Considering Your Venue:

A Guide to Discussing Wedding Flowers with Your Florist

Planning a wedding involves weaving together countless details, and one of the most visually impactful aspects is selecting the perfect floral arrangements. Flowers have the remarkable ability to transform a venue into a romantic and captivating space, bringing your wedding vision to life. However, the choice of wedding flowers isn't made in isolation; it's essential to consider the venue when discussing options with your florist to ensure your wedding flowers harmonise flawlessly with your chosen venue.

Venue Style and Theme

Every venue has its own unique style and ambiance. For example, the beautiful Tudor Baronial Barn at Crondon Park sports rustic beams and high ceilings and suits a pastoral, countryside theme. The first step is to ensure that your floral choices align with the venue's aesthetics. Your florist should have a clear understanding of your wedding theme and the overall vibe you wish to create and ideally would have worked with the venue before so already has an understanding of what works within the space.

Space and Scale

Consider the size and layout of your venue. For grand ballrooms, tall centerpieces and elaborate floral installations might be appropriate. However, in more intimate spaces, simpler arrangements might be more effective. Discuss with your florist how to make the most of the space without overwhelming it. Ask if they can accompany you to the venue in advance so they can suggest what can work where you can visualise it.

Color Palette

Your wedding flowers should complement the venue's color palette rather than clash with it. Bring samples of the venue's décor, such as fabric swatches or images, to your florist consultation. This will help your florist choose flowers that complement the existing colors and decor. View our gallery to see how our wedding bouquets come to life.

Natural Features

Take advantage of any natural features your venue offers. If there's a stunning fireplace, staircase, or archway, consider how floral arrangements can enhance these elements. Your florist can suggest designs that accentuate the venue's existing beauty.

Seasonal Availability

The season in which you're getting married can greatly impact the availability of certain flowers. Choosing locally available, in-season blooms not only ensures the freshest arrangements but can also help tie in with the surrounding environment. Your florist can guide you on the best floral choices for your wedding date.

Venue Restrictions

Some venues may have restrictions on floral installations due to their preservation or structural concerns. Discuss these restrictions with your florist so they can devise creative solutions that stay within the guidelines while still achieving your desired look.

Logistics and Setup

Consider how the logistics of setting up floral arrangements will work within the venue. Your florist should be aware of the setup process and any constraints they might encounter. Working closely with your venue coordinator and florist can ensure a seamless setup.

Lighting

Lighting can dramatically affect how your floral arrangements are perceived. Whether your venue has abundant natural light, soft candlelight, or vibrant colored lights, your florist can advise on flower choices that will shine in the given lighting conditions.

We work with many local venues which you can find on our venue page but when it comes to wedding flowers, synergy with the chosen venue is key. The right floral arrangements can enhance the ambiance, reinforce your wedding theme, and put your stamp on a venue. By discussing your venue's characteristics, restrictions, and features with your florist, you'll ensure that your wedding blooms become an integral part of the magical atmosphere you're creating for your special day.

Speak to our team to see how we can help with your wedding flowers, we would love to hear all about your vision. Contact us.

Outdoor wedding planning essentials

Planning a wedding is a huge challenge, even in normal times. From small details, like the shape and style of your jewellery, to larger concerns such as the food menu, there’s so much to keep in mind. Outdoor weddings, however, are even more challenging – and they’re now more popular than ever as couples seek to make their ceremonies as COVID-safe as possible.

An outdoor wedding can be incredibly idyllic and picturesque, and it can be a fantastic way to make your day even more special. But holding a wedding outdoors suddenly lumbers you with a whole host of potential challenges that you just don’t have with a traditional wedding venue. Here are some tips to help ensure that you sidestep the potential headaches.

1: Full Power!
This might seem like an obvious point, but making sure that everything you want for your wedding is adequately powered is a must. Picturesque fairy lights hanging from tree branches aren’t going to look that great if they’re off. That quiet jazz band playing softly into the evening can’t croon to your guests if they haven’t got the juice for their instruments. So be sure to power up your proceedings.

2: Whether you’re ready or not…
The great outdoors has its own challenges, namely unpredictable weather. Nothing can ruin your special day faster than a deluge drenching you and your guests, and destroying your cake, so outdoor tents or other types of shelter are essential. If your big day is taking place in the summer, you might want to consider a shelter for your guests to cool off, too. If you’re doing an autumn or winter ceremony, proper heating is a must. Frozen guests aren’t a good look, and neither is a mud bath, so rent yourself a dancefloor.

3: One with nature?
It isn’t just inclement weather that could ruin your day. Beautiful surroundings and a tastefully chosen gazebo can still be ruined if clouds of gnats, mosquitoes or other pests decide to eat your guests alive. Consider hiring an exterminator a few days beforehand to clear the area, or placing citronella candles on the tables. You don’t have to commune that closely with nature in an outdoor wedding. Stock village in Essex has some beautiful character and rustic venues we adore.

4: Flowers galore
To really lean into your beautiful outdoor wedding theme, you’ll need flowers – and lots of them. From sprawling rustic bouquets to vintage vases placed on each table, there are so many creative ways that flowers can bring colour and life to your wedding. If you’re going for a rustic barn aesthetic, then trailing flowers make the ideal decoration for all of those plain wooden chairs you’ll need. And as for the ceremony itself, what could be better than a glorious arch of flowers spreading over the happy couple? Our team is always on hand to support you and your ideas. View our wedding consultation steps here.

5: Caught short!
All of the planning and gorgeous surroundings, well-chosen flowers, and beautiful decor aren’t going to amount to a whole lot if your wedding ends up being a ripe affair. Make sure you hire enough bathroom facilities for your guests at around one bathroom for every 35 people. Luxury portable restroom stalls are of exceptional quality these days with things like granite countertops or flower arrangements, so you don’t have to settle for dingy, grey plastic, music festival-style portaloos.

6: Timing is everything!
A wedding is a complicated affair with a lot of moving parts, but with a traditional, indoor wedding venue a lot of the headaches are already taken care of by default (like shelter, power, and bathrooms). Planning your wedding outdoors adds more potential challenges to your special day, so maybe the number one tip with regards to planning an outdoor wedding is giving yourself enough time, not only to get everything in place but to be prepared for things to go wrong. Hopefully, they don’t, but it never hurts to have contingency plans in place.

Remembering these simple tips can help ensure your big day is as beautiful as you imagine it in your head.

Written by: Abbie Hartley

How to add personal touches to your wedding day

Your wedding day is not just a day to cement your relationship with your partner in front of family and friends, it’s also a day to celebrate that relationship and all the things that make it special and unique. Adding personal touches to your wedding day is all part of the excitement. It helps you to share with your guests the things that have brought you together, and set your love apart.

Start with you
There are so many ways you can add a personal touch to the day’s proceedings, so why not make a list of things that are special to you both? Think about the music that was playing the first time you kissed, or consider a shared interest such as sports, travel or books. Once you have made your list, you will be ready to choose where to incorporate your distinctive personal touches into your wedding day.

Flowers
The kind of flowers you choose can set your wedding apart. You can take inspiration from the venue and the season, or pick flowers that you both love – or maybe even colours that match your personal colour scheme. If you need guidance, you can work with us and we’ll help you to choose distinctive flowers that match your dream.

Food and drink
What is your favourite meal? What were you eating when you got engaged? Is there a drink you are well known for? Do you know a lot about wine? Even if your venue can’t offer exactly the menu you want, you can print your own menus and give the dishes and drinks names that mean something to you both. You could even get personalised labels printed for your wine choices and have them placed on your bottles!

Name the tables
Remember the list of your shared interests? Why not use them to name your tables for your wedding day dinner? It will be a lot easier for your guests to remember where they are sitting, and it will be something fun for them to talk about.

Music
Music is so personal, and there’s nothing like it for creating strong memories. Choose a band, artist or DJ who reflects your personal style and then work with them to make sure that the songs you want are included. If you want to create a classy atmosphere, for example, you could choose a jazz swing band to make your wedding really stand out.

Wedding car
Hire a quirky or distinctive car to add a unique, personal touch to your wedding day. It could be a London bus, a vintage car, or even a cute camper van.

These are just some of the ways you can add personal touches that make your special day one to remember, for everyone involved.

Written by: Blake Miller

Blogger Review – Stock Florist Flower School

Article written by: Danielle Samantha Watson
Posted on: Danielle Samantha Watson Blog

CHRISTMAS WREATH MAKING | STOCK FLORIST

This time of the year I love doing everything festive from seeing the lights on Regent street in London to baking Christmas cookies at home, one thing I have wanted to do for a while is wreath making and this year I finally got the chance to.

I love being creative and reaping the reward after you have worked hard on something, I came across Stock florist a multi award winning florist who are based in the heart of Essex, who not only run a business 7 days a week creating beautiful flower arrangements, they work very closely with the local college, have an in house flower school of their own and this florist has even worked with royalty, for me you can’t get any better then that!

So when I saw on their instagram stories that they were holding wreath making classes with mulled wine and mince pies! With some classes already being sold out I snapped up a place straight away, the whole process to book online was very easy and even received a 10% discount at the checkout!

When I arrived I was greeted by not only the beautiful smell of the fresh flowers surrounding this beautiful shop but by the lovely Jan and Raynor who were very welcoming and were the ladies that looked after us for the evening.

We each had a station to work on with a beautiful lit candle surrounded by mince pies I felt completely at ease and was offered a cup of tea or coffee to start with, each step we were given demonstration on how to make our wreaths, let me say I never knew the work that goes into making just one wreath let only the 100’s that this florist makes over the Christmas season.

We started lining our wreaths with wreath wrap this is the base to work from, then with blue spruce we covered the wreath wrapped the wire and then layered the next layer of blue spruce until the wreath was covered, there is a technique to this and not going to lie I done this completely wrong but the ladies were on hand and saved me from my wreath.

Once the wreath was covered we looked in the mirror holding our wreaths to check if there was any gaps that needed filling, I loved this trick as I would never think to do this, but this give the perfect guide to make sure the wreaths look symmetrical and full.

Then it was time to decorate we had an amazing selection of baubles, cinnamon, pine, freshly dried oranges and orange slices that smelt incredible, berries and more, you were spoilt for choice and I can be so indecisive but I was given the tip of laying the decorations on the wreath first and positioning them the way I wanted and then attaching them, again we had a step by step demonstration on how to do this we was also offered Prosecco and mulled wine which went down a treat!

Two hours later a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie, there you have it, a freshly made wreath that I’m even proud of!

Through the whole evening both Jan and Raynor were on hand giving their expert opinion and detailed eye, provided really useful tips and you can tell how passionate they are about what they do which is so nice to see, this was a perfect experience that was really fun and festive, I think this is great to do with friends, family even work colleagues and you get to take the wreath home and hang on your door.

I have to say a massive thank you to Stock florist for this experience, I have left links to their website instagram page and Facebook , please check them out I highly recommend them and would love to come back.

If you don’t fancy making your own wreath but want to purchase one for yourself or even gift one they have a beautiful selection online too!

Stock Florist website click here

Stock Florist Instagram click here

Stock Florist Facebook click here

The Stock Florist Team want to say thank you for coming to our class and we are so pleased your enjoyed your wreath making with us.

To book your class visit: https://stockflorist.co.uk/flowerschool

I’ll bring you flowers...

Stock Florist Wins Best British Wedding Florist!!

It was a night of glitz and glamour at the 2018 British Wedding Awards this year as we headed to the beautiful No.1 Whitehall and the stunning Gladstone Library. Being nominated was enough but what happened next was truly magical.

Finalists at previous award ceremonies we had got used to being the bridesmaid but never the bride! Award-winning was always the missing piece of the business we had dreamed off.

After a stunning champagne reception, it was time to take our seats for a beautiful meal and the award ceremony commenced. The mood was hyped by the excitement, the chitter chatter of folk and laughter rang out along with and constant clinking of glasses as people settled at the at tables introducing themselves to others. It was a great feeling to be part of such a wonderful atmosphere.

And there we were, halfway through the dinner, before dessert it was time to announce ‘Best Wedding Florist’. We were there to enjoy the experience, never in a million years did we expect to hear our name called out! There’s a scene from my favourite film Four Weddings and a Funeral when Scarlet and Charles realise they were late for the first wedding…that was us!!!

‘And the winner of Best British Wedding Florist goes to…Stock Florist’.

That was it, we WON! As the crowd cheered we walked to the stage to collect our prize. The photographers were clicking away, it felt like a scene from the Oscars!

We have met some amazing people in the relatively short time we have been open. Industry legends, established suppliers, and lots of beautiful brides & grooms. As a wedding florist, we love the early preparation on the wedding day, from sourcing the finest flowers, creating amazing displays, and arriving at a venue where flowers are the perfect finishing touch to light any room.

From a humble little flower shop with a big heart to The British Wedding Florist of the year it has been a remarkable adventure. We could never have done it without our beautiful brides and the venues we dress. We have been humbled by the support and love from our Stock Florist brides, loyal customers, amazing suppliers, stunning venues, family, and friends.

We have a very exciting year ahead…