earth.

Kate and George decided to hold their ceremony at the stunning Asylum, Caroline Gardens Chapel because they had grown up in South East London and had heard good things about the chapel from their friends.

Asylum was also ideal because it was within walking distance of their reception venue; The Ivy House, London’s first co-operatively owned pub. In the end, in keeping with their care-free, cheerful and cool-as-cats ceremony, Kate and George decided to keep their guests company in between locations as they all caught the good old P12 bus!

When it came to designing the overall look and feel of the wedding, Kate didn’t want to be too prescriptive. Instead, we were simply asked to work with the stunning interior of the chapel, to channel that beautiful blue shoe colour and to give a nod to their Greek olive grove. This proved to be an inspirational brief – especially when we were allowed to run riot with the glorious array of flowers available in the month of July. A combination of delphinium, sweet peas, peonies, hydrangeas and plenty of candles were just begging to be used.

For Kate’s bouquet, a loose style of roses, olive foliage, sweet peas, delphinium, nigella and lavender were combined to compliment her French designed Rime Arodaky dress. This stunningly cute, short dress was the perfect choice for her wedding day.

As I didn’t want a long dress it was incredibly hard to find anything in this country. When I saw this designer and found their ‘Civil Collection’ I was blown away, I had to buy it online…. a bit of a gamble but I was so glad when it arrived… it just about fitted after a couple of extra classes in the gym!

As for those beautiful shoes? Kate found them in Office and their dream dusty pale blue hue served as the ideal inspiration from which to design her bridal bouquet. Kate searched in vain for this perfect pair of heels and told us how;

I looked everywhere from Jimmy Choo to New Look but didn’t feel the glittery glamorous typical bridal heels were very ‘me’.

The end result was a stunning bride, a beautiful venue and a wonderful day that the happy couple was able to share with their family and friends.

So what is the secret to being a cool, calm and collected bride? We decided to just come out and ask her.

Would you consider yourself a relaxed bride?

Not beforehand! However the day passed by seamlessly and I was able to spend quality time with friends and family even though I was nervous leading up to it.

What would you advise other brides about keeping your cool?

Don’t get swept away in it all, it is one day and you get immense pressure from family members and friends for it to be ‘perfect’ but just stay calm, don’t let it take over.

I wish I had asked for more help from people and never feel shy to ask brides that have recently done it. I am already helping two close friends who are planning their weddings for next year. If you don’t know anyone that is recently married ask a friend of a friend as it’s really helpful to speak to someone who has just done it.

If you were offering any advice to a bride when planning wedding flowers what would it be?

Make sure you feel comfortable with your florist. Planning wedding flowers wasn’t our strongest point. You were able to identify what we wanted by talking to us and understanding our likes and dislikes. This was done in a couple of informal meetings a few months beforehand, which made it really easy. Being able to speak with people so knowledgeable inspired us in to choosing what we wanted.

What stands out for you when you look back on the day?

I am not just saying this because it’s your company, I think the flowers were the best bit! When I got to the chapel and saw them light up the room, it really blew me away. Everyone I see is still commenting on how incredible they were.

(did we mention she was cool?!)

All images by the wonderful Andrea Dutton Photography

A night at the museum: the best wedding invitation we ever received

When our friends at the Museum of London contacted us the other day we had no idea we would be presented with such an exciting invitation;

Since you love London so, so much, and you know your thing about weddings, we wondered whether you would like to be involved in talk we are hosting with our Curator Beatrice Behlen, V&A curator Edwina Ehrman, bridal designer Kate Halfpenny and author Kate Thompson…. and could you present floral designs inspired by weddings from the 1930s and 40s?

Our response?

Erm…give us a millisecond to think about that…YES PLEASE!

Just a slight obsession

Receiving such a prestigious invitation from the Museum of London is always a cause for celebration but this particular occasion has special meaning for me. From a young age, I have been besotted with the style influences of the 1930s and 40s; in fact my Mum has often stated that I had watched almost every black and white film from the era by the time I was 12!

Combine my ardent 1930s and 40s obsession with Alan’s wealth of social history knowledge and passion for family history research, and this Museum of London invitation served as the perfect opportunity for both of us to showcase our personal passions.

After some careful planning, we decided that our flowers would adorn the stage and that Alan would deliver a presentation regarding iconic wedding floral trends from the era.

Our inspiration

The inspiration for our floral designs would be two women. Firstly, we would pay homage to Alan’s grandmother who married in Leicester in 1943 whilst carrying a beautiful bouquet of big, blousy full and rounded grown Chrysanthemums cut from her neighbour’s garden.

Secondly, we would celebrate the style influences of one of the greatest florists of all time, Constance Spry. This first lady of florists opened her first shop in 1934 in London’s South Audley Street. An amazingly talented and determined person, Constance Spry was a pivotal figure within the field of floristry who led the revolution from stiff, formal arrangements to all manner of looser, wilder, more imaginative and exciting styles.

With these inspirations in mind, our aim was to create large and glamorous designs that would highlight the shapes and silhouettes of home grown individual garden style flowers. Foxgloves, peonies, delphinium, viburnum, stocks, cowparsley and roses.

We adored the elaborate yet elegant styles of the 1930s and 40s and really wanted to focus on the idea that friends, relatives and neighbours would come together to contribute flowers, food, skills and time that would make not just a memorable family wedding but a large, glamorous community event.

Eastenders – Probably the best storytellers in the country!

After meticulously planning, preparing and transporting our floral designs to the Museum of London, we entered a fascinating and very nostalgic world. Not only did we hear from experts on East London in the 1930s and 40s, the wedding costumes of the time but we also heard from real-life East End brides and their families who taught us that, even in times of great hardship in the 1930s and 40s, East End weddings were vital, vibrant and very glamorous occasions!

These massive celebrations brought entire communities together where everyone could forget their troubles and take part in a happy, broader event; dancing the night away until the beer ran out!

Throughout the 1930s and 40s, the East End of London was an area famous for its skilled dress makers, dapper residents and well turned-out partygoers. Weekly trips to the cinema were seen as a regular source of glamour and inspiration and many of the dresses worn at these joyous occasions have been donated to the Museum of London and the V&A.

These expertly crafted (and often absolutely tiny) garments represent a defining moment in British social history but they also mean so much more. These beautiful dresses are interwoven with the stories of the people who made them, the fortunate few who wore them and the generations to whom they were handed on. Over the years these garments have adapted and evolved along the way; telling a story of many exciting, engaging and intriguing East End journeys.

We were told the most wonderful of stories of weddings from the era and we were able to witness the immense impact that these weddings still had on the whole family today.

But it wasn’t only stories of the past, we were also reassured that the style and sentiment of the 1930s and 40s is experiencing a revival as more couples begin to embrace their weddings as a celebration of the role of the wider family and community as a whole. As Kate Halfpenny aptly put it;

Weddings are becoming as important as they used to be, it is more about the entire family becoming involved and creativity being prioritised again.

A sentiment that we will be sure to share with our future brides!

Tag: Wedding Florist