Author Jen

Let’s talk about money (and what you get for it)

During a phone call this morning with a client in the throws of planning her 2017 wedding, we had a rather frank and refreshing chat about MONEY (insert ominous-sounding music here?). Now, British folks are not generally great at talking about it, and I think I often startle customers with my openness to cost-benefit discussions. Basically, I’m open to discussions about anything really, and I don’t like hiding things!

Since you’re probably here because you’re planning a wedding and need help with your flowers, I thought I’d take the opportunity, while it’s fresh in my mind, to let you know my stance on all this scary budget stuff. I’m gonna put it all out there. I can’t speak from a photographers perspective, a wedding planner’s perspective, or that of any other supplier, but when it comes to flowers, I know a fair bit. Please excuse me in advance for what will inevitably be a long post!


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You know it, I know it, it’s obvious- not all wedding pros are created equal. Some have a stack-it-high and sell-it-cheap approach (and that’s A-OK, so long as you/they can manage your expectations and you get what you require from them in terms of service and product), and others put huge emphasis on service and what that means to their clients. I’m in the latter category. I don’t price myself out of the market… I need to work to earn money to pay my mortgage right? But I do need to charge enough to account for the level of service I provide and my time spent doing that work.

And make no mistake, the level of service you receive is a MASSIVE part of what you’re paying for. Let me explain…


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2015 – Our Year In Pictures

Well, it’s been a shockingly long time since I wrote a blog post *embarrassed face* but we’ve been a little busy you see…

It all started in January with our double win at The Wedding Industry Awards 2015, for Best Industry Newcomer and Best Industry Website (and you’re here looking that site- hoorah!). After that we entered into a whirlwind of enquiries and quotes and preparations for the new season. Then the weddings started in April. Oh, the weddings! So many and so wonderful they were, and we felt darned proud of every single one we worked on. Major props to Stephy, Clair, Jo and Annie who worked for me this year- top work and some of the nicest people I know, really.

Then bang in the middle of the season, silly old me decided that we really needed more space and I hatched a plan to move to new premises on the glorious Somerley Estate near Ringwood. And frankly it’s bloody marvellous to throw open our big barn doors and gaze upon the rolling English countryside as we flower away. Twas a tad tricky getting the workshop up together and moving the entire inventory of the business in one of the busiest months of the year, but we survived (with the help of coffee and the best florist’s husband on the planet!).

And as if that wasn’t enough, I went on a jolly for some advanced techniques training and inspiration with the inimitable Sabine Darrall, worked with Koh Thai Tapas to decorate their restaurant on the beach for the Bournemouth Air Show, made a LOT of flowers for a MEGA photoshoot, was shortlisted for The Wedding Industry Awards again and won the Best Florist gong at The Dorset Wedding Supplier Awards for the second year running!

And then we did a little pop-up shop for Christmas at beautiful Cranborne Garden Centre to round the year off nicely.

Phew, writing it all down makes me feel quite exhausted! And also, it’s a lot of boring writing, which is not what you’re here to see right?

Hope you enjoy our 2015 highlights as much as we enjoyed living them (there’s a lot, grab a cuppa)…


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Picture above right courtesy of Maddie Waters Photography, with many thanks.

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Kit and Darren’s Athelhampton Wedding – with Linus Moran Photography

WARNING: A beautiful bouquet was destroyed in the making of these pictures by Linus Moran Photography.

Big thanks to Linus for letting me share these from Kit and Darren’s gorgeous wedding in May. The whole day had a sophisticated vintage feel, suiting the historical venue perfectly, and we just loved these colours!


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The bridal flowers included roses, stocks and peonies… a heavenly looking combination which smelled heavenly too.


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The decorations for the ceremony and reception continued the colour scheme and spread more of that wonderful scent through the whole day…

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Chris & Emily’s Lainston House Barn Wedding

I met these guys about 18 months before their wedding at a bridal exhibition in Southampton, and didn’t actually see them again till the big day itself. It didn’t seem to matter too much though, as after sending a few pictures over of the sort of things they liked, Emily and Chris just gave me free reign (within their budget of course). And it turned out wonderfully… proof if ever it was needed that you just need to find the right florist for you and then let them do their thing.

I LOVED this wedding…


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The bridal bouquet was a multi-textured mix of roses, peonies, asiatic lilies, astilbe and limonium with a scattering of grey eucalyptus and lamb’s ear foliage (yay lambs ears!). It set the scheme for the whole day, and I was glad to see that Emily didn’t put it down for almost the entire ceremony!


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Claire & Simon’s French-Styled Deans Court Wedding

Claire and Simon brought a bit of continental sophistication to Wimborne for their mid-May wedding. There was a Tour de France themed seating plan, vintage bicycles, french-numbered tables, crepes cooked to order, and the most exquisite colour scheme and informal blooms. I had no doubt that this big day à la française would be a super-stylish one.


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To complement a palette of greys, greens and neutral tones, we went for blousey ivory flowers like roses and peonies, with juicy succulent plants, silvery eucalyptus, lambs ears and ranunculus. A few ‘Quicksand’ roses, with their nude/buff colouring, added a bit of depth.


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At the reception, in Deans Court’s beautiful lake-side marquee, we dressed the tables with a collection of jugs, bottles and jars, each with an ‘unarranged’ bundle of flowers. Set on thick slices of oak and hessian cloth runners, these gave an informal effect. We also added some buckets with living succulents and fresh artichokes (LOVED these!).


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Clare & Andy’s Christchurch Wedding by the Sea

It’s always really amazing to be part of a wedding, and this one was no exception as I know the lovely couple personally… Clare has been cutting my hair for a few years now (she is responsible for the now-signature Jen Poynter fringe), and we’ve become good friends along the way. In fact, while Clare was busy making my barnet look brilliant for my own big day, we were actually chatting about her and Andy’s burgeoning relationship… the previous night they’d gone out on their second ever date!


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Soooo, fast forward just over two and a half years, it was their wedding day, and I was frantically readying the ceremony room at Christchurch Harbour Hotel for Clare’s big entrance. And what an entrance it was- poised, polished (she’s always polished) and beautiful in a lace tea-length dress and birdcage veil.


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Zoe & Ollie’s Marquee Wedding in Wimborne

Zoe and Ollie managed to plan all of their beautiful wedding at Ollie’s parent’s house in Wimborne from Wimbledon… and they did a cracking job rather!

Most of the flowery planning was done on the phone. That can be a little tricky when flowers are such a visual thing, but Zoe described perfectly the look she was after, and we went for a gorgoeus combo of coral peonies (my new fave), peach David Austin garden roses and other complementing Englishy-type flowers and variegated foliage. Twas lush!


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The bouquets were not-too-neat but not-too-messy…


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Nikki & Greg’s Perfect Parley Manor Wedding

One of the first things Nikki said to me when we first met, was that flowers were a really important part of the day for her. That, as they say, was all I needed to hear.

We really went for it, with piles of roses, peonies, hydrangeas, scented stocks, lisianthus and a splash of gypsophila. Over 1200 individual flowers were used in total and it was a complete joy to create… I can’t really describe the wonderful smell in the workshop as we were putting everything together!


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The bridal bouquet was a big, fat (and quite heavy!) mound of super-petally blooms and looked great with her lace topped, classic dress. The bridesmaids carried Nikki’s favourite, pink peonies.


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James & Hannah’s Cool Castle Wedding at Lulworth

I’m really excited to share this one with you today! Hannah was full of great ideas for this colourful wedding reception, and I was more than happy to facilitate (I should have known it was going to be a quirky, cool and stylish wedding from the off really, since I knew the photographer for the day was to be the inimitable Mister Phill).


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The setting for the wedding breakfast, in beautiful Lulworth Castle, included so many awesome details. From the handmade driftwood table numbers in vintage copper pots, to the gorgeous coloured wine glasses, everything was chosen with the overall look in mind. Even the cake stand was an epic piece of driftwood engineering (not my doing, though I did pretty it up with a few more flowers!).


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Hannah & Alex’s Musical Vintage Wedding – with Sophie Bowdler Photography

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It started out with a normal consultation, discussing flowers for this as yet unknown couple’s big day, and somehow finished with me joining in their band (when I’m not working with flowers, I moonlight as a singer in a big band, and Hannah and Alex play trumpet and sax in one that needed more vocals). Funny the things that come from random conversations…

So, the day itself was the first wedding where I provided the flowers and sung at the reception later- and boy was I tired the next morning! Couldn’t have been a lovelier day at The Victorian Barn near Blandford though, and these beautiful shots by Sophie Bowdler prove it:


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