Wedding flowers inspired by champions!
When Janet and Michael approached me about wedding flowers on a blustery September day at Moseley Farmers’ Market, Spring and weddings seemed a long way off. We could never have guessed back then that this blue and white wedding, inspired by the colours of Michael’s beloved Leicester City, would see his team lift the Premiership title in the weeks just after their wedding!
The Leicester City connection
Meeting for a wedding flowers consultation at the Tuckshop to discuss ideas for their big day, Janet and Michael explained that they wanted a blue and white colour scheme for their celebrations. Michael, a rabid Leicester City fan, even wanted to incorporate a foxes head tie pin into his buttonhole in honour of his team! It’s lovely to be able to work in elements which mean something to the people getting married – whether that’s through colour, props or little touches which make people exclaim
“Oh that’s so you!”
Planning for this Spring wedding started in Autumn, when Leicester, perennial relegation battlers, had just started the new season. As I met with Janet and Michael and chatted over the course of the next few months, we could hardly believe what was happening as they steadily climbed to near the top of the football league table.
Blue and white spring flower choices
With Spring arriving fast, tiny blue grape hyacinths (muscari), bluebells, vivd blue standard hyacinths and gorgeous deep centred anemones took on the role of providing colour in the flowers. Blue can be a tricky colour as it often tends toward the more violet end of the spectrum in flowers, but blending the range together with pops of richer truer blues, gave that royal blue touch so important to this day! Whites and creams were provided by scented Cornish narcissi, frilly ranunculus and the soft muted ruffles of spring hellebores.
Personalising the buttonholes and bridal bouquet
Michael’s fox head tie pin spent the day peeping out of a hyacinth pip in a scented buttonhole made up from narcissi, rosemary and scented lavender foliage. To enhance the blue theme, I added a twist of blue silk thread to each of the buttonhole bindings. Janet also chose to add a photo charm to her bouquet so that her mum could keep her company on her wedding day.
On the day of their April wedding, I found Michael standing on the church steps, sheltering under the porch out of the drizzle, resplendent in a navy suit with royal blue tie and handkerchief. He looked nervous. I don’t know if that was because he’d still got an hour of waiting to do before the wedding ceremony began, or because Leicester were playing Southampton the next day and needed to hang onto their 5 point lead over Tottenham!!
With the whole nation cheering underdog Leicester over the finish line it was hard not to get caught up in the excitement and the experience has left me with an ongoing affection for the Foxes even if they never repeat their amazing achievements again!
The bride and bridesmaid bouquets
Janet looked gorgeous in her fitted strapless wedding gown and had opted for dusty blue hydrangea print dresses for her bridesmaids. She loved her flowers – even more so as they weren’t the face of Leicester’s leading scorer (Jamie Hardy) made out of chrysanthemums! I’d threatened her with these in a tweet after another barnstorming Leicester victory!
A few weeks after the wedding, as the couple’s official photos from Janine Healy Photography landed in my inbox, Leicester lifted the Premiership trophy – surely a good omen for the brightest of futures for this lovely couple! Since the time of Janet and Michael’s wedding, Janine, a talented West Midlands based photographer, has gone on to specialise in family portraiture and has won several awards for her work.
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