Thank You 2015, You’ve Been Wonderful – My Review Of The Year
Well, this year has absolutely flown by – it seems like just yesterday that I was starting the year with a clean and tidy workshop, ready for a year of weddings and now, it’s time to cosy up for Christmas and prepare for 2016. But, before I do that, I thought it was time to take a look back at the highlights of the last twelve months and my goodness, there’s a lot to look at…
Turning the clock back, I think it’s fair to say that my year actually started in the last hours of 2014 with a beautiful New Year’s Eve wedding at Stoke Place. The lovely Emma and Tom gave me free reign so I indulged them and created a stunning floral chandelier for their striking white-on-white wedding.
Next up on the wedding schedule was an orchid filled tropical wedding at Oakley Hall and then the prettiest of pastel themes at Rivervale Barn before a super-busy spring. April was a busy month and included two truly beautiful weddings – Nikki and Michael’s elegant vintage wedding at Taplow House and Ellie and Stuart’s relaxed and romantic rustic affair at the heavenly Cain Manor. May was a blur of blooms – spring bouquets and buttonholes for Suzanna and then the challenging task of hanging 300 flowers for Sharan’s stunning Marquee – wow!
A tree surgeon’s wedding was next in the diary and we created topiary trees aplenty for the guest tables at Fiona and Harry’s big day. June also saw us join Annabel and Lee’s wedding convoy as we moved flowers from the church to the reception venue and that definitely made us feel like part of the family. Luyuan and Andy were up next who harnessed the power of Pinterest and Skype to plan their wedding at Cain Manor all the way from Singapore! The final wedding in June was another breath taking marquee involving 30 centrepieces, 130 floral favours, a flower wall and 4 full size blossom trees for Vinni.
Just when we thought we couldn’t get any busier, we hit July! This month saw Nicci and Lloyds fabulously fun wedding at Rivervale Barn, pink florals for Daniel and Jennifer at The Berystede, blush candelabras for Natasha at Rivervale Barn, peach rose bowls for Annabel and James, stunning white flowers with peacock feathers for Laura and Ryan, summery pinks and yellows for Gemma at Stokes Farm Barn and then bold, bright pinks and purples for Dawn at The Elvetham.
Then, my husband and I escaped a spent a few weeks cruising around Iceland (bliss!) before I was back for August weddings including Faye and Laurence’s vision of rustic perfection at Wasing Park. This stunning theme used vintage, dusky pink blooms in rustic jugs and jam jars with a brilliant floral ladder table plan. This was my idea of heaven!
September provided a break from weddings but not from flowers as we provided celebratory flowers for a christening at Norden Farm in gorgeous shades of blues and whites. Then, it was back to weddings with the most autumnal colour scheme of peach, coral and burnt orange for Rosalind and Simon at The Manor Barn. It was delightful!
Our last wedding of the year, in late October at Farnham Castle saw us bringing purple and white flowers to Dale and Louise’s wedding and oh my, these looked sublime against the beautiful stone walls of the castle.
Of course, our year wasn’t just about weddings – we’ve provided flowers for events and to iconic institutions such as famous independent schools and these occasions have all the wonderful dates in my diary.
Finally, I mustn’t forget the outstanding photo shoots that I’ve been thrilled to be part of. An amazing carnival theme, a fabulously fun festival theme and of course, the gorgeous Riverside Romance shoot that featured on Rock My Wedding. Perhaps one of the most fulfilling events of the year was being part of a charity photo shoot for Breast Cancer awareness where we treated six very special ladies to a special day of pampering, photos and an afternoon tea with friends and family. That was a day that absolutely did not feel like work!
That super speedy dash through 2015 needs the following final information to be added for those of you who love numbers – 21 weddings, 4 photo shoots, 20 bridal bouquets, 68 bridesmaid bouquets, 5 flower crowns, 172 buttonholes, 26 corsages, 200 confetti cones, 230 favour flowers and 97 pew ends not to mention fireplaces, flower walls, table plans, rose petal aisles, staircases, pedestals, tablecentres, door wreaths and 300 carnations hung from a marquee.
As always, I’ll be donating a portion of each wedding’s fee to charity and this year, I’m supporting Floral Angels and I hope this donation will go towards much needed sundries.
So, what’s in the diary for 2016? Well, make sure you’re following me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all the latest updates (and don’t forget Pinterest for more floral pretty!)
Whatever you’re doing this festive season and however you’re celebrating, I do hope you enjoy every moment and that 2016 starts with style!
Love,
Tarnia x
