Wedding Week | The Flowers, Decor & Details
Welcome to wedding week! Everyday this week I’ll be bringing you a post about our wedding, which took place in Anglesey on the 24th of June. I’ll be sharing all the little details with you, from the outfits to the venue to the party. Enjoy…
Before we get into today's post, I just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the wedding week love! I am thoroughly enjoying putting these posts together and to know you're loving reading them is the best.
So today, I thought I'd chat about the flowers, decor and details from our wedding. As I've mentioned previously, we didn't really have a set colour scheme for the wedding and I was a bit worried that everything would look too random and messy, but I'm really pleased with how all of the styling came together. So many of our guests commented on how gorgeous everything looked which made the months of hardwork worth it!
The Flowers
So let's start with the absolutely incredible flowers! We were so lucky that my gorgeous cousin, Hayley, who runs Blossom's House of Flowers offered to be our florist, and with the help of my auntie and uncle, she did the most amazing job.
We didn't choose any specifics when it came to flowers - I shared a couple of photos with Hayley and told her that we wanted plenty of foliage, but the rest was up to her. I couldn't have been happier with what she chose - we had the most incredible mix of blooms, including proteas, artichoke flowers, succulents, daisies and peonies. She also added some flowers that had a really sentimental meaning for us too - irises, because that was my cousin Blossom's middle name, and a plant called veronica, which was my Nan's name.
I might be a little bit biased, but I honestly think my bridal bouquet was even more gorgeous than all of the pretty ones I was fawning over on Pinterest! I just loved everything about it - the bright colours, the different textures, the balance of foliage to flowers. The ribbons added an extra pop of colour, and I can't even tell you how amazing it smelt. I don't think I stopped staring at it or sniffing it all day!
My bridesmaids all had smaller versions of my bouquet - I loved that each one was a little bit different but they were all totally stunning. The girls loved them so much that they took them home with them after the weekend was over, and I believe that some of the thistle and eucalyptus is still going strong nearly 6 weeks on!
The button holes were equally gorgeous, with David Austin roses in the middle.
Each table inside the marquee had it's own little collection of filled jars as the centrepiece. As we already had quite a lot going on decor wise inside the marquee, we wanted to keep things fairly laidback and I think everything ending up complimenting each other pretty well!
We stacked the jars on top of the wooden stumps that our marquee supplier very kindly lent us, and added a couple of candle holders too. I loved that each arrangement was slightly different and the smell of the flowers and eucalyptus really hit you as you entered the marquee.
We also had various floral arrangements outside of the marquee, including the most amazing eucalyptus arch, a bike display and planters hanging from the rose arch. Everything looked amazing and the colours contrasted with the blue skies beautifully.
The Decor & Details
As soon as we booked the marquee I started researching ways to decorate it - we had essentially hired a giant white tent so I knew it would need some love to really bring it to life. Bunting seems to be the most popular choice for marquees, but my sewing skills are completely lacking, so when my friend showed me this photo of these little paper cranes I was totally sold.
I did a little bit more research and found that there's an ancient Japanese legend that says if you have 1000 paper cranes at your wedding, your marriage will be blessed with eternal luck and happiness. With that in mind, my Mum and I bought a load of origami paper and got folding!
It took us a really long time (and that was with plenty of help from friends and family!), but I'm sure you'll agree that they looked absolutely incredible hanging from the roof of the marquee. They really set the tone for the whole look of our wedding, and seeing them fluttering in the breeze on the day was so lovely.
We also added some paper pom poms in a variety of colours along the apex too - I bought some pre-folded ones on eBay and then we just puffed them up when we arrived. I was worried about having so many different colours but the marquee was so bright and white that I think anything too subtle would have got lost.
We popped a paper crane on each place setting too, along with a hand written tag, a sprig of rosemary and a "Best Day Ever" napkin. The napkins were a particular hit and so many people were Instagramming them!
Along with the cranes, we also made plenty of wooden signs, using this method that I found on Carrie's blog. We had a sign to point out where everything was...
Signs to show us where to sit...
And my personal favourite - the "drunk in love" sign that my sister managed to hang above the bar!
I also painted a couple of easels with the same font - one to welcome everyone to the wedding...
And one to display the menu on...
Don't you just love how great that one looks with all the flowers stuffed in the bottom?!
We had a little corner dedicated to our loved ones who are no longer with us - we displayed photos of them on a rustic ladder and my lovely friend from college, Becky, also lent us these light up blossom trees which was such a nice touch.Other little details included our "The Aireys" banner which we hung underneath our candy bar...
Personalised sweetie bags...
And a little basket of blankets for when the evening chill crept in...
We made around 80% of the decor ourselves, so let me know if you want any specific details on what we DIY-ed and how! It was incredibly time consuming and it regularly felt like we would never be done with folding cranes or hand writing name tags, but it was totally worth it in the end. Everyone commented on the little details and the marquee looked way better than I could ever have imagined!
What do you think?
Make sure you stay tuned for tomorrow’s wedding week post which is all about the reception and party!
*All images in this post were taken by the lovely Jenna Woodward