How many times have you seen a beautiful bouquet of flowers on blogs, photos or magazines and thought ‘those are the flowers I want for my wedding,’ but when it comes to speaking to your florist or researching online, you have no idea what they’re called!

Well Festival Brides have teamed up with the lovely Katherine from Florist in The Forest (a flower guru – I kid you not!) to bring you regular posts on seasonal flowers so you know what’s growing when and more importantly what they’re called!

Using seasonal flowers is not only good for the environment but they are also better in quality compared to mass produced flowers grown in controlled conditions. I much prefer the idea of using flowers that have grown in their natural habitat for my wedding plus (and this is a fact) seasonal flowers are kinder on the old purse strings! A huge bonus if you are on a tight budget but still want gorgeous colourful flowers.

Katherine has put together a list of Spring flowers so if you are getting married between February and May then take note!

Personally I am going to go Anemones mad for my bouquet – love them!

Early spring flowers Feb/march

The perfect flowers for this time of year are Hellebores, Fritillaries, Anemones, Hyacinths and Narcissi. Each flower blossoms in a different colour so if you fancy only having 1 type of flower in your bouquet but in a range of colours then you can.

We had Hellebores on our stand at the save the date exhibition in deep red and purple and they were gorgeous. Smelt pretty good too!

Early Spring Seasonal Flowers

Clockwise from top left 1. Hellebores 2. Hellebores and Fritillaries 3. Anemones 4. Hyacinths 5. Narcissi 6.Fritillaries

Beautiful anemones and musscari bouquet and a musscari wreath

Hellebores and a bouquet of anemones and muscari

Hyacinths with heather and narcissi in bottles

Spring flowers – March/April

For March and April comes the blossoming of some beautiful and bright seasonal flowers. You can choose from Tulips, Ranunculus, Hyacinths, Guelder rose, Lilac, Blossom, Lily of the valley, Bluebells and Iris.

Clockwise from top left 1. Tulips 2. Guelder Rose 3. Ranunculus 4. Lilac 5. Hyacinths 6. Guelder Rose

Blossom and Lily of the Valley

Bluebells, Hyacinths, Iris and Lily of The Valley

Yellow Ranunculus and Tulips and Ranunculus bouquet

Bluebell and Daffodil bouquet and-Blue Iris

If you wanted your bouquet to be soft, romantic with a carefree festival vibe then Katherine suggests wedding flowers in muted soft pastels such as ranunculus, anemones, fritillaries, lilac, lily of the valley and then late spring peonies and sweet peas.

For a bright zingy festival choose a more eclectic mix of wedding flowers such as vibrant tulips and ranunculus with guelder rose in fresh yellows, whites and lime.

For your table flowers why not plant bulbs in unusual containers or fill large enamel pitchers or bottles with apple or cherry blossom. You could collect various jam jars and mason jars and fill these with bright spring flowers or even paint terracotta pots to match your colour scheme!

Katherine has put together a pinterest board for some of the spring flowers mentioned in this post so check it out: Spring Pinterest

May Spring Flowers will be on Festival Brides on Monday so please don’t be a stranger!

If you need some expert advice on which flowers to choose and when, then please contact Katherine. She grows her own flowers too and if you give her enough notice she will even plant some especially for you – that’s why we love her!

Florist in The Forest - floristintheforest@gmail.com – 07984 540893

Thank you so much to Katherine for your flower suggestions - you rock!

Have a lovely weekend guys!

Big Love

Festival Brides xx

Hello lovely readers!! What a nasty day it is today.. Hope everyone is tucked up inside and listening to the pitter paters on the window!!

This weather will surely be doing some good for our dear green fingered friends at Blooming Green..Just in time for their Spring Open Day this Sunday 29th April from 10am until 4pm

Click here to check out the Pick Your Own Day we attended last September.

If you can’t make this weekend, then there are plenty of wedding related open days happening in May and June. Click here to see a full list of events and open days.

Wedding flowers

We would recommend Blooming Green for a Festival Wedding as they specialise in field-grown cut flowers that are organically grown. The flowers will truly reflect the time of year in which they are picked, with the colour and scent that goes with it. They also convey the beauty of the natural environment.

All-inclusive Wedding Yurt Packages by Wedding Yurts

Wedding Yurts has announced the launch of a special wedding package, designed to provide couples with an all-inclusive wedding day based on the yurt, the highly popular alternative venue to the “traditional” marquee, and set in a stunning countryside location in the Cotswolds called The Old Farmhouse – with more locations also planned.

Wedding Yurts founder Lizzie Jones said “We wanted to make it easier for couples to be able to choose the yurt option for their wedding day and provide not just the setting but an all-in-one package. It’s already proving to be incredibly popular!”. The package includes hire of the yurts and all facilities, catering, bar, floristry, styling, photographer and more. It is designed to make the costs of a yurt wedding clear and affordable with one point of contact to ease the planning stresses.

Lizzie has teamed up with Clare Lee of Lilyfee Floral Designs, a successful wedding florist and stylist, to offer the new package. “As soon as we met we realised we had something very complementary” said Clare “I had experience with styling weddings in yurts and teepees and wanted to do more. When I met Lizzie we conceived the package idea”.

Lizzie and Clare spotted the potential of Clare’s own grounds at The Old Farmhouse for the yurt package. It’s an 18th century farmhouse overlooking miles of unspoilt Cotswolds countryside where the yurts’ vista is to the west where the sun sets over the Malvern Hills. “The location is simply dreamy” said Lizzie “any bride and groom looking for a country-style wedding day will love its magic. Our Wedding Yurts have been designed with our eyes on the details, they are beautiful hand crafted structures made of sweet chestnut wood which looks very stylish against the cream canvas”. That is also where Clare comes in as the florist and stylist. “The yurts are a blank canvas that can be styled to suit the bride’s theme – from hippy and boho to classic English country!”

Wedding Yurts are launching the package with an Open Day at The Old Farmhouse on Sunday 6th May, with an English tea party. Couples are invited to come and see the yurts in their setting, enjoy tea and strawberries and chat to Lizzie and Clare and the team about the package offer.

PLEASE RSVP : gardenparty@weddingyurts.co.uk

For more information please contact:

Lizzie for package and yurt information: lizzie@weddingyurts.co.uk

Clare for package, venue, floral and styling:  clare.lee@lilyfeefloraldesigns.co.uk

Wedding Yurts is also on Facebook on Twitter

Oh I do love a Wellington boot!! A regular on the festival scene, there is something quite liberating about sauntering around in your Wellies tackling anything and everything in your path! Mud? Ha – I laugh in the face of mud in my Wellies. Rain? Bring on jumping in the puddles!

With the ever changing UK weather, even getting married in the summer months doesn’t guarantee you a dry day BUT, as mentioned in our It’s raining it’s pouring post back in September when blighty’s weather took a turn for the worse, bad weather can actually be turned into a positive thing especially from a photography point of view.

Because Bob and I are getting married on a working farm surrounded by fields, Wellies will definitely be making an appearance at our wedding for the obvious practical reasons, but also, because it wouldn’t be a festival style wedding if there wasn’t a wellie or two!

So today’s post is all about the wonderful Wellington boot and why just wearing them doesn’t have to be your only option!

Enjoy x

Quirky Photography

Image via Santa Barbara Chic

Image via Green Photographic

Image by 4 Eyes Photography via Style Me Pretty

Image via Lucida Photography

Image via Elizabeth Anne Designs

Image via Laura Michelle Photography

Image via Claire Evans Photography

I love the image below. The brooches in the hair, multi-coloured dresses and of course the wellies all look awesome!

Wellie Wedding Inspiration

Incorporating wellies into your wedding theme can add a bit of fun to your day and will certainly put a positive spin on the prospect of bad weather.

I love the idea of filling wellies with flowers – very alternative and very Festival Brides!

I love the idea below - originally a bridal shower card, I actually think this would make a brilliant wedding invitation especially if you are planning an outside wedding that relies on the unreliable British weather! You are setting the tone of the day for your guests: “bring your umbrella and Wellies because no matter what the weather we are getting married!”

Bridal Shower Card via Sweet Musings Paperie via Etsy.com

The brown paper tags below would make great name placements. Why not attach them to favours or tie them to the back of chairs.

Brown Paper Tags - Wellie Boots by mommyholly via Etsy.com

These small Wellie lavender bags would make great wedding favours especially for a more natural eco-chic wedding.

Lavender Bag Wellies by Magpie Terrace via Etsy.com

Lavender Bag Wellies by Magpie Terrace via Etsy.com

Loveday Wedding Welly Card via hirstandhirst.co.uk

Wellie bunting!!!! Was very excited when I stumbled across these on notonthehighstreet.com - awesome!

Wellie bunting by Bunny Loves Evie via notonthehighstreet.com

Instead of a guestbook, why not ask your guests to write their messages on these cute Wellie note-lets!

Set Of Five Handmade Wellies Notelets by Chapel Cards via notonthehighstreet.com

There is so much fun to be had with a Wellington boot especially if you are planning a festival style wedding, so put your creative hat on and get inspired………..

Happy Wednesday!

Big Love

Festival Brides x

Sorry for the late post today.. The Festival Brides are a little jaded after birthday celebrations at Dr Sketchy London last night!! Post coming soon…

Today we hope to demonstrate that you can create almost anything out of flowers, foliage and moss. We love wild blooms so here are a few ideas of how you can incorporate them in your day in a non traditional and creative way..

We love the moss covered chair..so easy to replicate!! And winding flowers into letters can soften any harsh wall area.

Lastly I love the idea of placing flowering blooms on a sash.. Lovely way to soften a beautiful chiffon wedding dress!!