GARDEN GLAM IN THE YORKSHIRE DALES
This wedding came to me through wedding planner Jessica Sharpe, who brought me the initial brief for an intimate destination wedding at Yorebridge House. I then had the pleasure of meeting the couple, Lauren and Kit, in person when they flew over from the States on a planning visit.
Lauren was the one who came up with the phrase garden glam. She wanted the styling to feel completely natural and in keeping with the season, neither too structured nor overly relaxed and boho. For me, that meant translating garden glam into floral designs that felt meadow like with intention: not too dainty, but lush, elegant and abundant.
With twenty seven guests travelling across the Atlantic, every single detail was carefully considered. Jessica led on the overall design aesthetic and colour palette, and we worked together closely to make sure the flowers complemented the tableware and the Ester and Erik candles. Lauren had fallen in love with soft peach tones, and our original inspiration was peach poppies. However, nature had other plans that week. A sudden shift in weather brought the Italian poppy season to an early close, whilst the British season was running about a week behind. Sourcing flowers always requires quick thinking, so we brought in plenty of seasonal alternatives in soft peach, yellow and blush, complemented by lots of fresh greenery.
Our star flowers were a mix of butterfly ranunculus, classic ranunculus, lemon peonies and tall delphiniums. For Lauren’s bridal bouquet, we created a very natural and organic design filled with ranunculus, sweet daisies and scented Emma Woodhouse roses. There were no bridesmaids, so her bouquet was a lovely standalone piece.
The celebration spanned three days, and we provided flowers for days one and two, with day three being a relaxed brunch as guests prepared to head home. We kicked things off on day one in the orangery with a suspended greenery installation across the ceiling. It added an instant canopy of texture and warmth to the room and stayed fresh right through until the end of the weekend.
Day two was the wedding itself. The ceremony took place outside in the front garden, nestled by the trees where the setting felt private and closest to the house. To create an intimate focal point for their vows, we built a large horseshoe shaped installation under the pines so they were completely surrounded by flowers. Along the grass, we arranged a continuous curved aisle meadow that wound past the chairs, making sure the guests felt totally immersed in flowers from the moment they sat down.
Summer in the UK always keeps florists guessing, and this particular weekend brought the unexpected start of a series of heatwaves. Direct sunlight is really tough on cut flowers. Thankfully, I always order ten percent extra flowers as standard practice. The team at Yorebridge House let us set everything up on site and gave us access to their cellar to work from, which was a massive help for keeping everything cool. We adapted the way we worked on the day, building the outdoor ceremony installation as close to the ceremony start time as possible, misting with water constantly and replacing any stems that felt the heat.
Repurposing was really important to Lauren. Once the ceremony was over, we moved the curved aisle meadows inside to line the floor beneath the big windows in the dining room, seamlessly connecting the indoor space with the gardens outside.
The wedding breakfast was held back in the orangery under the hanging greenery canopy. Jessica had styled the dining area with green velvet booth seating, high quality tableware and tall Ester and Erik taper candles. Because all our table arrangements are made directly in water, they held up really well despite the warmth. We alternated the styling along the long tables between footed Gaia bowls and low runners: bowl, runner, bowl, runner. The combination of warm candlelight and layers of flowers made the room feel so cosy and inviting.
Americans are generally much more used to abundant floral design, so seeing the reaction from Lauren, Kit and their guests was wonderful. The ceremony flowers quickly became the favourite photo backdrop for the evening. For me, the absolute highlight was seeing how happy Lauren and Kit were, and the fun they had driving off together in a classic vintage E type Jag.
