Real Life Wedding and a Stunningly Simple Floral Arch

Our wedding flower discussion first started in May 2020, just into the midst of Covid and lockdown, but still early enough that we were all hopeful of only a short term disruption.
Originally planning a summer 2021 wedding we got to work on the floral arrangements, with Vicky sharing her flowery ideas and Pinterest inspiration.
We were going with beautiful pinks, mauves, and whites – very classic and exceptionally stunning.

Aside from the usual bouquets, buttonholes, and centrepieces, they were very keen on a floral arch over the church doorway – what a way to make an entrance – and exit! – an installation really brings impact to your special day and arches are all the rage right now!

Alas! As the months rolled by and lockdown went on and on, decision time came: Vicky and Marcus would be postponing their wedding for a further year.
We parked our plans and carried on trudging through the endless uncertainty.

Eventually though, lockdown lifted and weddings started going back to full capacity – we got right back on track and picked up where we left off! Nothing forgotten, dreams and visions for the day unaffected!

The bouquets were beautiful and dainty, and filled with roses, the bridesmaids complimenting the bride. There were buttonholes and corsages, and we mustn’t forget their fabulous pooch, Rosie, and her flowery collar, taking part in the event! Centrepieces, pillar arrangements, aisle décor… but the star feature was the arch.

(Images beautifully captured by Charlotte Razzell Photography)

A wedding flower arch takes some planning, and some manpower (and womanpower).
Most of our creations can be made at the studio and transported to the space they’ll reside in, but an arch has to be made on site.
Measurements are taken in the weeks leading up to the day, and you always have to be careful when fixing something to the doorway of a church – you really can’t be putting in nails or screws!
In this case, at St. Mary’s church in the picturesque town of Bruton, there were already a few handy nails in place – although the church warden told me they were to be removed at the end of the year as they were damaging the stonework, we were lucky enough to be able to use them at the time.
We kept it really simple here, my handy husband custom made an arch from rebar and fixed to the nails around the doorframe, we then attached pieces of FibreFloral at regular intervals around the arch with wire.
Having pre-planned the number of stems we would need, everything was then transported to the church in buckets – there was no car access so everything was carried over!

And then we got to work.

An arch of this size took around 100 stems – this arch is actually pretty small really, but perfect for the location and the style Vicky and Marcus were going for.
The tree branches went in first, these did not need to go into the Fibrefloral or another water source, as they only needed to last the afternoon and were going in pretty fresh.
Following this we started adding the flowers – there were large balls of hydrangeas around the base, and wild British flowers dotted amongst the greenery, and then the roses took centre stage by being placed in last and at the forefront of all the flowers.
We went for an asymmetrical design leaving the top right corner free of flowers to give the arch more depth and have some space between all the colours.

This arch was definitely a two person job, ( often the minimum for any arch), we had three on board to create the flowers for the whole day and so all worked together on the arch to get it completed and the surrounding area tidied up as quickly as possible.

With the arch to make, the flowers and foliage, and three people on board to put up and take down again the next day, the arch cost came in at £450 (priced in 2022) – if we were to go bigger and more abundantly bloomed the price would increase more. At the end of the day, each installation is completely unique to the couple and prices do vary from event to event depending on sizing, the amount of flowers used, the location, and the amount of hands needed.

And it was so worth it – the pictures taken by do it so much justice – how utterly radiant do the couple look, surrounded by beautiful blooms, a perfect backdrop to a perfect wedding!

(Images beautifully captured by Charlotte Razzell Photography)

It can seem a little daunting when receiving a quote for installations but when you consider the work involved and materials you’ll need, it is easy to understand where that cost comes from. But they make such a wonderful addition to your day, flowers are the feature that tie all the décor together and something like this will be truly memorable.

What dreams do you have for your wedding? Perhaps you have big ideas but aren’t sure how to execute them yourself? Knowing how to prepare the flowers and arrange them can take a lot more time and effort than you may realise, this is what your florist is for! Use them to take all the stress away.
For abundance at your own wedding, in touch at…. and we’ll get your free, no-obligation consultation in the diary!

Can’t wait to hear from you,
Esme x