Surrey Homes | SH100 | May 2023 | Something To Celebrate Supplement inside

Lay the Table
Jen Stuart-Smith of Blooming Green offers advice on
how to bring flowers to the table at any dining event
Flowers really are the proverbial ‘cherry on the cake’
when it comes to any event table, adding life, scent
and decoration, so get as creative as you like! Choose
your vases or containers with care – a collection of
salvaged jars creates a homely effect, or simple but
effective bud vases of seasonal stems can be dotted
along a trestle table for an informal ‘gathered-fromthe-garden’
look.
If you want more formal stylised décor, try using
larger vases – which are decorative in their own right
– and fill with one variety of flower. Peonies, roses or
tulips en masse will have a strong impact and capture
a sense of the season. The same goes for colour. Play
safe and chic with monochrome, or throw caution to
the wind and embrace a mix of colours for a table like
a wild-flower meadow.
Whether it’s a wedding, birthday party or anniversary
celebration, carefully chosen flowers and foliage can
transform the space into something super-special.
bloominggreenflowers.co.uk
Full Bloom
Three local florists give us some fresh ideas for
wedding and event flowers
Edible and Wearable
Looking Up
Blue Hen Flowers share tips on how to add blooms in smaller touches like food and fashion
Kirsty Newall, Creative Director at Fall into Flowers explains how to
make a statement with flowers that draw the eye upwards (above)
Perfect for drawing the gaze upward, a floating foliage scape can enhance any
aesthetic. For something subtle yet beautiful, hanging blooms or planks is a great
idea for dinner parties and sit-down events. Or to really make an entrance pop,
weave flowers up and down the steps of a staircase to create a show-stopping
floral display. The bigger the installation, the more opportunity you have to
create something really bespoke and creative. Arches are always a popular choice
too (particularly in the summer months), as they can easily transform a dull or
vast area into a beautiful photo opportunity dripping with cascading flowers.
One top tip is to remember that generally, larger installations can’t be moved
once placed, so take time choosing that perfect spot, and consider touring the
venue with your florist first to explore ideas. fallintoflowers.com
For buttonholes, we like to go really personal with unique touches like feathers, wheat, dried flowers and
gorgeous foliage. Pom pom dahlias are very popular too as they come in all sorts of colours to match any tie, suit,
or colour scheme. It’s a lovely romantic gesture to hand-make one for your partner, and DIY is a very popular
way to get beautiful, personal flowers on a budget. At Blue Hen we do workshops and hen parties to show you
how to make them (while also giving you a chance to think about exactly what you’d like for your bouquet). For
your cake, add some colourful seasonal flair with edible flowers such as pansies, cornflowers, calendula, sweet
William and sweet Cicely. We never use pesticides, ensuring that nature’s eco-system can work properly, which
means our blooms are safe to use as edible decorations. You can ask your florist to recommend edible flowers, or
buy from a grower using Flowers from the Farm’s map to find a local farmer. bluehenflowers.com
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