Summer Daze...

I have finally found a moment amidst these mad summer months to share something I have been sitting on for a while. With the brand new website in progress, it seemed the right time to pack the van full of seasonal blooms and spend a few days shooting with the unbelievably talented Katy Lawrence, to really try and capture the essence of Verity & Thyme.

It is no secret I adore the Cornish coast with its wild waves, bountiful hedgerows and sense of seclusion, so shooting flowers on real film with my dear friend Katy for a few sunshine filled days was heaven on earth. Laden with flowers, film and more white dresses than anyone should ever really own, we spent a few beautiful July days jumping in corn fields, scrambling down into secret coves and hiking up heather covered cliff tops for the best views of the sparkling Cornish sea. We returned home each day with more freckles on our noses and salt spray in our hair, choosing homegrown strawberries from down the lane for tea in the garden. It was one of those perfect summer weeks where life seemed to stand still and I had time to fully enjoy how perfect the English summer can be. I picked hydrangeas from the hedgerows (in the most heavenly shade of dusky lilac I have ever met), wild mint growing abundantly from gaps in the stone wall and honeysuckle from the garden to make bouquets for Katy to shoot and I don't think I will ever tire of looking at them on film.

So I leave with you our photos, full of happy summer flowers and perfect Cornish sea and sky. Enjoy...

There are more, but I wish to save a few for a rainy day when a reminder of summer is all we need to lift the spirits.

I can't quite put my finger on why but I feel this summer has slipped by in a heartbeat and although I welcome autumn with arms wide open, I fear I have missed those long sultry summer days this year. Afternoons spent lounging in the long grass with a picnic by the river and balmy evenings spent in good company with delicious food, or maybe I had them but they seem lost in my memory as the weeks have rolled by. I may have to dedicate the last bank holiday next weekend to the above, lets just hope the weather holds or there will be some rather soggy sandwiches to pretend to enjoy.

Having said that, I love watching the seasons change and I get that same excited back-to-school feeling every autumn and I have to stop myself running out to purchase some tan brogues and a new notebook. The end of the summer will see a few more lovely weddings for delightful V&T bride and grooms to be and the launch of the new website, so this may be the last post on this blog as it will have a new home this autumn. More to come soon...


Charlotte xx

The wedding of Helen & Liam...

Helen and Liam's pretty palette of pale pastels, soft white and green made for a very romantic summer wedding last month. Blowsy seasonal blooms such as homegrown peonies and garden roses sat happily next to fluffy nigella and astilbe, and a touch of sweetly scented freesia (a favourite of the bride's), stock and sweetpea created a truly beautiful bridal bouquet. 

Helen wore a fresh flower comb, made to match her bouquet, in her hair and her four bridesmaids had delicate fresh flower corsages on their wrists. The groom and his groomsmen carried blush spray roses with white astilbe, whilst the ladies had a sprig of homegrown flowering thyme amongst their roses. 'Just picked from the garden' style clusters of jam jars in pretty pastels dressed the tables at Oh Me Oh My, full of blooms such as garden roses, sweetpea, lilac scabious, powder blue nigella and fresh green achemilla, and lots of fresh foliage added a natural touch...

Helen's blush, white and green natural style bouquet

Blush pink, white and greens sitting pretty together

Flowers for the bride

Flowers for the maids 

Flowers for the men

Flowers for the ladies

Wedding party blooms

Seasonal clusters for Oh Me Oh My

I still have a whole host of lovely June weddings to share with you, but for now I am signing off for a week in Cornwall with family, good food and hopefully more of this glorious weather!

Charlotte xx

Summer blues...

On the steps of the hut

Cornwall was amazing. I had planned to share a few photos from my old film camera with you but it decided to return a whole film blank to me (I needed a lot of cake to recover from this one), so instead I present you with a few polaroids and phone photos from my trip. They hardly do the sweet little shepherds hut and the valley views justice, but digging them out this evening has bought back many lovely memories - paddling in Padstow, gathering wildflowers from the bountiful hedgerows and a cream tea for breakfast to name a few.

The view from the window

It wouldn't be Cornwall without eating lemon meringue fudge by the sea

However, it was back to work last week with Ali & Euan's early summer wedding with a palette of pale blue, pink and white with lots of fresh textured foliage and grasses. I spent a sunny afternoon collecting bundles of soft lace and ribbon to bind Ali and her 8 bridesmaids summer bouquets, and added a touch of blush pink lace to the men's buttonholes and ladies corsages too. Ali's bouquet contained a handful of David Austen palest pink roses as well as blush peonies, highly scented sweetpeas and nigella amongst others. The tables at Oh Me Oh My were dressed with Kilner style jars full of scented blooms in happy summer shades, with soft blue delphiniums at the centre to tie in with the bridal bouquets. It was the perfect way to start the month of June and it was a pleasure to be part of Ali & Euan's big day...

Ali's bouquet

Flowers for the maids

Kilner jar table centres

Summer blooms and ribbons

Flowers for the ladies

Flowers for the boys

Ali and her maids by the wonderful Amy Faith Photography

Charlotte xx

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

Wedding season

Is the title of this post enough to explain my blogging absence recently?! When realising the date of my last post I had a stern word with myself for letting a whole month (and the rest) go by without writing. The sentence 'its wedding season!' has cropped up in far too many of my conversations this month, and my family and friends have graciously accepted it as an apology for not responding to their calls, falling asleep on the sofa mid sentence and burning the dinner.

Beautiful photography by Claire Penn

It has been glorious though. Summery flower crowns, milk churns overflowing with blooms and buttonholes made from entirely homegrown flowers and herbs have taken centre stage, and already the professional photos are being dropped in my inbox as a happy reminder. Delivering the bridal party flowers and presenting them to the bride has to be one of my favourite parts of my job; utterly nerve-wracking but absolutely worth it when she jumps out of her seat to throw her arms round you with joy! My vintage lace and ribbon supplies used to bind bouquets, crowns and buttonholes are running dangerously low but I am already looking forward to replenishing the basket as soon as I have a breather.

Beautiful photography (left) by Claire Penn 

Beautiful photography by Amy Faith

Whilst this heat wave is certain to bring an extra cause for worry to any wedding florist, I have absolutely loved July's sunny days and balmy nights, and it has felt like the summers of my childhood - at last a sunshine filled summer! Homegrown sweetpeas have filled the house with their sweet scent and fresh herbs and edible flowers have found their way into cool drinks and suppers. To top it off, I am heading back to my favourite place in the world next week, the beautiful Cornish coast. I will be resting my tired hands and eating more cream teas than one really should - perfect!

Before then however there are two more weddings, white french linen bunting to be cut and vintage ladies handkerchiefs to be sourced - all will be revealed soon...

Charlotte xx

Cornish Camellia

This time last week I was sulking my way home from Cornwall on the train, hot pasty clutched in my hand, trying desperately to savour the last days of my long weekend away in the Cornish sunshine. Ok so thats a bit of a lie, the pasty didn't make it past Plymouth, but I did sulk most of the way home and refused to answer any emails before I reached the city (I apologise if you were waiting for a reply, I was on 'cornish time').

The flowers are all from my mum's garden, arriving in an enamel bucket that had been driven all the way from Buckinghamshire - what a legend. The triple layer rose cake was made by my sister-in-law and travelled down with my parents. I love my family. 

I have spent my summers down there since I were a newborn, and have seen a good few autumn half terms there too, but I realised on this trip that I had never been in the spring - and what a haven it was! As a slightly nature-starved florist living in the city most of the time it was like I had died and gone to floral heaven; wild primrose in the orchard, soft pastel lilac bluebells lining the hedges, delicate flowering quince climbing up walls and the biggest camellia and rhododendron bushes I have ever seen in powder pink and clashing cerise. 

I lived in my dungarees, and LOVED it.

I ate picnics in the sunshine lounging under the rhododendron as drowsy bees drifted by, spent too much time with my head in camellia bushes, had clotted cream ice cream as I admired the tropical Lost Gardens of Heligan and I ate more fish and chips and pasties than one human being should. It is my heaven, and if you have never been then I suggest you pack a suitcase of breton stripes and get down there. (I got a bit giddy on the old Instagram so if you have seen these snaps before then I do apologise). 

The main reason for my stay was for the wedding of lovely friends Charlotte and Patrick, which celebrated everything to do with love, marriage and spring. Think milk churns full of sunny daffodils, pure white tulips and pretty little grape hyacinths - it was so seasonal, elegant and charming and I loved it. 

I captured the confetti moment on my polaroid camera - it is definitely one of my all time favourite polaroids.

I was straight back into work as I stepped off the train, with the Easter bank holiday including more painting (Oh Me Oh My have a lovely custard yellow sideboard coming their way this week! It looks better than it sounds I promise...), meetings with lovely brides about their big day flowers and pretty props and catching up with lots of admin. I did make sure I celebrated Easter by making an Easter bundt cake (and then stupidly leaving it at home whilst we visited family so I've pretty much eaten the entire thing myself) buying a new sweetpea plant in pastel pink for the herb garden and drinking a LOT of rose lemonade. I also struck lucky on Monday morning when I spotted a very healthy lilac tree and bought a few stems home with me to make a jar of lilac sugar. It was so easy and smells gorgeous, and I can't wait to use it for cakes, in tea or just to fling around the kitchen.

As I type I am peppering my keyboard with flakes of that custard yellow paint that hasn't quite rubbed off yet so I am thinking a long soak in the bath with my favourite rose tea bubble bath is next on the agenda - and then to bed to start all over again tomorrow!

Charlotte xx