Wedding season

About this time last year a lady came into the restaurant where I waitress to ask about catering for her daughter's wedding.   I mentioned, slightly tongue in cheek that I might be able to do the flowers.

Much to my surprise her daughter, Fabienne, contacted me some weeks later and asked if I could quote for the flowers for her big day.   We met a couple of times to discuss details and low and behold I found myself at Toulouse flower market one Thursday morning at 5.30 am choosing blooms in pastel shades.

In fact, Fabienne and Edd were to have two wedding days... the official paperwork related bit at the Mairie (registry) on the Thursday and then the big romantic day on the Saturday.  For the Mairie they only wanted some gypsophilia in little buckets and a small bouquet, so very easy.

For the Saturday, however, there were alsorts of things to test the skills of a novice florist: buttonholes and corsages, flower combs, bouquets galore and even a ring made of flowers.

The location for the big day was a hilltop castle near Mirepoix, with amazing views of the surrounding countryside.   The sun was shining, but, as is often the case in this part of France, the day turned out to be rather windy (enough to blow over the table decorations and upturn the chairs).

Thankfully, the bride was running late as it took me much longer than anticipated to get everything done but in the end, I was happy with the final result.   More importantly, so were the bride and groom who sent me a lovey thank you message a couple of days later.

Fabienne and Edd

Bridesmaids

With hindsight, I should have cut the stems on the bouquets a bit shorter.  I had left them long on purpose so as to keep them in water until the last minute due to the heat.  It also helped them stand up whilst waiting for the bride to come up the hill to the castle! 

Bouquets

Flower comb and ring

Table decorations

More table decorations