Craspedia Billy Balls, Don't Panic Lads It's A Type Of Flower

Craspedia Billy Balls, OK so it does sound a bit weird perhaps a bit like something you would order from a take-a-way but in reality Billy Balls are a lovely sculpture like flower that makes us smile and everyone needs a free smile on a Monday morning! We hope they make you smile.

This picture definitely makes them stand out well but to be fair they always tend to stand out as they are so unusual, the wedding we photographed them at had them as simple centre piece flowers on the tables for the wedding breakfast they looked fab! So simple but effective... and yellow too bang on trend for 2012.

Wedding Picture of the day #129

So we've had a very busy weekend, not photographing weddings but doing portrait sessions for previous wedding clients which was really nice, it's so good to catch and hear all the gossip since their weddings.

We did a family shoot on Saturday morning for Rachael & Christian whose wedding we photographed last year, so we thought we'd pick a picture from their wedding and here's one of Rachael looking amazing against a cool Northamptonshire Stone wall!

Inspiring bouquets with a twist!

There are so many gorgeous flowers you can have in your bouquet its hard to decide where to start. You may have some favourites which remind you of your childhood, visiting your grandparents garden or a place you would visit on family holidays. Check out our previous blog entry here to see some of our favourite bouquets from past weddings.

If you are looking for some ideas from across the pond  here are some great bouquets we have found on the fab blog Green Wedding Shoes.

And if you are looking for something a little more unusual than why not incorporate some veg into your bouquet! Check these out...

Above using green artichoke mixed with ornamental kale, dill, pretty blue thistles and some ranunculus.

Here the florist has used some baby purple artichokes from the local farmers market

And this is just ornamental kale! Lovely colours for a truely individual look.

Special thanks for Green Wedding Shoes and their photographers for the images above.

Wedding Picture of the Day #104

A fab shot from a civil partnership wedding we photographed last year. We just love the colours and the milky vintage quality this image has.

*Latest Work* Military Wedding at Hambledon Church & Reception at Greenlands Henley

 

Check out Greenlands wedding venue details here

Picture of the Day #92

Taken at a wedding these poppy seed heads just caught our eye because of the lovely range of colours, and we thought you could all do with some nice colours on such a boring grey day!

Picture of the day #88

It's raining a bit here at Lord&Leverett HQ so we needed something to cheer us up and this Lavender shot is the perfect cure for a rainy day!

Picture of the Day #62

A very proud father and his daughter shortly before entering the church. Sophie was having a few final adjustments whilst her dad held her flowers. He looked at me and struck this pose. It makes us smile every time we see it.... what more can you say?

*Introducing Floribundi* Great Wedding Flowers Ideas!

 Another glorious weekend, another beautiful wedding.....  every wedding is special, unique and beautiful, and as a wedding florist, Floribundi just love it when the flowers bring all the plans together. Some brides come with very specific ideas, pantone colours, fabric swatches and a plethora of images cut from magazines, and some just come and say "I don't really know much about flowers" - that's what makes our job so satisfying, taking those blank expressions, collected ideas and everything in between and creating that special touch to the day with beautiful blooms and heavenly scents.

©Lord&Leverett

This year we have definitely seen some distinctive "trends", one being vintage - a gorgeous theme to interpret with flowers such as; vintage roses, huge hydrangea heads, tuberrose and touches of vintage jewels.  Some specific roses I would recommend if this is the look you are trying to create is Memory lane - a soft pinky lilac that has the most amazing full bloom as it opens fully and then hypnose a dirty pink/brown which coupled with crisp cream or pink creates a fabulous vintage feel, at the moment there are of course wonderful peonies too, with their blousy petals and pastel shades, perfect for that vintage feel.  To really bring in the vintage feel, for your "something borrowed" how about getting a broach from an older relative and using it to create that special feature on your hand tied bouquet - this is such a personal touch and really works, just don't forget to remove the broach before you throw the bouquet and it's gone to the next hopeful bride !!   - to finish the vintage look - don't forget candles, candles, candles........

©Floribudi

Another strong colour trend we are seeing this year is "blue" - every shade from pastel, through aqua to deep midnight and all the shades in between.  Bridesmaids in blue are bang on trend for 2011 !!!   Working with flowers in blue there are restrictions as there are less options available than in say pink or ivory - however, fear not, we have suggestions - we especially lovce to include some of the gorgeous shades of blue that come from Agapanthus, Delphiniums, Gentiana and ofcourse the erynigium (thistle) for a funky look.  Of course if you are having blue and want something a little less traditional - try pairing it with a gorgeous orange, zingy lime or deep red - all will look fab and are just a few of our favourite recommendations to complete your theme.

Whilst we talk colour, one wedding that really sticks in our minds for pushing the boundary on colour and really working was hot pink and orange - this was achieved by using two types of rose - Cherry Brandy - a gorgeous orange and pink rose and Milano an equally gorgeous dark pink rose.  So don't be afraid to think outside the box, nature made our gardens in every shade of colour and not many clash when it comes to flowers... so talk to your florist about colours and the complimentary options on the colour wheel and what flowers will bring warmth, youth or sentiment to your chosen theme.

Flowers are our passion, and we love taking your ideas and bringing them to life for your big day, we treat every wedding like it was our own, paying attention to every last detail, beit colour, sentiment, environment and theme, and making sure you maximise your budget on flowers whilst maximising their impact - flowers can take a room from bland to grand and we love that journey.

©Lord&Leverett

A word from Mark & Tris.

A big thank you to Tracey from Floribudi for sharing her great ideas about wedding flowers, we worked with Tracey last year and were very impressed with her flowers they were just perfect and we lost count of the adoring comments from guests throughout the day! 

We stumbled across some interesting articles about the meanings behind using certain flowers and they're worth a look, we think this will be more and more popular in coming years especially as Kate Middleton went in for making sure her flora all had relevance for the Royal Wedding. 

Flower Meanings

Kate Middleton's Flower Meanings

©Lord&Leverett

Picture of the day #5

We love the expressions in this group shot everyone looks so happy, this kind of informal group is our favourite sort of group shot. Our vintage look tweak to the colours gives the image a different feel which seems to suit it well.

Picture of the week

What a dress!!! What a wedding!!! more images here from this wedding in the future.

Just some of the beautiful flowers we have photographed this year...

From the simplest of roses, the wonderful smell of Lily of the valley to the delicate orchids. Your flowers will be one of these decisions you make that will really make a difference to your day and the photographs.

After several years of shooting weddings we have seen a lot of flowers from the home picked flowers to the most decedent of arrangements lavishly filling churches, marquees and reception venues.

Here are a few of our top tips to make sure your wedding flowers look fantastic in your photographs.

Choose a good florist who can get the flowers you want when you want them. Not all flowers are available all year round so if you have a favourite flower make sure it’s available for your wedding date.

Many couples give their mums flowers on their wedding day during the speeches, although this is a lovely idea think if where all of the table flowers will go after the wedding? Why not give your mums a lovely picture of the two of you from your pre wedding shoot instead?

When you are holding your bouquet on your wedding day try and not hold it too high as it will often cover the detail on your wedding dress.

Throwing your bouquet? A popular tradition that many brides still do; however throwing a bouquet to some over eager single friends could result in a damaged bouquet. A lot of brides like to keep their flowers and have them dried or freeze dried so the flowers have to remain looking good. If you do intend throwing your prized bouquet why not have a smaller one made up for the purpose of throwing?

If you think you may be tearful on your wedding day and have a white bouquet, why not push a white tissue to handkerchief into your bouquet just incase its needed during the vows by you or your partner?

Often grooms, best men and ushers do not know how to put their button holes in. Why not give them some pointers before the day?

Flower arrangements on tables are a must. However, from experience guests will prefer lower arrangements so they can talk over the flowers and not be hidden behind it from people on the other side of the table. Also, in terms of photography it is far better for photographers to photograph the speeches and peoples expressions with lower arrangements.

Give your flower girls baskets of petals to give out to guests after the ceremony for the guests to throw at you instead of confetti.

Some flowers are much more delicate than others and certain flowers can look limp and tired before all of the photographs have been taken. Lily of the valley, although one of our favourites does tend to go droopy if it’s a warm day. Peonies, another of our favourites look stunning in pictures but can be delicate especially if you intend throwing your bouquet. Roses are pretty robust and withstand the events better than most.

Petals were handed out in these baskets for guests to throw as confetti