The wedding of Kathryn & Yaw

The wedding of beautiful bride Kathryn and her husband Yaw this weekend was a rather gorgeous one. A celebration centred around family at St George's Hall and good food at Leaf on Bold Street complemented the couple's laid back style, and it was an absolute pleasure creating their big day florals.

I met Kathryn at Oh Me Oh My's wedding fayre earlier on in the year, and we instantly bonded over our love of palest pastels, scented flowers and pretty lace. Blush pink and white seasonal spring blooms took Kathryn's fancy and her bouquet was bound with delicate lace offcuts from her wedding dress, to which I added trailing nude velvet ribbon and vintage lace. I made matching mother and daughter bouquets full of sweetly scented lilac, stocks and paperwhites mixed in with the palest pink spray roses and fresh variegated foliage. For the men and mum's of the bridal party, blush roses were accompanied by delicate little rose buds and plenty of foliage for a pretty spring look. 

Kathryn's Bouquet

Nude velvet ribbon and vintage lace bound Kathryn's bouquet

Flowers for Kathryn's daughter, Habibah 

Blush roses, lilac, paperwhites and stocks

Flowers for the groom

Flowers for the bridal party

I am so excited to welcome in the month of May tomorrow, as I think I have decided it is my favourite. Alongside the gorgeous wedding of Jen and Morgan this bank holiday, a beautiful shoot with some my favourite people and lots of lovely meet ups with V&T couples, I have decided to take a little time off this month to celebrate my birthday with loved ones and give myself a little rest before the summer season kicks off. A trip to Cornwall is on the cards and I cannot wait to share it all with you - be prepared for lots of cow parsley, floral inspired baking and seas views on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! 

Charlotte xx

Spring Bake

It is no secret that I love flowers. I love arranging them, growing them, eating and drinking them. Nothing makes me more excited than a cake piled high with fresh blooms or a drink laced with floral syrup. Whilst planting up my old tin bath tubs this weekend, I made a promise to myself as I bedded in some violas and primrose - to start using them in my kitchen more. I picked up a mini cake mould earlier on in the week and was desperate to try it out, so I made the simplest of rose flavoured sponges topped with seasonal edible blooms for a weekend treat. It couldn't have been easier, as you can see below...

Mini rose sponges topped with edible flowers (makes 10 mini cakes):

Equipment:

Mini cake mould, picked up from any good cook shop (mine is made from silicone)

Ingredients:

225g unsalted butter, very soft

225g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract (or if you are feeling really fancy, the seed from one vanilla pod)

225g golden caster suger

2 tsp rose essence

For the icing:

250g icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon of rose essence

Cold water

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190c/fan 170c/gas mark 5. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, and then add the eggs, vanilla, rose essence, sugar and butter. Cream together thoroughly by hand or with an electric hand-held whisk, but not too enthusiastically as you are looking for a light sponge. Divide the mixture between the moulds, careful to only half fill them as they rise quite dramatically. 

Bake in your preheated oven for about 20 minutes until they are golden brown on the base. Leave the cakes in the mould for a couple of minutes before turning out on to a cooling rack. To make the simple icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl (trying not to cover yourself in it as you do so) and add the rose essence. Then add in cold water a little at a time to form a stiff paste. Once the cakes are cool, turn them right side up and use a teaspoon or piping bag to gently drizzle over the top of the cakes. Decorate with edible flowers (violas and primrose here) and leave to set. Serve on a pretty plate with a vintage cake fork and a pot of tea. 

Enjoy...

The wedding of Dani & Ben...

With rain, hail and snow threatening the north west last week, I have to admit I was a rather nervous the night before Dani and Ben's big day on Saturday. Delicate ranunculus, baby daffodils and paper thin anemones were no match for this wintery weather and the fear of frost overnight was enough to tip the most laid back of floral designers over the edge. It must have been Dani's Caribbean heritage that bought the sunshine and took the edge off the chill as by the time I was delivering the bridal party flowers I couldn't believe the change in weather, and as I arrived to decorate the church it was positively spring-like.

Luckily that was the inspiration behind all the flowers for Dani & Ben's wedding day, with soft pastel hues in yellow and pink sitting with fresh green foliage to celebrate Easter and this lovely time of year. Palest pink tropical anthuriums featured in the bride's bouquet and the large church arrangements to honour the bride and her Caribbean family, which set the tone of the day (guests later enjoyed a live steel band and a LOT of dancing - lucky things!). The little flower girls carried toy bunnies down the aisle adorned with fresh flower necklaces tied with vintage lace, and the pew ends were decorated with fresh flower posies which were later taken to the reception to be dotted around the room. Large pedestal arrangements framed the wedding ceremony and the wedding breakfast and the men, mums and bridesmaids all carried/wore fresh spring flowers in palest pastel hues.

The bride's sweetly scented spring bouquet

Pretty flowers for the maids

Large springtime pedestal arrangements for the church

Pretty pew end posies for the church

Sweetly scented long and low arrangement for the church

Bunnies with floral necklaces for the little flower girls (I don't think it gets more Easter-y than this!)

Flowers for the boys

The beautiful bride Dani and her groom Ben

I can't wait to see more of the professional photos from the day, which I will be sure to show you as soon as I can.

Happy Easter...

Charlotte xx