Beautiful isn't it? Scented roses cascading down the candleabra...

Farbridge is a fabulous, luxurious venue in the heart of the West Sussex countryside and, if you're looking for the perfect venue for a wedding or event, this is it.

Farbridge has been created from a complex of old barns on the West Dean estate (the West Dean Estate is facinating take a look at the website www.westdean.org.uk)

In the lea of the South Downs with beautiful views all around, Farbridge has a capacity for 60 to 150 guests and is licensed for civil ceremonies and partnerships. With ample parking and ten double en-suite rooms Farbridge is a very high quality blank canvas and with a list of recommended, (and excellent) caterers, vintners and florists (including our good selves!) only your imagination will stop you from creating a perfect event. Visit their website to find out more www.farbridge.org.uk

At this time of year we are really busy with many new wedding enquiries for the year ahead.
We've been making up several sample arrangements for our brides this week and this this glorious urn filled with hot pink scented garden roses and foliage is one of them.
Quite suitable for Valentine's week too I thought...in fact we often deliver these as luxury gifts from our shop in Selfridges.

One of my favourite ways to display our scented garden roses at home is by putting them in random vases, jam jars, perfume bottles and displaying them on a shelf, fireplace or, as in this case, my bathroom. This can also be a lovely way of displaying garden roses down the centre of rectangular tables for a garden party or wedding.
Simple pleasures!

A scented rose and ivy wedding garland that we provided last week for a wedding at the fabulous Walled Garden at Cowdray Park in Midhurst, West Sussex.

It's a beautiful wooden door, full of character and history which opens into....

...a walled garden full of summer flowers and herbs!

I recently made several of these rose and herb table wreaths with candleabra for a dinner party I was giving in July and I share this with you because they make sensational table decorations for weddings and parties and are always in our portfolio all year round. The scent in the room was breathtaking and scent always creates a fabulous ambiance, not to mention memories for years to come whenever you come across the same scent again.

Thank you Wedding Flowers magazine for featuring one of our Autumn wedding bouquet's and a table arrangement featuring our English cut garden roses and herbs with rose hips in your August/September issue!

All pages from Wedding Flowers Magazine

Margaret Merril is in fine flush at the moment on our English Rose farm.

She is, in our opinion, one of the most beautiful roses that we grow in England and in terms of perfume she's unbeatable and quite unique.

Merril is the classic bridal rose, ivory not stark white, she often takes on a slight pink or peach blush to her petals depending on the weather. In bud she is a fine rose but when fully open, displaying her gold centre surrounded by flat, ivory, petals she is simply glorious.

The Real Flower Company offer Merril in hand tied bouquets, shower bouquets, bespoke wedding arrangements and as boxes of stems either mixed or with other ivory roses or on her own for brides who have friends to help make the flower arrangements.

Freshly picked from our English farm, the rose is available from June to the end of October and from our sustainable Kenyan farm throughout the Winter and Spring.

I remember reading this article, Right on the Button written by Alex Petridis, when it was published in The Guardian last July and I agree with him that it's about time that the floral buttonhole made a comeback outside of the wedding market.

In my previous life I worked as a Menswear Buying Director in the fashion industry and, in my experience, when tailoring and formality make a comeback, accessories such as shirts, ties, cufflinks, socks (no cartoon novelty ones please!) all have to work harder to help men assert their individuality.

The downturn has seen some menswear designers opting for a return to quiet quality and tradition. Grey tailoring, heritage fabrics and subtle detailing are all key trends, crying out for the addition of a stylish buttonhole don't you think?

We have had a couple of orders for buttonholes at our shop in Selfridges where they have definately not been for weddings so maybe they are about to take off as a fashion accessory...I hope so. I will certainly be working on a little collection for our website.

Voted one of the top five UK hotels by Observer readers in the '2008 Observer Travel Awards', The George in Rye certainly ticks all of our boxes as a brilliant venue for a wedding.

The hotel is located in the centre of the historic town of Rye in East Sussex, a mere 4 miles from the wonderful white sandy beach of Camber Sands where I've been lucky enough to spend time watching the sun go down at a friends beach house. The decor is gorgeous and manages that perfect blend of ecclectic and modern whilst also being comfortable and relaxed, which is so important in a hotel don't you agree?

What about the food?
Well, with the Head Chef, Rod Grossman, having previously worked at Moro in London, it is, needless to say, a mouthwatering menu of seasonal, local delights.

We've provided the flowers for several weddings at The George in Rye (the last one is actually featured in the current edition of Wedding Magazine) and it's always a pleasure to work with such a lovely venue.
Here are a few photos from our portfolio...

I'm an avid fan of black and white movies and a perenial favourite is the wonderful soap opera weepie Now Voyager. Like many 1940's movies it is beautifully shot, full of fabulous fashion and glamorous gowns.

The film charts Charlotte Vales's doomed relationship with her married lover and has the kind of poignant ending and soothing sound track that makes you cry but in an enjoyable way!

One of the metaphors in the film is the Camelia and Charlottes's lover, Gerad, often sends a corsage of Camelia's to Charlotte as a declaration of love.

We often make corsages and wrist corsages for customers who are attending special events as they work well as an alternative piece of scented jewellery. Although we don't supply Camelia's we do grow many scented roses that make wonderful corsage's and our herbs also make delightful aromatic corsages for daywear.

How fabulous it would be to receive a corsage in one of our little signature hat boxes as a little suprise before an important date.
While we're on this subject,let's not forget buttonholes for men, who say's these should only be worn for weddings?

Let's bring back 1940's glamour!

There was a time when you could buy paper confetti in every newsagents shop on the high street. It was sold in small boxes and you could pop it into your handbag to take to a wedding.

Now that paper confetti is no longer sold, nor appropriate these days, fresh or dried real petal confetti is the only suitable option.

Who can resist the allure of fresh scented rose petal confetti?
Simply gorgeous, decadent and deeply romantic and looks wonderful in the photos!

A simple but beautiful idea for a wedding table decoration don't you agree?
This was from a wedding we did in France a couple of years ago but it's still an idea that our brides love particularly for a fairly casual, garden wedding.
It works because they're cut scented garden roses and need no further adornment!

Calling all men...scent is so important when sending your Valentine flowers!

Scent stirs the emotions and evokes fond memories for years to come each time the scent reappears.

We often receive correspondance from people saying that the scent of our roses brought tears (of happiness!) to their eyes when they opened the box. This is how powerfully scent is linked to memory and they often say how the scent of the roses brought back memories of their Grandparents rose garden, their wedding day or courtship.

Valentine's Day Scented Bouquet

The Venetian wedding continued...
All 32 guests had arrived in Venice by the night before the wedding and each and every one had an adventurous journey on account of the snow in the UK.

At 8am on the morning of the wedding I was making the bridal bouquet, the 2 large arrangements (for the town hall and the drinks reception) along with 5 buttonholes and 10 tables worth of fresh scented rose petals, oh and the 2 wired stems for the brides hair. The scented garden roses I used were the deep red rose Deep Secret, the wonderfully scented fuchsia roses Caprice De Meilland and Tower Bridge and the peaony shaped mid pink rose Yves Piaget. I used lavender, mint, rosemary, eucalyptus and jasmine trails tied with the scented roses.

At 10.45am the bride and her Father were collected from the back of the hotel by Wedding Gondola and we all walked the 10 minutes to the Town Hall where the ceremony would take place.

The day was fabulously sunny and wildly romantic. After the ceremony we were all transported back to the hotel and restaurant in open boats along the Grand Canal. The bride and groom travelled by wedding gondola. We had a wonderful wedding breakfast followed by some of the best speeches I've ever heard and the flowers with their heavenly scent were enjoyed by everyone. It was an amazing wedding and we all had a ball. Thank you Mr and Mrs Hayes!

If you're thinking of getting married in Venice, I would wholly recommend it! I also have the name of a great Wedding planner if you need one.

Here's a few little photos...

The Venetian wedding continued...
Well we arrived at Venice Airport and hired a water taxi to cross the lagoon to Venice...

Down through the narrow canals of Venice....

The red holdall full of scented roses and herbs arrives in Venice...

A gorgeous bridal bouquet that is available from April to June when our West Sussex grown Sweet Peas are available. The scent is fabulous as the Sweet Peas are tied with our highly scented 'peony' roses (often mistaken for real peonies!)

A simple, chic and fragrant place setting of fresh Lavender and Rosemary!

The Real Flower Girls love creating wonderful wedding flowers and this summer has been an exceptionally busy time in the workshop much to our delight.

As I write the workshop is buzzing with activity as more wedding flowers are being prepared and the air is filled with the intoxicating scent of roses and herbs.

I thought I could offer an insight into some of the new trends in wedding flowers and I plan to share some of my favourite venues and suppliers with you in the coming weeks and month's. If you're getting married next year there's plenty of time to plan ahead and collect ideas.

We get so many last minute requests for bridal flowers that this seems to be an emerging trend although I suspect that this might also be a result of a very poor summer this year when the plan to collect flowers from the garden has sadly been dashed (along with the flower heads!) by the driving rain.

Actually, while I think about it, I also suspect that it is owing to the trend for using flowers that are in season - but if you use a good florist who can advise what is in season each month you can still plan ahead and use seasonal (and sustainably grown, low carbon etc.) flowers.....but more about that later.