Don't send a boy to do a man's job.

Or alternatively, you buy cheap, you pay twice as my Granny would say.

Mystified? I am.

As to WHY DIDN'T SOME KIND SOUL FORCE ME TO BUY A PAIR OF UGG BOOTS SOONER?

Or was it just me being a bit hard of understanding? Day One at floristry college should have been entitled 'how to keep warm under Baltic conditions'

With a little test afterwards.

Question: when working in a flower shop with a door open and to avoid slipping into a hypothermic coma, does one wear:

A) cheap imitation s**t boots from TK MAXX that cause fallen arches and offer no support whatsoever for three years in a row.
B) trainers with 68 pairs of socks and tights causing restricted bloodflow and risking chilblains.
C) the right tool for the job. A pair of eye wateringly expensive sheepskin boots so vastly overpriced but hell, worth every single penny. And will protect you from the dreaded dropping-the-scissors-on-your-Birkenstock-clad-feet syndrome.

Well the answer is so obviously C but, siiiigh, as with most things, I had to find out the hard way.

Sorry kids, Christmas is cancelled. Watch as I dance around in glee wearing a bikini and a smug grin and just be happy for me that your Christmas present money is well spent.

Here are a few shots of me lovingly rubbin' in the Dubbin.

Most non-flower related post ever. Soz about that.

From Barcombe to Buenos Aires.

When the bride from today's wedding came to visit me for her consultation, she laughed.

Partly from sheer excitement, nerves but mostly just through exuberance. And kept laughing.

And partly because when she told me where her reception was going to be held, I damn near did a cartwheel. Except I can't anymore, too achey.

Anyway, her wedding was taking place at Lewes Town Hall with reception at The Tin Tabernacle in Barcombe.

Ever driven past a place and thought "ooh what a lovely building, I wonder what goes on there?"

Well, I did and have been desperate to get my grubby paws on it ever since. And today was like a dream come true.

Sadly, there was zero time to snap pics of the bouquet ( yes, I am rubbish ) but have been promised pics at later stage.

I did the table flowers in her own vast, painstakingly collected personal collection of tins and retro glassware, an avant garde pedestal of lush autumn foliages, seventy five beautifully laundered and starched ( yep, you read right -STARCHED ) vintage napkins flowers and a mofo of a foliage garland to decorate the door arch.

It was beautiful.

And I don't even know what a tabernacle is and I am not ashamed to admit it. I don't care that I tried to Wikepedia it and fell asleep.

Oh happy day.

http://tintabernacle.com/

Season of mellow mists and all that....

Yeah, never mind that bit, check out the jugs on this!!!

Sorry, I came over all builder-esque then.

This weekends wedding was brought to you courtesy of Borde Hill Gardens in the beautiful Sussex countryside where the bride to be is part of the horticulture team.

Well not all of it. A lot of it was about me, four 12ft birch trees, a lot of ivy and a stonking personal collection of much loved jugs.

Anne's flowers were uncontrived and natural, bursting with the season's best colours and foliages. Green dill, rosehips, hypericum berries, burnt orange roses, crocosmia, rosemary and mint arranged into a jug per table. The birch trees were dressed with pea lights so the effect was like taking a walk through a magical park.

Anne's boss had told her she may take some clippings from Borde Hill for a wedding treat. She chose spindle berry, acer, cotinus, roses, alstromeria and came running in to me, flushed with excitement with armfuls of gorgeousness which we arranged for her.

I would have backed up the JCB and cranked up the industrial strimmer crying 'let 'em have it boys! '.....But I suppose you have to leave some for the paying public. Pah.

Best boss in the world ever?

Probably.

A midwinter wedding.

Sarah and Erik have recently kindly sent me some proper pictures of their wedding day which took place in the first week of January this year. What a wonderful way to start the new year!

They worked tirelessly to create their dream wedding day. As you can imagine, they had to do their normal Christmas, get their breath back then move on to their own nuptials! I am not sure I could have managed that....

I would have cancelled Christmas bah humbug.

Sarah wanted a woodlandy feel so we decided on foliages and enoki mushrooms, candles and white flowers. She had amassed a vast collection of Belvoir cordial bottles, perfect for placing single stems in and their punchy orange and yellow labels brought colour into their table centres. Twiggy textures and blue grey foliages were used for their larger arrangements.

She chose simple personal flowers, a single red rose for herself and her bridesmaids, simple but devastatingly effective as what other single flower is the symbol of love?

The sun shone and Sarah looked beautiful.

Rockin' it on the carousel

Victoria and Martin were delightful. Truly delightful. Sophisticated, stylish and totally on trend.

They had planned a mazillion personal touches for their wedding to the point where Martin has even decided to take up a new career in woodwork, he enjoyed making props so much. Victoria is a professional corporate event planner by trade so the whole planning process was smoooooth.

Victoria had an amazing eye for colour and opted for a palette of watercolour shades, blues, whites and green with vibrant bursts of yellow and acid lime for hers and her bridesmaids' bouquets. A beautiful locket containing photos of loved ones was attached to the bouquet handle with lemon yellow picot edged ribbon.

Martin's buttonhole was a funky number consisting of yellow craspedia and alchemilla set against the background of his warm brown suit.

Love, love, love the pictures of their wedding day with such classic Brighton scenes.

Congratulations again Mr and Mrs Taylor! Xx