HOW TO CREATE A GARDEN – LOOK FOR YOUR WEDDING

 

How To Create a Garden – Look For Your Wedding

Whether your venue is already set in a stunning and romantic outdoor space or tucked away in the heart of the city, it’s possible to use floral styling to create a magical moment for you and your guests – as if walking through a peaceful garden. Imagine hanging arrangements with lots of trailing texture and beautiful scents that elevate the venue to another level, creating emotive inspiration for the future memories of your wedding day.

 

bride standing in the garden of Hedsor House holding a peony bouquet
Florals Anna Fern Weddings, Photo by Roberta Facchini Photography

WHY I LOVE A GARDEN

There is something about a peaceful garden that makes me feel so relaxed. It’s as if their floral borders make me feel ‘hugged’ by nature, and I immediately feel safe. This is especially true of walled gardens, botanical gardens, and parks.

 

A glimpse into a secret walled garden captured by Ilaria Petrucci Photography
Photo Ilaria Petrucci Photography

A walled garden has a mysterious quality; like a well-kept secret just waiting to reveal itself in a different way to each visitor – whispering a unique spell that will capture the magical moment in their heart for eternity. Whereas a park can feel so spacious, giving your thoughts room to breathe, yet equally intimate and personal as you read the plaque on the favourite bench of someone’s loved one – proof that I am not the only one who finds peace within a garden.

 

colourful flower runner on a table dressed for a wedding
Florals Anna Fern Weddings, Photo  Leana Catherine Photography

A garden’s fragrance reminds me of warm evenings spent with friends in Italy, in years gone by. A time of living freely, without so many rules to restrict us or day-to-day tasks to attend to. People would fall in love, experiences were more intense and genuine, and life had a lightness about it.

 

greenery and flowers suspended cloud in tones of lilac, white and peach
Florals Anna Fern Weddings, Photo Maxeen Kim Photography

 

MY FAVOURITE GARDEN-LIKE VENUES IN LONDON

There are so many peaceful garden venues in London, each with slightly different personalities, and some play host to the most beautiful weddings. My favourites are Kew Gardens, and Petersham Nurseries.

The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew are an oasis in the city. The gardens themselves are one thing, but the stunning spaces for hire take this venue to another level. Temperate House is the world’s largest Victorian glasshouse, with thousands of unusual flowers and plants – a stunning backdrop for unconventional installations; and Cambridge Cottage, with its more intimate and relaxed feel, is the perfect setting for a peaceful garden wedding with understated elegance.

By choosing a venue that already has a garden, floral décor can connect the interior to the natural beauty outside. Installations can create the harmonious sense of the garden and venue being one space…one garden. The Conservatory glasshouse and Orangery at Kew, for example, with their breath-taking windows and views of the gardens, can be imaginatively brought to life – creating magic for your guests as they step inside what appears to be a corner of the garden they had yet to discover.

 

Bride and groom standing in front of the greenhouse at The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

Photo By Camilla Arnhold Photography

Equally as magical is walking into Petersham Nurseries. It is like stepping into a different world…a tranquil and beautiful world. You can leave behind any stress or noise from the city and just unwind. The venue spaces are the epitome of redefining luxury and a great example of thinking outside of the box for a peaceful garden wedding.

 

CREATING A WEDDING WITH A GARDEN FEEL

With so much emotive connection, and the potential memories that can be created, I’m not surprised you’re tempted to create a garden wedding. Whether you’ve chosen a venue which already has a garden, a destination venue in the Italian countryside, a greenhouse venue, or a modern city venue – I can create floral styling to transform any space and bring the feel of a peaceful garden to your ceremony and reception.

 

ceremony flower set up at the Twickenham town hall with poppies

Florals Anna Fern Weddings, Photo Cristina Rossi Photography

 

Entrance ways, such as arches and tunnels, can be created with flowers and foliage – leading your guests in from any outside space, feeling like they are discovering their own secret garden, and clouds of flowers and greenery can be creatively suspended – literally elevating the impression.

Table setups and other installations can be bring the venue alive, as if the flowers have naturally grown in place, with no interruption between the florals and the room. Picture foliage creeping up a fireplace and flowers springing up from a staircase.

 

Staircase decorated with greenery and flowers at the Sofitel St James

Florals Anna Fern Weddings, Photo Amanda Karen Photography

I create curves and asymmetric arrangements, with no sharp edges or straight lines, to be as perfectly imperfect as nature. I use nature’s colour palettes as inspiration, and carefully select flowers that will create the magical memories you would expect from walking in a garden.

 

Floral tablescape with moss at the Terrace at Le Meridien Piccadilly

Florals Anna Fern Weddings, Photo Neli Prahova

I would love to know what memories or emotions gardens awaken within you, or perhaps even your ideas for garden inspired wedding installations. Leave me a comment below or stop by my social media for more conversation.

Love,

Anna Fern