English Country Romance

Our floral experts Celebrity florist Mathew Dickinson and Andrea Caldecourt from the Flowers and Plants Association reveal their style tips for gorgeous English Country Style weddings.

Have you always dreamt of an English country garden wedding? Pretty, casual, fragrant, nostalgic and romantic - our experts are on hand to help make your dreams come true. Even if your wedding venue isn't to be held in a country setting you can still use country inspired flowers and decorations to create the right mood.

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Setting the Scene beautifully...

The capturing of English Country Style begins with the right setting for your celebrations - English Country Style has many guises - an elegant country house with beautifully manicured grounds or a beautifully decorated white marquee in a suitably large garden both fit with this theme.

Other ideas include the grounds of an small country style inn for an intimate gathering, a Botanical garden or National Park or a friend or relatives fabulous garden!

Try www.nationaltrust.org.uk for a list of many unusual but gorgeous historical houses and gardens that would make a truly breathtaking backdrop to your day.

Atmospheric Lighting...

Lighting is an excellent way to create a romantic mood - candlelight is legendary for romantic settings! You can add beautiful personal touches too - at a recent Shropshire country wedding the little bridesmaids had prepared glass jam jars by painting them with specialist glass paints to create a stained glass-window effect - on the day complete with twinkling nightlights they lined the walkway to the evening venue - kitsch and totally gorgeous.

Elegant Country Style Flowers ...

White flowers remain an eternal favourite for weddings - symbolic of purity and innocence - classic white flowers such as roses and lilies come in many shades of white, from ivory, cream to a white with just a touch of pink.
Mathew suggests styling white flowers with a hint of nostalgia "A wreath of all white heather on the church door and garlanding with roses and clematis on the lych-gate to set a wonderful romantic tone, reminiscent of ‘Jane Austen style’ rural tranquillity".

More Flower Combinations

Mathew Dickinson Flowers
Mathew suggests styling white flowers with a hint of nostalgia "A wreath of all white heather on the church door and garlanding with roses and clematis on the lych-gate to set a wonderful romantic tone, reminiscent of ‘Jane Austen style’ rural tranquillity". Country styling can be casual, think of flowers just picked from the garden - beautifully soft subtle colours and fragrance. Imagine masses of old-fashioned pink and white garden roses, combined with peonies - pretty feminine and romantic.

Try tone on tone - use different shades from the same colour range to add extra depth and interest to your arrangements try Hydrangeas, Delphinium and Lavender together - Andrea advises "Hydrangeas look lovely and you can get these as pot plants or as cut flowers; they come in blues, whites, pinks and pale green and their huge flower heads have real impact."

Mathew Dickinsons summer favourite flower is the peony "I love to use peonies - they are big and blowsy, create amazing impact; they come in a range of strong or soft colours, are wonderfully fragrant and typically English Country garden in style They really seem to reflect the current thinking, just what Brides are looking for. They are in full season in the summer you get so much better quality and value for money through careful choice of flowers in the right season a bit like eating strawberries at Wimbledon in June when you know they will be at their best!"

Fabulous old-fashioned garden roses that have the long life of a florist rose are available from www.davidaustinroses.com Try mixing the pure pink blooms of Miranda with the blush-pink peony-like flowers of Rosalind, for a bouquet with a deliciously fruity fragrance - Miranda has green outer petals which protect the delicately-furled inner petals and become hidden as the flowers open.

Don't forget the foliage

Andrea advises "Don’t forget foliage too - the reason cottage gardens look so right is that they have plenty of green between the flowers. Variegated ivy trails and umbrella fern would be delicate enough to suit the theme and add a welcome relaxing note of green. The elegantly weeping tails of green hanging amaranthus, or love lies bleeding, looks remarkably right when used in relaxed arrangements. Molucella (bells of Ireland) with a faint lovely rice-pudding scent also adds a cool touch of green". Adding herbs to your wedding flowers also add interesting texture as well as fragrance and a country garden appeal. Tuck a rosemary or lavender sprig into your napkins as well as including in the wedding flowers to carry the theme through.

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More English Country Inspiration

Strawberries and Cream.
Entertain guests with game of Croquet or bowls on the lawn.
Afternoon Tea & Cakes served on beautiful china.
Ice Cream Tricycle serving delicious ices to the guests.
Champagne & Canapé on the terrace.

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