The Belgians - Matilde's big foliage bouquet...

Prince Phillipe and Mathilde d'Acos were married in 1999 in Brussels, the religious ceremony being held at The Cathedral of Saint Michel. 

I have read many criticisms of Mathilde's bouquet... "too bushy" was one comment.  Agreed that the size and scale are a bit off for her dimensions, but, I understand the look the designer was going for.  I would probably have kept with the same materials, but only tapered the bouquet in order for it to better compliment the cut of the gown.  There is a lot of foliage there, and the white flowers are so small that it is difficult for this florist to determine exactly what type of flowers they are.  Perhaps they are white freesia.  I do really like the look of the trailing jasmine vine.  Someone was definitely going for the "natural" look... and they got it.

I myself have created a similar bouquet... the bride specified lots of interesting foliages and with a grassy look, she also instructed, "all white flowers", but "no roses, orchids, or lillies", so it too some work to come up with a flower combination that did not include those three traditional flowers.  That bouquet ended up containing things like lisianthus, freesia, Queen Anne's Lace, bouvardia and stephanotis, and it was lovely.

Royal Wedding tid-bit of the day.... with the big day for Prince William and Kate Middleton getting closer, the wedding party has been chosen, and the invitations have gone out.  The bride's family in this case doesn't handle the invitation list, however, the staff at the palace have the job of issuing the roughly 1,800 that will go out to some very lucky people, and the Queen herself doesn't even have to lick any stamps!  The Lord Chamberlain's office at Buckingham Palace follows the orders of the Queen and sends out royal wedding invitations.  And, two celebrations are planned for April 29th following the ceremony at Westminster Abbey.  First, Her Majesty the Queen will host the traditional wedding breakfast at the palace... which will hopefully be proceeded and followed by balcony appearances by the newly wedded couple and the rest of the Royal Family.  Later in the day, the father of the groom, Prince Charles will be hosting an evening party/banquet, to be held at Buckingham Palace as well.

Camellias, lovely, but challenging...

Down in our part of paradise, this time of year we she the beautifully stunning Camellias, so many varieties and colors dot our landscape.  We are fortunate to have all of them that are surviving a particularly difficult winter.

A blog follower of this blog, Colleen, asked how to use camellias in arrangements, other than floating.  Well, then I had to really think about it.  When I was very young, my grandfather cultivated about, I would think, thirty or so camellia bushes on his property in south Georgia, USA.  They were of every color and variety.  Grandaddy let us cut the ones we want, he would wrap the stems in wet paper towel and cover them with tin foil, which we would take to our school teachers the following day.  They were little nosegays of big brilliant flowers.

But, the blooms grow at odd angles, making vase arrangements very difficult to construct, even for a seasoned designer.  So, if you don't want to float them, they can be wired or pinned to branches or willow or birch, lying flat as a long table centerpiece or stood upright in a vase or basket arrangement.  Sorry that this idea involves wiring, and removing the blossom from the stem.  There will be no water supply and the camellia will be short lived, but, aren't they all once they've been cut.  Do wish that I could find a picture of an arrangement like this.

Some flowers are just really difficult to use in arrangements.  Two others I can think of are daffodils and gardenias.  Daffodils have such a bent-head problem that wiring is almost necessary in order to get a face on view of the flower.  And daffodils are extremely short lived in vase arrangements and their growing season.  Gardenias, normally are cut down to the short fleshy stem, off of the plants woody stems.  Floating is always a popular use of gardenias, but, in an arrangement, newer longer stems need to be made from wire and tape.

I hope my suggestion on camellias was helpful Colleen!

Royal wedding tidbit for the day...  Kate Middleton has chosen her 27 year old sister, Pippa (that's short for Phillipa) as her maid of honor.  Traditionally, only younger people below the age of 15 or so, are chosen for attendants in royal weddings as bridesmaids and pages.  Lady Sarah Snowdon, daughter of Princess Margaret was maid of honor to Dina Princess of Wales in 1981.  And, a very young and mischievous Prince William acted as a page at the wedding of his uncle, Prince Andrew, Duke of York in 1986 when he married Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey.



Day for Hearts

Before this blogger gets too bogged down in Valentine's day arrangements, wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Valentine's Day.  Monday is the big day, but floral designers everywhere are digging in for a very busy and probably exhausting weekend.  Hundreds of thousands of roses will pass through flower shops this weekend and their way to intended and fortunate recipients.

Remember to be kind to your florist during these busy times.  Patronize locally owned and operated shops, order promptly, be expectant of higher prices, and always give your professional florist a good amount of freedom to arrange the best of available flowers for you.  Giving a florist a little more freedom helps avoid problems especially when rose quantities are so in demand.  Remember that though what you must have is Red Roses, that when you order late, the red roses may all be spoken for... pink is a wonderful substitute and comes in many beautiful shades.  Also, consider letting your florist express your thoughts with a more interesting arrangement... something other than the standard vase of one dozen roses.  Options can be mixed vases with red, pink, and white flowers.  Planted flowers such as tea roses, or tulips, orchid plants, etc.

Composite arrangements, smaller vases with massing of roses in one or mixed colors are a beautiful and contemporary alternative to the traditional tall vase of long stemmed roses.  However, consider, there are many more roses in this type of arrangement and will cost considerably more.  Small doesn't always mean less expensive!

Royal wedding tidbit for the day... With the next royal wedding(s)... Zara Phillips is getting married too!... coming up, many folks are looking into Westminster Abbey, interest in the ancient church has been surging since Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their plans to marry there.  But, did you know that some of the most popular monarchs and members of the royal family were married in other locations?  Queen Victoria wed Prince Albert in The Chapel Royal, London and more recently, Prince Edward and The Countess of Wessex were married in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Lily of the Greek Valley

I heard so many good comments on the recent post about Lily of the Valley.  So, I decided to feature another royal bridal bouquet made completely out of this tiny sweet smelling flower.  In this picture, King Constantine of Greece and Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark.  This royal couple was married in 1964, in Athens, Greece.  Constantine had been king only about six months when they married.  However,  by the year 1974 the monarchy in Greece was abolished.  The King and Queen live in exile in London.  Recently, one of their sons, Prince Nikoloas was married.  The Prince's bride, Tatiana Blatnik, choose Lily of the Valley for her bouquet as well, but also included stephanotis and white freesia.

Royal Wedding Tid-bit of the day... The Greek and Danish royal families have many ties, as do most royal families of Europe.  Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, prior to renouncing his royal titles of birth, was a prince of Green and of Denmark.  Philip gave up his claims to the Greek royal throne when he prepared to become a British subject and marry Princess Elizabeth in November 1947.

The Norwegians... the flowers were a sign of the times...

It's not often that we jump to the Nordic nations for our wedding flower analysis.  However, during research I reviewed some photos of the 2001 wedding of Crown Prince Haakon and Mette-Marit of Norway and thought these royal wedding flowers were definitely worth commenting on.  The couple were married on August 25th at Oslow Cathedral.  And, there was some controversy... of course, it's royals getting married, there is usually some controversy.  The bride has a child from a previous relationship.  Many Norwegians, especially in the media felt that Mette didn't make an appropriate bride for a many who will someday be their king.  However, Crown Prince Haakon didn't relent, and asked the media to step back on the negative reporting on the bride's past and her young son.

For me, most interesting here is the choice of flowers.  Some might call the bridal bouquet just plain bizarre.  But, you know what?  I like it.  Yes it's strange, and the flowers are dark, but, I think it shows some interest on the part of the bride in not being the same old thing.  Also, the floral designer here really took some chances... I mean, if I were making the bridal bouquet for the woman who would be the queen of the country some day... I dare say I would have been too afraid of criticism, and not gone forth with such an av ant garde design for the bouquet.  From descriptions I have read, this bridal arrangement consisted of orchids and other small florals affixed by wire and adhesive to a form of willow and moss.  Certainly it's not seen often for weddings, except perhaps in "conceptual" work possibly to be used in design competitions and bridal shows.  This bouquet really shows off the designers imagination and great skill in forming such a mechanically intricate piece.  Again, the bouquet I think is also a reflection of the generate floral trends of the early part of the last decade.  Unusual uses of botanical and natural elements other than flowers was extremely popular nearing the end of the '90's.  After reviewing floral work from European floral designers, I see where the influences come from.  Most floral designers in Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands really moved into using some out of the norm materials and design concepts.  I have even seen a bridal bouquet by a German designer that used a real bird's nest for it's central focus.

At another time before their wedding, Mette-Marit and Haakon posed for this photo above, I see here how the floral designer has kept a similar style them with the flowers, but has adjusted for the setting and wardrobe.  Excellent job Norwegian floral designers!

Royal Wedding Tib-bit of the day... the line of royal succession for the British throne is far reaching.  The royals of Sweden and Norway are also in-line for the most famous royal throne in the world, though, most are far down the list, all due to the marriages abroad into other royal families by Queen Victoria's children and grandchildren.

Another Day Down... Laura Parker-Bowles-Lopes

Great, another day down... in the countdown to the royal wedding of the century.  Yesterday we took a look at Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall's bouquet, from her wedding in 2005.  Of course, she had been married before... she just got tired of waiting for Prince Charles, so she married another guy.  Wondering what Camilla's first bridal bouquet looked like?  Well, here is a picture of Camilla and hubby #1, Andrew Parker-Bowles... the bouquet looks to contain white lilies and Stephanotis.

But, the topic for today's post is Camilla's daughter, Laura.  Laura PB married Harry Lopes, a former Calvin Klein model in 2008.  She had a very simple choice of flowers for her bouquet, all one type of flower, and her choice was Lily of the Valley... and lots of it.  Laura's bouquet was in a cascade shape, and surely was the result of some floral designer going home with terribly aching fingers and hands.  Each spring of L O V has to be individually wired and taped, and with meticulous care, for their stems are very fragile.  I would think that a team of designers and floral shop employees teamed up for the wiring and taping of all these tiny stems, probably to be brought together into one bouquet just hours before the ceremony.  Lily of the Valley, not only fragrant, delicate and pretty, is also difficult to keep fresh once the smaller shoots are cut from the main stem or "pip".  At any rate Laura's bouquet is a lovely one, and well worth the intense labor and technique involved.

Royal Wedding Tid-bit of the day... Westminster Abbey, the venue for William and Kate's wedding has been hosting royal weddings for some time...  the first is believed to have been the wedding of King Henry I and Princess Matilda, formerly Edith, of Scotland.  This first royal wedding in the Abbey took place in the year 1100 on November 11th.  And, Princess Matilda, upon her death, was buried in the Abbey as well.

Royal Bouquets... Countdown To The Big Day.

What big day you say?  Well, April 29th of course, when we will see Prince William marry Miss Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London.  I am looking forward to this event for many reasons.  Honestly though there is one reason in particular that is holding my fascination.  The big question for me is what will the bouquet look like, and what flowers will be used for Kate to carry.  Also, I am intriqued by what design will be used.  I realize that the design will rely heavily on what the dress will look like, and of course we wont know what the dress will look like until Kate steps out of the carriage at the abbey.  So, we will all have to wait, and wait, and wait.

As we countdown the days, I thought I woud feature or re-feature some of the royal bouquets or near-royal bouquets of the past.  I realize that I have not given a lot of attention to the Duchess of Cornwall, so, today I will post a pic of Camilla's bouquet which she carried at the blessing ceremony after her civil marriage ceremony to Prince Charles.  The blessing ceremony took place at the centuries old St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in 2005.

Camilla's bouquet consisted of Lily of the Valley and primroses in a variety of colors, all of which complimented the blueish, silver, and gold tones of her gown.  From this picture, we can see that the bouquet's construction is of a traditional wired technique, evidenced by the narrow carrying handle.  It was a lovely, and often overlooked royal wedding bouquet.  And, I am sure very fragrant with it containing such and abundance of Lily of the Valley.

Royal Wedding Tid-bit of the day... The flowers for Camilla's bridal bouquet (her second one), are said to have been grown in the gardens of Prince Charles's estate, Highgrove.  One wonders if Prince Charles possibly had been talking to these particular flowers to ensure their cooperation on the wedding day.