Eventually we will get to the flowers....
The other evening Mr F and I dined with a former Prime Minister, there were quite a few other people there too. I had so-so soup, a trio of indeterminable fish and cheese for those interested in the culinary aspects of this encounter.
The speech was good, a lot of Mr F's views confirmed...he was tickled pink by that, it seems not being Prime Minister makes you a better statesman. The evening was quite splendid, lots of "hear hear" a sprinkling of hypocrisy and I counted 4 men sleeping at the next tables.
With that addressed we can move on to Les fleurs. Regardez if you will the above bouquet, this was a minor Royal wedding in September. What are your thoughts?
Nice? The cream flowers look yellowy making her dress look a bit cheap? A bit of foliage wouldn't go a miss?
Well whatever your thoughts Caroline Marshall-Foster editor of Florist and Wholesale Buyer, thinks this sort of bouquet is what we should all be pushing. Not as she describes a "roundy moundie" of roses hand-tied, which appear to require no skill. Apparently pushing classic shower style bouquets is the way to raise the bar of floristry.
In my humble opinion I think the way to raise the bar in floristry is to ensure the bride has something she wants, that suits the style of her dress, figure, and theme of the wedding. A traditional shower style bouquet might be just the thing for a Royal wedding, where one poses formally in front of one's palace, but as the majority of weddings are less formal and use reportage style photography, I disagree that the wholesale marketing of a "Sophie" bouquet is wise.
Selecting the right flowers and foliage to go into a bridal bouquet is skill enough. We don't all do domes of Aqua roses.
I didn't let it lie.
11 comments:
Spot on Miss P....you go girl! I have thoughts relating to that section in f&wb that I cannot say outloud...!@"**#!$*
Hear Hear Miss P.
Giving the bride what she wants. I absolutely agree. It's interesting. I am doing these trailing bouquets at the moment at college- they are pretty but suit a certain occasion and dress - you are right - the match of roses isn't right for the "royal" bride - and foliage would make the whole piece sing. - but what do us meager peasant florists know?!
Suzi
ur right it all looks cheap in my humble opinion and yes pastel lemons yuck... as for shower bouquets being the in thing... no they are horrid... really unless they are only callas in white or only orchids
my first thoughts on seeing the happy couple were indeed "her dress looks a bit cheap and shiny" and now i know why all thanks to miss p. i knew it couldn't be a bargain basement dress and now you point out about the colouring of the bouquet it makes sense {still don't like the dress though}. it all looks a bit dated to my non florist eye and i totally agree on the lack of foliage which to me is quite often my favourite part of any arrangement.
your dining out story sounds rather marvellous. was it mr major? no other pms come to mind. did they ask you any difficult questions?! did you dazzle them with a fancy outfit?! sounds very old boys school : )
Kelly it was also an old girl's school sort of night, Miss Tennyson was sitting on the opposite table, quite a shock! She looks exactly the same.
Also just to clarify I am not knocking the shower bouquet, I am knocking the notion that the ability to offer one is the only thing that is perceived as skillful by an industry magazine.
The skill involved in guiding a bride to find her perfect bouquet is far greater.
......I have to agree......it is all about the bride isn't it....getting that look on her face when you hand her her bouquet....maybe a tear or two or even a big hug or scream of joy (yes had one of those this year)......that makes a great bouquet...
Well played M'Lady.
Not a pond would make a difference.
"Royalty" or not, that shix is UG-LY!
I just wanted to say that your florist looks amazing.. I have a Florist in Tasmania AUS and our work is quite similar.Its nice to see someone else doing different artistic work as I don't see it that much down here.. :)
Totally agree on your notion that guiding a bride to find her perfect wedding bouquet requires great skill and the MOST important thing is not whether the bouquet is a hand held posy or a fully wired trailing design - it's whether it suits the dress, the wedding theme/setting and the colours of the wedding... One style does not suit all!
You are so right! Those flowers don't work with that dress at all. I did read somewhere tho that poor Sophie would have preferred to get wed in Starbucks due to all the pressure she was under.
I am in total agreement about bridal bouquets. I am getting married on Saturday, and have opted (you may well scorn and cringe) for pale gold & ivory roses, dark red hypericum berries and the very dark red freesias (sorry names of varities are not my forte) in a simple hand tied bouquet. This choice was based on the weight of my sisters early 90s monstrous shower bouquet, and also the fact that my dress is very Edwardian and traditional in style in a dark cinnamon coloured satin. A shower bouquet would have hidden the beautiful detail on the front of the skirt. I hope it looks beautiful when it arrives!
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