Phil & Nettie's Spring Wedding at Greystoke Castle & The Rheged Centre Penrith

So Saturday 4th April 7:30 am Jason & I set off on an adventure, it was a lovely day, perfect in fact for Phil & Nettie's wedding up in the Lake District .

There was literally no traffic on the roads and we arrived at the amazing Greystoke Castle absolutely on time.

Our plan was to set up for the ceremony and then go to The North Lakes Hotel to show Nettie's and the Bridesmaid's bouquets and to do the Flower Design bouquet holding lesson, before bringing the bouquets back to the Castle.

Greystoke Castle is superb and we were greeted by Joanie Howard who looked after us admirably.

We used two of our fabulous Ghost Trees to frame the ceremony area, with a lovely garden style design to dress the registrars table.

The Hall is huge and majestic, the perfect ceremony venue.

Phil, Nettie & I had chosen bold colours to compliment the fabulous wooden panelling around the Castle and as it is almost always raining in the Lakes we thought these colours would add brightness to a potentially dull day.
I found the perfect spot just by the front door for our floral umbrella stand, filled with Blossom & Amaryllis

Then we went to meet Nettie and the girls, our bride was seriously excited and we showed everyone how to carry their bouquets, put them down and pick them up again, without causing any damage and to generally get the best out of the bouquets I'd designed.

The Bridesmaids bouquets were a very simple combination of assorted Gerberas & Germinis with some fabulous "Striped Bellona" Tulips, I'd left the stems long and bound them in two places with strips of Dracena leaf.

The Colours were so vibrant, here's a link to Nettie's Sample Wedding Bouquet & Phil's sample buttonhole.

Then back to The Castle, as so often is the case in The Lake District, the day had clouded over slightly but it didn't last long. The girls were getting ready in one of the glorious bedrooms so we left the bouquets in there ready for them and prepared to meet the boys...

Phil our lovely groom and his party all getting their buttonholes fixed.

Phil's Buttonhole was designed specifically for him, the Grevillea "Spider Man" was an essential ingredient, the Schwartzwalder Calla Lily and Rolled Naranga Rose Petal matched perfectly with Netties Bouquet.
Phil's parents had their buttonholes attached.

Oliver & Eric looked quite fabulous

The ushers got organised with handing out the order of service

Steve from Derwent photography is a fab photographer check out his blog and his web site , I can't wait to see his photographs.

Phil was working the room

Nettie's Mum escorted her down the stairs, to serious gasps and flash photography, Nettie totally took our breath away she looked perfect.

The colours, the flowers but most of all the girls looked just wonderful.






The absolutely glorious bride & groom Mr & Mrs O'Connor

Thank you so much to Phil & Nettie for inviting Flower Design to create flowers for your wedding, it really was an honour, many congratulations to you both.

Then outside for a bit of Rose Petal Confetti throwing, we used Grand Prix & Naranga Petals.

Netties Wedding Bouquet was inspired by all sorts of things; Phil & Netties trip to Varanasi, The Lake District weather, their absolutely wild, passionate characters, Nettie's colouring and the beautiful gown.

The rose petals looked so beautiful on the floor

I used a combination of orange and Red Gerberas & Germinis, Orange & Red Roses, Orange & red Amaryllis, Black Callas, Grevillea Spider Man, Blossom Branches, Skimmia and Albiflora Bruneii in the wedding bouquet.

The bouquets were so easy to manage and they kept hold of them right until they sat down for dinner, always a good sign!

Netties Mum & Aunt had co-ordinating Rose buttonholes

Then to The Rheged Centre, the weather had perked up and we recieved a very warm welcome by Olga and her banqueting team.

The Wellies graced the drinks reception table and were much admired. The floral Umbrella stand got a brand new home on one of the tables.

This is Olga Atkinson who runs the banqueting at The Rheged, she was seriously impressive transforming the centre into a magnificent wedding reception venue. The transformation was done seemlessly and the tables were dressed beautifully, I also sneaked a couple of the canapes (Hunger was kicking in) and they were delicious.

I floated some Gerbera heads on the river that runs through the dining room.

We used a whole manner of Lake District inspired containers and it all looked absolutely at home, as if they belonged on the dining tables.

There's a huge amount of space at The Rheged and the room feels really fresh and vibrant.

I dressed the gorgeous cupcakes made by one of the lovely bridesmaid's and her mum

This vase was just a little "throw together"to grace one of the serving tables, created with some of my spare flowers.


An old Flower Design favourite the place cards were written on leaves.

INSPIRATION & COLOUR THEME FOR NETTIE & PHIL's WEDDING...

Colours: Deep Red, Vivid Orange, Deepest blackest Purpley aubergine, Claret..

Flowers: Callas, Roses, Amaryllis, Cherry & Almond Blossom, Gerbera, Germini, Tulips, Grevillea Spider Man.

I really wanted the flowers to be Bold, Statement like, Vivid, Exciting, Fun, Personal, Gregarious and Dynamic, but I also wanted them to be Hot, Romantic, Traditional, Spring Like, Fresh and slightly reminiscent of Varanasi.

The Designs for the ceremony needed to capture Romance, Traditional values, spring and new beginnings. The designs for the reception were to be filled with Fun and Celebration, they were extremely personal and not OTT.

This was their day and I wanted the flowers to fit with that perfectly, I loved the bouquet and the buttonhole we made for them and I hope Phil & Nettie loved them as much as me.

Ideas for table centres were to be typically Lake District Wellies, Umbrellas, Mr McGregors garden wheelbarrow anything really and if I could work with them I did!

Our work here was done, so we went off to stay in a B&B so we could be back for the clear down in the morning bright and early. We both slept soundly as I'm sure you can imagine....