Thursday 29 August 2013

Contemporary Summer Wedding Ideas



Couples marrying in summer have a great choice of colourful and seasonal wedding flowers for their ceremonies in Essex or other areas of the UK. This time of year is especially popular with brides and grooms because it is an upbeat season when we all tend to feel happier and more relaxed. It also means the happy couples can take a honeymoon near home in the UK, or jet off further afield if preferred, and should be able to enjoy sunshine either way. Tolly's Flowers has put together some ideas for contemporary summer weddings.

Over the centuries, the sun has traditionally been linked with fertility, which was one reason for the popularity of summer weddings in the past, and in Scotland brides used to “walk with the sun”, which involved walking from east to west and then circling the church several times. Nowadays, the sun is still a very welcome wedding guest.

If you are seeking a great venue for a wedding in Essex, there are many to choose from, including historic country houses like Gosfield Hall near Braintree, a Georgian manor house which has won awards for its facilities. Alternatively, another exciting choice would be a wedding by the waterside, perhaps at a hotel near the beach in Clacton or Southend-on-Sea, while Crowne Plaza Resort/Five Lakes in Colchester is a hotel and golf club complex which has become another popular wedding venue.

Based in Newmarket, Tolly’s specialise in wedding flowers for Essex venues and, whether you want contemporary displays or traditional flowers for your wedding, they will create spectacular and memorable arrangements to fit perfectly with your chosen theme.

Wedding Flowers Essex – click here to see our designs.

Choosing Contemporary Flowers

You might want to choose a contemporary wedding floral display for your Essex ceremony because you are looking for something fuss-free and less elaborate, and perhaps have minimalist tastes or prefer modern styles of art and fashion. If you would like to add a touch of symbolism through your choice of flowers, you might want to consider including gladioli, which are traditionally the blooms symbolising the month of August, in your bouquets or arrangements.

In the “language of flowers” during Victorian times, when courting couples passed secret messages to one another through their choice of flowers, the gladiolus meant love at first sight, while another meaning is sincerity. These beautiful flowers come in a number of colours, including white, red and pink, all popular bridal choices – but for your summer wedding arrangements you might also like to pick orange and yellow, colours with a flavour of sunshine.

Bright colours and tropical flowers can help to create a relaxed summer wedding atmosphere, while seasonal British flowers are another increasingly popular choice and especially eco-friendly. Seasonally-grown wedding flowers available over the summer include sweet peas, peonies, sweet Williams, delphiniums, sunflowers, stocks, daisies, hydrangeas, chrysanthemums and scented lavender.

The Bridal Bouquet: We can create contemporary bridal bouquets in many different styles, depending on your taste. Some brides like a simple hand-held bouquet with just a few colours, perhaps white with orange or yellow, while others prefer more sophisticated designs, for instance a trailing arrangement of white orchids, or a more rural flavour with a frothy array of white gypsophila.

Buttonholes and Corsages: You could opt for a more elaborate buttonhole for the best man and fathers, and simpler versions for other male guests. White or pink roses are a traditional choice for a buttonhole, but an orchid or a double lisanthius would make a good contemporary alternative. We can also create corsages for mothers of the bridal couple and other important female guests, to tie in with the wedding theme.

Wedding Flowers: At the ceremony itself, pedestal, archway and window arrangements will all help to make the church or other venue look beautiful, and can be themed in accordance with the venue. Contemporary choices here could include arrangements of multi-coloured roses interwoven with other flowers, or arrangements of delphiniums and hydrangeas. 

Reception Flowers: One strikingly different idea for a centrepiece is an arrangement of orange roses surrounding a glass bowl containing floating candles, but you could also go for angular vases, an unusual display of flowers in a globe or even a mock birdcage. In-season British flowers will help to give a fresh and modern feel, and it may be possible to re-use arrangements from the ceremony.

Vehicle Flowers: Finishing touches for the ceremony include flowers on the wedding car – which can be just as colourful as you choose.



About Tolly’s

Whether you are seeking contemporary or more traditional wedding arrangements for your Essex ceremony, Tolly's Flowers can create spectacular displays using our expertise in floristry and our design flair. We are based in Newmarket and serve a wide surrounding area.

Contemporary Essex wedding flowers -click here to browse our designs.

Tuesday 27 August 2013

Wedding Flowers Essex – A Spotlight on Roses


Couples choosing wedding flowers in Essex, or elsewhere in the UK, often ask for roses as a key element in bridal bouquets or floral arrangements, and Tolly's can design imaginative displays incorporating these much-loved blooms. Roses have long been the traditional flower for weddings because they symbolise romance. As well as being the top choice for brides, they often feature in Valentine bouquets, while a lovelorn suitor might first declare his feelings by presenting a single red rose to the woman he adores.

Prior to Victorian times, brides usually carried bouquets of herbs, which were believed to ward off evil spirits. However, Queen Victoria herself chose an arrangement of flowers with only a few herbs at her marriage to Prince Albert, and most brides then followed the royal example, with bouquets frequently including roses because of their association with romance.

Although the idea of using roses at weddings only goes back to the 19th century, the flower has been a symbol of love for centuries, featuring in love poems such as Robert Burns' "My Love is like a Red, Red Rose”. There is even a famous reference to the flower in Shakespeare's romantic play "Romeo and Juliet", where Juliet says that "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet". Roses also provide a wonderful fragrance in floral displays and this is often used in scents, from the most expensive French designer fragrances to scented candles.

Wedding Flowers Essex – click here for design inspiration.

Language of Flowers –There are around 150 varieties of rose to choose from, and a wide range of colours. We at Tolly's have found that brides choosing wedding flowers in Essex and other parts of East Anglia often choose colours to match their wedding theme and gown, as well as the time of year. However, the choice of roses in different shades also has a meaning attached to it, stemming from another Victorian tradition, the language of flowers, where suitors who could not speak to one another outright expressed their feelings through selection of blooms. For instance, red roses signify love and passion, while white roses, the traditional bridal choice, mean purity, innocence and happy love; light pink blooms, also often chosen by brides, carry a message of grace and joy, and yellow roses express friendship. A combination of white and red roses, which makes a dramatic display and is another popular choice for weddings, is said to suggest unity.

Roses in the Bridal Bouquet – A traditional bridal bouquet might feature white or pale pink roses in a round arrangement, with dark green foliage woven in among the flowers. A more contemporary choice could see roses in different shades of red and pink arranged together, or a loose shower shape with roses of different colours, from cream to peach.

As an alternative to roses alone for wedding floral arrangements at your Essex ceremony, you could also choose a bouquet featuring a combination of flowers, depending on the time of year, for instance, a combination of roses, lilies and orchids, or dark red roses together with light-coloured tulips. Peonies and roses make a beautiful combination of scents and would be an unusual and individual choice.

In rural England in past centuries, it was traditional for a young girl to sprinkle rose petals as a bride walked down the aisle, and this idea lives on in the tradition of having flower girls at weddings. Roses are also a popular choice for buttonholes or corsages.

Roses at the Reception – Roses are not only used in bridal bouquets, but also at wedding receptions, where they look wonderful in table centre pieces. These could range from a traditional circular arrangement of white and cream blooms (with contrasting dark green leaves and stems arranged in a large silver or glass bowl), to a more contemporary arrangement combining roses and other flowers of different sizes and colours in a sphere or another unusual container – perhaps with white candles for an added touch of drama.

Another option is to decide on flower arrangements in vases for each table, which can again range from traditional to more modern looks and take in a wide choice of colours, from delicate pastel shades such as a combination of brownish pink and cream, to bright reds and yellows.

As well as featuring in table arrangements for the reception, roses can also be used to create a floral arch and they can be used in pedestal arrangements, perhaps combined with other blooms such as orchids, gladioli and green hydrangea.

About Tolly’s

Tolly's Flowers are based in Newmarket and we specialise in providing beautiful wedding flower arrangements in Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. We will help you to choose the perfect traditional or contemporary designs for your special day, including bridal bouquets and arrangements for the reception. You can call us on 01638 668805 to discuss your requirements.

Flowers for your Wedding – click here to find out more.

Saturday 17 August 2013

Summer Nuptials: White and Minimalist Weddings

If you are currently thinking about your choice of wedding flowers for your Essex wedding, you may not necessarily want elaborate floral displays; but instead, you might choose to keep your blooms simple and low key. If you are keeping the decor minimal for your wedding – with just a few well chosen, striking floral displays – Tolly’s are the experts in wedding arrangements and can create wonderful displays to suit your special day.

Minimalism is all about stripping back any unnecessary detailing and showing the subject in its basic form. The focus is not on flamboyant arrangements, but displays that are simple and striking. For instance, you may choose a bridal bouquet to match a gown that is slinky and sophisticated and lacks frills, layering, lace and sparkles, so the emphasis is on clean lines, elegance and a non fussy look.

If you are having a minimalist wedding, white is a popular colour to choose and symbolises innocence, purity and simplicity. It also represents a fresh start or new beginning, which is perfect for the start of a couple’s new life together. And, the splendour of white is that it is a very traditional choice for nuptials. This article focuses on some ideas for couples choosing a white and minimalist theme.

The good news is that if you are having white wedding flowers at your Essex venue, this colour works well with almost any decor. So, whether you are tying the knot in one of the county’s ancient churches or country houses, or whether you are choosing a fabulous contemporary building, your arrangements will coordinate perfectly with the interior.

Essex Wedding Flowers  – See a selection of our creative designs for Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire weddings.

Among the most popular white flowers for weddings are Roses, Calla Lilies, Lily of the Valley, Gardenia, Tulips, Ranunculus (which is related to the buttercup), and Lisianthus. For scent filled blooms, Freesias and Lily of the Valley are wonderful flowers to incorporate into a white bouquet.



Bridal Bouquets – Clutching a white bouquet with fresh green foliage, and light detailing such as ribbons or pearls is a very elegant and classic look for a bride. In an all white hand tie, the foliage is just as essential as the flowers and can bring a wonderful design element into the bouquet. Bouquets featuring Orchids and Lily Grass look fabulous and contemporary. However, if you want a more country wedding look, consider Daisies, Roses, Aster and/or Sweet Peas in a hand tie. 

Button Holes – Button holes and corsages are smaller arrangements worn by some of the most important guests in the wedding party. Flowers are worn by male guests on the button holes of the lapels of jackets, and corsages are pinned onto the jackets or dresses of the female guests. They can be as delicate and minimal as you like, and again, foliage plays an important part in the overall design and finish.  

Wedding Venue – Floral displays are an essential part of a wedding venue and whether you marry in a church or a country house, they add the all important romantic touches and detailing. If you are after a minimalist look, think of wreaths at the base of beautiful lit candles arranged on window sills, pretty blooms on the end pews, and striking, yet simple pillar displays.

Wedding Reception – Blooms are a vital part in setting the scene at the venue you choose for your wedding reception. Among some of the possible arrangements for a minimalist wedding you might include Orchids or Roses artfully displayed in clear vases, or pomanders (kissing balls) hung from beams or archways, and used in table arrangements. The cake is a centrepiece and can be brought to life with beautiful white roses or other white wedding flowers for your Essex venue.



Other Flowers – The flowers are not just centred on the bride, the wedding party and the venues, they can also used to decorate the outside of the building, or to enhance certain architectural features as the guests make their way into the venue. Minimalist displays can be used to decorate archways, doorways, banisters, and pillars, and create the all important show-stopping factor. Not forgetting, minimalist blooms can feature on the back of the wedding car and create a wonderful backdrop to pictures of the happy couple that will always be treasured.

About Tolly’s

At Tolly’s no two weddings are the same; we create spectacular, show stopping wedding arrangements to suit the couple’s venue, attire and personality. Whether you want more traditional displays to tie in well with a classic wedding theme, or want to opt for more contemporary and minimalist flowers, Tolly’s arrangements help make the biggest day of your life even more magical.

Tolly's Flowers  – See a selection of our creative designs for Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire weddings.

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Bridal Bouquets – Traditional Round Bouquets or Trailing Bouquets?

East Anglia-based wedding florists Tolly’s create beautiful and elegant arrangements of wedding flowers in Essex, Suffolk, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, to make every couple's special day complete.

Along with the dress, the bridal bouquet is one of the most important things for the bride-to-be to think about. As well as holding stunning blooms in colours that match the theme of the wedding, the bride will also want a bouquet that will complement her dress.

When it comes to choosing your bouquet, there is no right or wrong option, as it is a very individual choice and you will want to consider your own favourite look and the style of your dress. The most popular choice is a round bouquet and this looks fantastic with dresses with a full skirt. Meanwhile, A-line and empire line dresses and figure-hugging mermaid-style dresses, with a skirt spreading out dramatically like a mermaid's tail, look equally good with round or trailing bouquets, also known as cascading bouquets.

However, it is not just the style of the dress you should take into account when choosing the perfect bouquet of wedding flowers for your Essex ceremony, but your height and size too. The more petite you are, the smaller your bouquet should be – and either a posy or round bouquet will look fabulous with your smaller frame. If you choose anything too big this will look too overpowering, so keep it small.

If you are a curvaceous, fuller-figured bride, you are in luck when it comes to choosing the bouquet, because there are more options available and you will look fantastic with a larger round or cascading bouquet. Very tall brides also look stunning with cascading or shower bouquets.

Wedding Florists Essex  – See a selection of our creative designs for Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire weddings.

As well as choosing the shape for your bouquet, you will also need to make a decision about whether to go for a traditional or more contemporary look. Which one you prefer really depends on your personality. If you are someone who loves nostalgia and are opting for a wedding dress in a traditional style, complete with a veil, then you will probably want a traditional round or trailing bouquet to add the finishing touch.


The Traditional Round Bouquet – Roses and Peonies are among the flowers which often feature in a round wedding bouquet, both for their beauty and because Roses in particular are traditionally seen as the flower of love. White Roses are a classic choice, going well with a white gown, while pink and white arrangements of Roses and Peonies are also popular. A selection of roses varying from pink to a deeper orange could also look stunning, again depending on your style of dress and chosen colour scheme for the wedding, while a green and cream arrangement would give a more subtle touch.

Traditional Trailing Bouquet – A trailing bouquet, which features flowers with longer stems trailing from the main arrangement, is another traditional wedding choice, echoing the shape of a gown with a train. Again, Roses are a popular choice to include, and you could go for a champagne colour or white, cream and pink, perhaps combined with Freesias and Orchids.

Other Bridal Bouquet Ideas

If you want something slightly different from the norm, here are some other bridal bouquet ideas to help give you inspiration when choosing your wedding flowers for your Essex venue.





Contemporary Bouquets
– A bride who is going for a more modern, or alternative type of dress may well want to choose a very different floral arrangement to match her gown, and Tolly's can help here too, creating just the kind of display you are looking for. Bright red Roses arranged together with Sweet Peas would make an unusual and stunning contemporary round bouquet, while trailing Orchids could add an exotic touch to cascading blooms. You may want to choose a pomander bouquet (also known as a kissing ball) or have flowers wrapped around your wrist. Contemporary bouquets are perfect for brides who want something more fashionable or original.

Jewelled Bouquets – Brides who love attention to detail may want to incorporate certain features of their dress or jewellery into their bouquet – such as lace, pearls, brooches or netting. Pearls set against red Roses in a bouquet make a dramatic contrast, and a ballerina bouquet (with netting) looks stunning; hand ties wrapped with a trail of lace also work well with a gown that has this type of detailing.

Tropical Bouquets – If a bride wants a bouquet to reflect their honeymoon destination, or chooses to make the tropics part of their wedding theme, there are a wide range of tropical and colourful flowers that look striking in a bouquet. Orchids and Hippeastrum (Amaryllis) look fabulous in a hand tie and there are all sorts of varieties and colours available. 



Colourful Bouquets – If you have a bold, outgoing personality you may want to reflect this in your bouquet, with something as equally bright and colourful. These types of bouquet are very upbeat; consider bouquets with a mix of Roses, Dahlias, Delphiniums and Clematis in purples, blues, reds, oranges and cream.

About Tolly’s

For more than two decades head designer Tolly Constantine has created stunning wedding flowers for wedding venues in Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, and worldwide. To find out more, or to see examples of our portfolio, just click on the link below.

Tolly's Flowers  – See a selection of our creative designs for Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire weddings.

Monday 12 August 2013

Formal or Informal? What Style of Wedding Flowers is Right for You?

With such a huge range of choice when it comes to choosing wedding flowers for your Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk or Hertfordshire wedding, the task of narrowing down the options can feel overwhelming. But at Tolly's Flowers we are well used to helping couples choose wedding flowers that reflect their own personal taste and style.

One of the key decisions that can really help this process is whether the couple wants the overall wedding day to feel formal or informal – or somewhere in between. This decision does much to dictate both the style of flower arrangements and the types of flower and foliage that will work. Here we look at a selection of formal and informal styles that we have created for previous weddings, enabling you to see which style appeals to you most.

Wedding Flowers Essex – See a selection of our creative designs for wedding flowers for Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire weddings.

Formal Wedding Flowers
Formal wedding flowers will typically be arranged in recognisable shapes and structures, using traditional arrangements and classically styled vases or holders. Chosen shapes will have definite outlines and where there are multiple arrangements together (table decorations, for example) the same pattern will typically be repeated in a predictable way.

The type of flowers chosen will tend to be very traditional, such as Roses, Lily of the Valley and so on, and the colours chosen will also tend to be highly traditional such as cream, white, pink and yellow, usually limited to one or possibly two types of flower. Colour choice will also tend to be limited to one or two colours, and will tend to use paler or muted shades.

Whatever flowers and colours are chosen, the effect is restrained and controlled, giving a very sophisticated effect, with a more "serious" edge, although nonetheless stunning as the following examples illustrate.

In this table decoration a very formal but traditional effect is achieved by using a perfect globe shape supported by a silver candelabra. The colour palette is muted, using cream and very dark red. However the formality is slightly softened by the use of different types of flower within this colour scheme.



But a formal style can also be achieved in a very contemporary way. In these table decorations a highly modernist sculpture features two perfect globes of cream carnations. The overall effect is stunning and original, proving that "formal" definitely does not mean the same thing as "stuffy".



Sometimes the formality is less in the flower arrangement itself, but the overall arrangement of a table or a room. In this example, the use of identical globe vases in a row, with a row of single roses marking each place setting, creates a formal but very inviting ambience for a wedding reception.



The formal look can include a bride's bouquet of course. In this traditional bouquet, cream and pale pink roses are arranged in a sphere, just slightly softened by the foliage. The formality of this arrangement perfectly matches the formal and traditional style of the bride's dress.




Informal Wedding Flowers
Informal wedding flowers will typically involve less structure and looser arrangements, perhaps using more varied shapes, or using shapes with no clear outlines – for instance flowers and foliage allowed to splay out or hang naturally.

Where shapes are used, these may be more unusual and make use of non-traditional vases or holders. And you may also expect to see more non-floral elements amongst or around the arrangement such as shells or strewn petals.

Informal arrangements tend to use a wider range of flowers and colours, as well as brighter colours.
The overall effect is more "fun" with the emphasis on relaxation and exuberance.

In these table decorations a multitude of flower types in a range of yellows and oranges is loosely arranged in silver bowls, giving a sense of relaxed, overflowing abundance.



Even more informal is this use of individual orchid plants as table decorations. Here, the flowers haven't been "arranged" at all, simply presented in the pots they were grown in, giving a very natural feel while still feeling very special.



In this informal bouquet arrangement, a range of flower types is used, mixing cream and different shades of orange, with some of the flowers allowed to hang naturally. Using longer stems and an irregular arrangement gives the impression of simplicity and innocence, perfectly complementing the style of the bridal gown.




Formal and Informal Mix
If neither of these approaches quite hits the mark, arrangements can include both formal and informal elements, for an effect which lies somewhere between the two. This can be a useful compromise for couples where one prefers formal and one prefers informal. It is also an ideal approach when couples want to make a definite design statement, but also want an atmosphere in which guests are encouraged to relax. In this approach we will tend to see an underlying formality which is then departed from in various ways, either through variety of blooms, colour or shape.

For instance, in this table decoration, a silver candelabra gives the arrangement an overall formal structure, which is then softened with entwined roses and foliage in a loose, almost random way.




In this brightly coloured arrangement there is a mixture of flowers and colours and no strong outline to the roughly circular flower arrangement itself – but the globe vase and square mirror with candles placed at each corner gives it just enough formality to work as a table decoration.




This vibrant room decoration is perhaps the ultimate mix of formal and informal. Overall the arrangement is highly symmetrical with a clear arch shape and presented on a traditional pedestal, giving an overall sense of formality. But the inclusion of multiple flower types in strong and contrasting colours, tall spikes growing out of the top of the arch and free hanging foliage below, give it all a very natural feel and successfully emphasises the celebratory nature of the occasion.




Informality can be signalled by the use of unconventional vases and holders. In this pretty table decoration a cream bird cage appears to be bursting with cream and muted pink roses, as well as other flower varieties and foliage. The bird cage provides the formal element of the arrangement while the flowers produce an informal and very relaxed overall effect.



Finally, In this semi-formal bouquet, the choice of simple, cream Lily of the Valley creates a level of formality, but the loose arrangement gives a very natural and informal feel.



If you've enjoyed seeing some of the many arrangements and styles of wedding flowers that we have created for Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire weddings, please take a look at our wedding gallery or contact us today for your free wedding consultation.

Wedding Flowers Essex – Tolly's are based in Newmarket, Suffolk, conveniently located for the provision of wedding flowers for Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Suffolk and  Norfolk weddings.

Friday 9 August 2013

Essex Wedding Flowers Fit for Royalty

Whether you are planning a large society wedding or an intimate family wedding, Tolly's Flowers have the experience and flair to create impressive wedding flowers for Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire venues. With over 20 years' experience of supplying flowers, including for royal clients, you can be sure of getting the very best quality and style of wedding flowers for your Essex wedding, as well as first class service fit for royalty.

Wedding Flowers Essex – Contact us today for your free wedding consultation.

Wedding Flowers to Impress
Royal weddings aren't just about the bride and groom but usually involve an impressive display for the benefit of guests, onlookers, photographers and so on. And many couples want to achieve a similar effect, to impress family and friends and to be part of a photographic record that will keep memories strong for decades.

At Tolly's we specialise in creating the most impressive floral displays, using a wide range of techniques to maximise the impact of your wedding flowers. While the flowers themselves are of course important, we make clever use of foliage, shape, vases, stands, mirrors, candles and other accessories to create an overall effect that goes much further. Full-on impact or quiet understatement – the choice is yours.

For example, in this very contemporary wedding venue the use of single cream roses and grey chiffon chair ties creates a demure yet very impressive effect.



Symbolic Wedding Flowers
While royal or aristocratic weddings might feature flowers that use colours in a family's coat of arms or other insignia, simply combining the bride and groom's favourite colours in a display that works well together can be a touching symbol of your union, turning your wedding flowers into something with real significance.

At Tolly's we have experience of incorporating all manner of symbols and colours to create wedding flowers with meaning as well as beauty. In the example below we were asked to create wedding flowers reflecting the colours of a flag.



But we can equally well include flowers or other elements that have strong religious, personal or local significance. For example, a bride may want to include particular flowers that were used at her mother's or grandmother's wedding, creating a sense of continuity with the past. Or a couple with strong local connections may like to include flowers which represent a country (e.g. the English Rose or Scottish Thistle) or a county.

For couples who would like to consider inclusion of this type of symbolism in their wedding flowers, Essex boasts the Poppy as its county flower, while Suffolk is home to the Oxlip, a pretty yellow wildflower, and Hertfordshire has the Pasqueflower, a flamboyant purple flower with a yellow centre.

Classic Arrangements to Stand the Test of Time
Your wedding flowers may last just a few days, but your photographs of them will be around for a long time, whether as a backdrop to formal photographs or captured in informal snaps and videos. With posterity in mind, many couples prefer to choose classic or traditional arrangements and Tolly's have wide experience of creating displays that never go out of style.

However, there is always room for an original twist to give a contemporary feel or reflect current fashion. In this table decoration the choice of cream and pink roses in a circular display could hardly be more traditional or more lavish – but the modern shape and style of the glass vase used to hold it gives it a very contemporary edge.




Flowers to Make The Day

Wedding flowers can accompany the bride and groom throughout the day, decorating the bride's car, the entrance to church or registry office, her bouquet and his buttonhole, right through to the reception venue and finally the newly married's "getaway" car. With clever choice of arrangements, your wedding flowers help to make every part of the day feel special, providing continuity and setting the atmosphere at all locations.

Tolly's will work with you to think through the entire day, ensuring that your flowers can be successfully transferred to different venues as required, taking into account other factors such as the bride's dress, choice of colour scheme for the reception venue and so on, down to the colour of the carpet or the table linen. We also closely consider layout of the ceremony and reception venue and how an entire room will look, making inventive use of the available architectural features or furniture.

For example, in this marquee wedding, we entwined the columns with foliage and roses, using the same mixture of flowers and greenery in smaller table decorations, creating dramatic focal points for the space and achieving far more impact than simply depending on table decorations.



The examples above give just a flavour of the many possibilities that await you at Tolly's Flowers.
To arrange a free consultation to discuss your wedding flowers, Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire couples are invited to call us on 01638 668805.

Wedding Flowers Essex – Contact us today for your free wedding consultation.

Wednesday 7 August 2013

Wedding Flowers Essex – A glance at some of the amazing themed wedding flowers designed by Tolly’s.

At Tolly's we have vast experience of designing wedding flowers for Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire weddings. We specialise in creating consistent looks and colour schemes to run throughout the day: for example bridal bouquets, ceremony displays, pedestals, table pieces, button holes, as well as car and cake decorations are all designed to work together, maximising the overall impact of your wedding design.

If you are planning your wedding and looking for wedding flowers in Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertfordshire or Cambridgeshire, call us today for your free consultation.

Wedding Flowers Essex  – Find out more about our creative designs for wedding flowers for Essex, Suffolk, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire weddings.

In this article we will look at some examples of where Tolly's have previously designed wedding flower packages with a consistent theme.

Sophisticated Autumn Wedding



This sophisticated autumn bouquet is a simple arrangement of large, open, brown and cream roses. The bouquet is intertwined with small pearls and subtle green foliage.  The autumnal theme is continued throughout the day with a cake to match.  Seasonal colours are used to give the cake a contemporary, autumnal feel. The cake is iced with brown and pale orange squares of icing that are placed in alternate layers.  Cream and brown roses adorn the cake, around the bottom and between the layers. There is a small arrangement of smaller brown and cream roses, interlaced with orange and yellow flowers and green foliage on the top of the cake.

Exuberant Summer Wedding


With an abundance of large purple  anemones  and green foliage, this bouquet is simple and yet extravagant. The wedding car is decorated with masses of flowers and continues the purple theme, with matching anemones included in the design. The car flowers also include cream, white, pink and yellow carnations and roses, with green ivy and foliage spiking out around the sides. These colours look great next to the deep burgundy of the wedding car.

Fashionable Spring Wedding

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For simple, yet up to the minute style, the ceremony chairs were tied with grey chiffon and secured at the back with a  single cream rose in full bloom . This theme was continued at the reception with cream roses placed in square grey vases and grey chiffon similarly tied around the chairs at the reception. 

Colourful Ceremonial Wedding


For this wedding the client wanted to use green, white and red for a religious ceremony as well as the civil ceremony, and then continue the colour scheme at the reception.

For the religious ceremony, the marquee and stage area were already carpeted in red, with red fabric hangings and a green, red and white flag of significance to the couple. We embellished the ceremonial area with a profusion of white and red roses dotted with additional large, deep pink lilies and a mixture of light and dark green foliage trailed over the pavilion and onto the floor, for a highly exuberant and celebratory effect. Chairs were covered with a pure white fabric and tied with red chiffon. For the civil ceremony, the same mix of flowers was used to decorate the table, tying the civil event to the ceremonial part of the day.

The reception area was decorated with similar chair covers and red ties, with white table linen forming the backdrop to tall, mixed floral displays, using the same mix of white, red and deep pink flowers and plenty of greenery. Even the cake closely mirrored the colour scheme, using large open bloom red roses to contrast with rich chocolate frosting for a stunning display.


Exotic White Wedding


For this wedding, the couple wanted a simple cream and white colour scheme with just a few subtle touches of colour. The bridal bouquet used a cluster of white orchids with yellow stamens and deep pink speckled centres, making an exotic twist on the traditional white rose bouquet. To match, buttonholes consisted of a single orchid of the same type with a small sprig of green foliage.

This simple but sophisticated effect was continued into the reception with each table featuring a display of tall orchids planted in a simple pot, set against plain white table linen and china. The overall effect was understated but highly original.

At Tolly's we have a long standing reputation for providing wedding flowers for Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk weddings.  We spend time with you as a couple to get a complete picture of  your requirements so that we can make your day really special.

Wedding Flowers Essex  – Call us today on 01638 668805 or email us through our contact page to arrange your free wedding consultation.

Monday 5 August 2013

Good Enough to Eat – Transforming a Wedding Cake with Flowers

At Tolly's we specialise in creating spectacular floral arrangements for your special day, including reception flowers, beautiful bouquets, buttonholes and corsages. Based in Newmarket Suffolk, we design wedding flowers for Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk weddings and have a wide range of unique finishing touches to make your day really special.

Wedding Flowers Essex  – Find out more about our creative designs for wedding flowers for Essex, Suffolk, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire weddings.

In this article we will be looking at cake decorations and how beautiful cakes can look when decorated with flowers.

Decorating Your Wedding Cake With Flowers


Using flowers to decorate your cake offers a highly unique and personal touch. This is ideal for couples that want their special day to stand out from other weddings. Flowers will create a wow factor that is difficult to achieve through icing alone and can make a big difference to a fairly simple or even plain cake. Flowers can be chosen to match the colour and type of those used throughout the wedding day – taking details from the bride's bouquet or reception venue. There are many designs to choose from and here is a selection of our favourite cakes that we have decorated with flowers in recent years.

Contemporary Chic


This design uses simple, square cakes with flat, cream icing and purple swirls. The cakes are adorned with purple anemones and cream roses, both with open buds. The cake sits on a square plate, also decorated with purple swirls. A crisp, white tablecloth is all that's needed to set off this stunningly simple style that is very modern and effortlessly chic and is suitable at any time of the year.

Traditional Spring

This style sees cream and pink roses with fully opened flowers layered between round cakes with white icing. Cream and pink roses are also put on the top of the cake. A green ribbon is put around each cake to add a pretty finishing touch. This design is ideal for traditional spring weddings.

Hopelessly Romantic

Red roses give this decadent design a touch of romance. Round chocolate cakes with chocolate icing are surrounded by open red roses. The top of the cake features a small display of red and cream roses and green foliage. The entire creation sits on a silver box with a larger display of red and cream roses and green foliage placed in front. Extremely simple to create, this design feels extravagant and luxurious and certainly unforgettable.

Ebony and Ivory

This sophisticated style sees chocolate and fruit gateaux on alternate tiers of a cake stand. The chocolate cakes are iced with chocolate and the fruit gateaux are iced with white chocolate icing. Each layer is topped with pink and cream roses and green foliage.

Chocolate Lover

Chocolate lovers will enjoy this indulgent cake design. Open cream roses and closed buds of various sizes are placed around three chocolate cakes with chocolate icing.  The cake is also embellished with ivy that is delicately draped around the layers. The top of the cake is crowned with cream roses and green foliage.

Pretty in Pink


This is a very pretty style and uses of plethora of pink flowers such as freesias and peonies, along with white carnations and green foliage on the top of each layer. Each cake is round, with plain white icing and sits on a tier of a silver cake stand. There is a pale green ribbon placed around the bottom of each cake.

Elegant Autumn

This design uses autumn colours for a seasonal, modern look. Square chocolate cakes are layered with alternate squares of chocolate and pale orange icing, giving a striped effect. Each cake is placed on a silver cake board and open brown and cream roses are placed in between. On the top there are more smaller brown and cream roses, along with some small orange and yellow flowers, such as mimosas and ranunculus, and green foliage.

About Tolly’s

Tolly's was founded over twenty years ago and so we have many years’ experience of preparing exquisite wedding flowers for Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire weddings. We are renowned for our outstanding customer service. We only commit to one wedding on any given day to ensure that we can give you our undivided attention.

At Tolly's we spend plenty of time with you as a couple to get a complete picture of your requirements so that we can make your day really special. If you would like to discuss your wedding flower requirements, including flowers for your wedding cake, please feel free to get in touch.

Wedding Flowers Essex  – Call us today on 01638 668805 or email us through our contact page to arrange your free wedding consultation.

Saturday 3 August 2013

Unusual Ceremony Locations in Essex

There are now more than 130 venues in Essex that are licensed to hold civil wedding ceremonies and many couples in Essex are taking advantage of this and are choosing unusual, unique settings for their ceremonies,  Some venues offer to coordinate the whole package including the ceremony, reception, catering, entertainment, photography and wedding flowers. Essex has a whole host of memorable wedding locations to offer including castles, seaside and outdoor locations.

Tolly's Flowers can provide wedding flowers for Essex venues of all kinds and specialise in creating unique designs to coordinate with, and make best use of, whatever ceremony or reception venue you have in mind. To help demonstrate the enormous range of wedding venues available in Essex we've chosen six interesting and distinctive locations to hold your ceremony.

Wedding Flowers Essex  – For creative and original designs for wedding flowers for Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire weddings.

Hedingham Castle
What could be better than getting married in a castle, like a fairytale princess? Dating back to 1140AD when it was built by Aubrey Devere, Hedingham Castle is a popular and very romantic choice of venue, with a wide range of wedding facilities including a vintage Rolls Royce, complete with chauffeur.  Jason Lindsay is the current owner of Hedingham Castle and he is a descendant of Aubrey de Vere.  As you're getting married in a castle, you could follow a princess wedding theme, complete with a princess wedding dress, frog prince accessories and pretty, pink and cream roses.

Weston Homes Community Stadium

For a really unusual twist, you could hold your reception at the stadium of Colchester United.  Whether you are a football fan or not, this is a great choice of venue for couples getting married in Essex. As this is quite a modern venue, you could stick to a modern theme, with simple, yet stylish dresses and contemporary wedding flower arrangements in bright, bold colours or in the colours of Colchester United.

High Barn
Conveniently located in Great Bardfield, Essex, High Barn is easily accessible from Colchester, Chelmsford and Bishop's Stortford. A Grade II medieval property, High Barn is the perfect setting for a medieval style wedding: the bride can dress in the style of a medieval maiden, entertainment could include jesters and jugglers and the wedding breakfast could be a medieval banquet. Wedding flowers can include lots of dark green foliage, especially ivy as well as plenty of traditional English flowers and wildflowers.

Electric Palace

The Electric Palace in Harwich is the perfect wedding ceremony location for film buffs. It is one of the oldest cinemas that is still intact and still has its silent screen, projection screen and exquisite frontage. The Electric Palace is one of only three cinemas in the UK to have a licence to hold wedding ceremonies. You can opt for either a simple ceremony or something more daring involving film and music. Film Noir could be the theme with the bride and bridesmaid dresses all in white and the groom, best man and ushers in black tie.  Of course, this type of location naturally calls for drama and glamour and the wedding flowers for this Essex venue could be white with a contrasting very dark colour such as purple, or could even have some flowers dyed black!

The Boatyard

For a nautical theme you could hold your special day at The Boatyard in Leigh-on-Sea, with the sea providing a wonderful backdrop for your wedding photographs. Wedding flower arrangements and accessories could include seashells , star fish and other nautical knick-knacks. This is a more informal venue and the dresses and outfits can reflect this. If you have page boys they could wear little sailor outfits.

Greenstead Hall Barn
You could hold your ceremony outside in beautiful gardens at Greenstead Hall Barn in Halstead. The picturesque lake provides a wonderful backdrop for photographs and Greenstead Hall Barn is perfect for a classic wedding. Traditional wedding flower arrangements and a classic bridal dress design would be ideal in this setting.

At Tolly's flowers, we are the perfect choice to provide special wedding flower arrangements for the most important day of your life.  We have been creating beautiful flower arrangements for every occasion for over twenty years. From a single red rose to full wedding design packages, we can cater for all your floral needs. At Tolly's we provide a full face to face consultation service to ensure that every single detail of your special day is planned with precision.  The wedding flowers for your Essex wedding can be designed according to your preference of colours and flowers and to fit in with the overall theme of the wedding.  We cater for all wedding flower requirements including button holes, bouquets, table pieces, pew ends, table displays and pedestals. We only do one wedding per day to ensure that we can give you our exclusive attention.  Whatever your budget we can make it go further with our exclusive tricks of the trade to ensure your wedding flowers have the wow factor.

Wedding Flowers Essex  – Call us today on 01638 668805  or email us through our contact page to arrange your free wedding consultation.

Thursday 1 August 2013

Essex Wedding Trends

There are many different ways to celebrate your wedding in Essex and a wide range of venues available to suit all types of needs and tastes.

There are a variety of ways to set the theme of your special day, including the venue, ceremony, colour scheme and wedding flowers. Essex is such a beautiful county, close to London and offering a wide range of locations including town venues, seaside locations and beautiful countryside settings.

At Tolly's Flowers we specialise in providing unique and personalised arrangements of wedding flowers for Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Hertfordshire couples, whatever style of wedding you may have in mind.

Wedding Flowers Essex  – Find out more about our creative designs for wedding flowers for Essex, Suffolk, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire weddings.

The Traditional County Wedding

Traditional weddings are primarily focused on family and close friends and are usually located in a familiar setting, often in a rural location such as the bride's home town or village with the ceremony frequently taking place in the local church and the reception taking place at a local hotel, village hall or even in a marquee at a family home. Essex is particularly well suited to the traditional county wedding, with a host of beautiful villages and market towns, such as Saffron Walden, Halstead and Coggeshall to name just a few. The ideal wedding flowers at an Essex venue of this type will be traditional and English, to reflect the location, such as Roses, Lily of the Valley and Lilac. English wildflowers such as Daisy, Bluebell or Heather, can also be used to give a strong country feel, either as the main flower or as embellishments.

The Destination Venue Wedding

Others choose to have large weddings in distinctive venues that can accommodate large numbers of guests, such as a hotel, golf club or country club. These types of weddings are often very glamorous and are designed to impress.  The great advantage of this type of wedding venue is the ability to hold the ceremony and reception at the same location . One of Essex's most exclusive, award winning venues is The Reid Rooms, at Margaret Roding near Chelmsford. Situated between Chelmsford and Colchester and within close proximity to London, The Reid Rooms is very convenient location for local Essex couples and Londoners alike. The Layer Marney Tower in Colchester is another impressive venue comprising a Tudor palace and gardens. Flowers at this type of wedding are often lavish, traditional arrangements, although they may also feature a contemporary twist.


Contemporary Style Statement Wedding

These are typically medium to large weddings in which the couple are keen to make a statement about their personal taste and style. Essex, perhaps due to its proximity to London, tends to be highly fashion conscious, with many young couples wanting to incorporate the latest contemporary styles into their wedding design   A style statement wedding could be held anywhere, although they are usually held in large towns close to London, such as Colchester. . Couple will have high expectations, aiming for originality and innovative designs, perhaps to outdo other recent weddings of friends and acquaintances in the area. The ceremony could be held in a church, registry office or at the reception venue, but the reception is likely to be held somewhere trendy or quirky such as Valentines Mansion in Ilford or Crabbs Barn in Kelvedon.   Valentines mansion is around 300 years old and has fabulous period rooms with stunning garden views, while Crabbs Barn dates back to the 15th century and is a lovely restored building set in beautiful grounds with a pond, perfect for the wedding photographs. Wedding flowers for contemporary style statement weddings will typically be simple and tasteful, with fashionable colours and unusual arrangements or accessories designed to create a striking or original effect.

The Boutique Wedding

Boutique weddings tend to be smaller affairs with a quirky but upmarket feel,  with couples aiming for quality rather than quantity. Boutique weddings can be held either in town or rural locations. While the ceremony and reception are usually held in the same location, they are sometimes held at separate venues, especially if the ceremony is held at an outdoor or unusual location. Receptions often take place at unique, intimate venues that are perfectly suited to smaller weddings. Prested Hall is a particularly good location for boutique weddings and was awarded “Boutique Wedding venue of the Year” in the 2012 Essex Wedding awards. Prested Hall offers a choice of three reception rooms or a gazebo in the grounds. Wedding flowers at an Essex boutique wedding may be traditional or contemporary, according to the personal taste of the bride and groom and not necessarily following mainstream fashion.

At Tolly's Flowers we have been arranging stunning flower arrangements for weddings for over 20 years.  We understand how important your wedding day is to you and we do our utmost to ensure that our arrangements meet and exceed your expectations for your perfect day. At Tolly's we cater for all types of wedding flower needs including flowers for the church and reception, wedding car accessories, button holes, corsages, bridal bouquets, table pieces, wedding cake arrangements and gifts . We work closely with the bride and groom to get a true picture of your dream wedding and help to create it accordingly. For the reception we can provide suitable wedding flower arrangements for all types of wedding from small, boutique weddings to large destination venue weddings. We can also provide pew ends, pedestals, table displays and floral entrances arches for the ceremony, whether it be a church or civil wedding.

Wedding Flowers Essex  – Call us today on 01638 668805 or email us through our contact page to arrange your free wedding consultation.