flowers Archives - The White Emporium

Using pink in your wedding styling…

27th February 2018 by Gemma Leave a Comment

Now I am not a pink girl, I don’t own anything pink and won’t really wear anything pink. But I am currently totally head over heels in love with the colour! This maybe because it is one of the key colours of 2018 and my Instagram feed is filled with it but I just can’t help screen shotting away at all the pink loveliness that is put before me. So this post is going to be on the image heavy side, a real visual delight for this grey Tuesday and a little delve into pink wedding inspiration.

So I thought I would share some of my favourite images with you. When I talk about the pink I am in love with I don’t mean the solid blocks of colour from yester-year I mean the tonal layers, with a

depth and variety that is all mixed together for a feeling that is quite fresh!

Of course flowers and foliage play a huge part in building this vision, and as a styling trend it is one that needs to be accessed as a bigger picture to really create dramatic effect.

Lets start with the florals –

I love a dramatic bouquet and these beauties do not disappoint, I love their effortless, wild style and the depth of texture colour built into them.

Spring Brights – Image found on lamusadelasflores Instagram feed

Textural – Image found on Nicamille Instagram Feed

Floral Pink Loveliness -Image found on Half Penny London Instagram Feed

Move over millennial pink there is a new shade taking over 2018 and it’s all about the peaches, with the Beast from the East blowing a chill and making this feel like a very long winter, the brightness and vibrancy in these tones has got all the spring vibes going. The perfect fresh breath for pink wedding inspiration.

Peachy Floral Dreams – Image from Bride and Tonic Blog

All the pink tones – Image found on Carmela Weddings Instagram Feed

Styling –

We can’t leave out aisle style, I love a good ceremony backdrop and with key textures such as chiffon and velvet dominating the fabric world I can’t think of a more perfect frame to stand in front of than this beautiful setup –

Backdrop love – Image found on Pink by Peach Instagram Feed

I love the grass and dried flower mixes filling my Instagram feed, the delicate feathered floral textures are a fresh way to add a little drama to your tablescape and styling. If you love all things pink then Charlotte Nichols Weddings is a great feed to check out on Instagram.

Delicate and Feathery – Image found on Charlotte Nichols Wedding Instagram Feed

Wedding photography and styled shoots are making a shift towards a slightly harder hitting, dramatic editorial style. With more punchy shots, risque poses and bolder styling choices. There is still a lot of translatable wedding inspiration to be found in these images, I mean how amazing would a setup like the below be on top of a fire place at the bottom of your aisle. I love the mix of the height from the twigs, the contrast in feathery textures and the use of candles.

Get dramatic – Image found on Rose and Bud Perth Instagram Feed

One of key trend directions for 2018 has been the mixing of soft subtle colours with, darker, moodier tones, perfect for low lying displays and a stylists dream as we get to be creative adding into vases and candle sticks. You will be certainly be seeing more of this in some of my weddings coming up this year. Find out about the brass vessels we have available to hire here.

Mix it up – Image found on Nouba Blog

Its not all about the dusky tones, the desert pinks and the peaches, the below shoot as featured on BLoved Blog is a perfect example of a fresh use of Millennial pink, are those chairs not amazing!

Go Bold – Image from BLoved Blog

Fashion –

Bridal fashion doesn’t go untouched, the new Bridesmaids collaboration between Woburn Bridal and Sharon BowenDryden soon to launch at Most Curious Wedding Fair is packed full of soft pink separates perfect for statement making maids!

New kids on the block – Bridesmaid collaboration between Woburn Bridal and Sharon BowenDryden

Flower crowns aren’t going anywhere and the crown designed by The Flower Story as featured in the ‘Bold Woman’ shoot we styled is still one of my favourites. I love the mix of peachy tones and the height!

Image from the Bold Woman styled shoot we worked on. Image by Brightside Photography

Inspiration –

Need a little inspiration, the interior world is full of pink and I love the effortless desert pink hues contrasting against the earthy textures of the wood and pampas grasses in this image below. Inspiration for styling your wedding decor doesn’t just have to come from the traditional wedding blogs, look to interiors, fashion and design blogs for something a little less ordinary.

Desert Pink Tones – Image found on Coco Kelly Blog

Below is the hit list for everything you need to find more pink wedding inspiration. Image sources are listed in the order they appear on the blog.

Lamusadelasflores

Nica Mille

Half Penny London Instagram

Bride and Tonic Blog

Carmela Weddings Instagram

Pink By Peach Instagram

Charlotte Nichols Weddings

Rose and Bud Instagram

Nouba Blog

Bloved Blog

WoburnXBowenDryden

Brightside Photography

Coco Kelley Blog

I hope you have found this little feed of pink wedding inspiration useful and it has your creative pulses raring to go!

Love

Gemma

The White Emporium xxx

Wedding Floral Inspiration 2018

12th January 2018 by Gemma Leave a Comment

Now this is just a very little snippet for some of the floral inspiration in 2018. I love flowers and incorporating them into my styling, both working with trained florists and having a dabble myself, in recent years my tastes have swayed to the wild, natural and untamed. A firm advocator of the home grown I love foraging and the rise of flower farm small holdings. Now flower terminology is not my forte, I can create a stunning display but please don’t ask me to remember flower names, so any florists amongst you reading this blog please don’t call me out on the inaccuracies and just cringe quietly into your cup of tea.

I have also noticed a movement against the word trend, now I believe that weddings should be personal and unique and represent the couple behind them and this is the ethos I use behind all weddings. However trends do exist, trust me after 8 years of being a fashion designer even an anti trend is a trend! So incorporate the elements you want to, in ways you want to, don’t feel pressured into following certain movements just take these ‘trends’ as inspiration and build your wedding your way.

Grasses and Seeds –

This has to be one of my favourite floral movements coming through in floral inspiration 2018, pretty much because its so versatile. Pampas grasses have taken the wedding industry by storm and it’s about time they got some positive press after the whole 70’s swinger innuendos. Fill large glass vessels with tall grasses and exploding seed heads of all shapes and sizes including bamboos and cotton, vintage bottles (which we have loads of Vintage Bottle Hire )look so delicate and light when filled with grass stems and I love the contrast against the cold hard texture of concrete. This is great for the scandi movement and the air of simplicity we see floating across from Europe. Create beautiful airy tablescapes with striking china layered upon crumpled linen table runners.

A mix of grasses both fresh and dried. Image found on Silk and Willow Instagram Page.

Pampas Chandelier by http://marylennox.de/

Full of seed and bud goodness. From one of my favourite floral designers… Soil and Stem

Simplicity is beautiful, Image Source Unknown

Moody Mixes –

Probably the complete opposite of the above trend, here comes the dark and dramatic. Use bold floral choices and unusual flower combos, mix rich hues with soft undertones, orchids with roses, pale pinks with dark mauves and highs with lows. This is a kind of everything goes trend, as long as there is an underlying dark tone running through the florals then this is your chance to be bold and dramatic. Perfect for intense back drops and floral installations.

Bouquet by Floraeforay http://floraeforay.co.uk/

Look at that height! Image found on The Bridal Theory

Mix colours and unusual flower combos. Image found on Rose and Bud Insta page.

Delicate –

Pairing it all back to the simplistic vibes, the need for neutrals and airiness is running through a lot of home décor trends at the moment. Plants such as honesty have been popping up all over Instagram and the emergence of dried flowers and grasses have been filling my screen shots folder. Think about dried flower boquets, head pieces, backdrops and place settings. I love the depth of texture created when using dried foliage, perfect for layering over rustic tables and fabric runners. What’s not to love, especially when we have hundreds of various rustic and unique bottles waiting to be filled with something beautiful!

Dried Bouquet Image found on https://www.fairmavenfloral.ca/

Image Source Unknown for this beautiful dainty bloom.

Another from one of my favourite Instagram feeds… Silk and Willow.

One of my favourite plants! Image found on The Lane Wedding Inspiration

The amazing thing about social media, is the whole wealth of inspiration out there, I have more screen shots on my phone than photos, so don’t be afraid to step outside of the ‘norm’ when looking at floral inspiration 2018. There’s going to be so much beauty gracing our screens this year!

My next blog post will be looking at some key colours coming through this year.

Have a lovely weekend.

Gemma xxx

The White Emporium

Image Links top to bottom –

Silk and Willow Instagram

Mary Lennox

Soil and Stem Instagram

Florae Foray

The Bridal Theory

Rose and Bud Instagram

Fair Maven Floral

The Lane Wedding Inspiration

Take one milk churn…

25th January 2016 by Gemma 2 Comments

Take one simple milk churn and pack it full of flowers and the look is truly schmazzzzziiinnngggg! Please can I get married again!

I love the height you can get from these arrangements and how they can be filled with the brightest of colours, creating real breath taking displays. Surely a flower arrangers dream!

This is a short but sweet post, there is no point in my crazy ramblings the photos are going to do all the talking!

Image from 29gallery.co.uk

Image from amydwyerflorist.com

Image from rockmy wedding.com

Image from passionforflowers.net

Image from onefabday.com

For more inspiration follow me on Pinterest – https://uk.pinterest.com/whiteemporium/ I can promise a lot of milk churn and general relaxed rustic love!

Love Gemma xxx

The White Emporium

A Beautiful White Affair

15th January 2016 by Gemma Leave a Comment

One of my favourite things about my job is getting to work with some super talented suppliers on styled shoots. Today I am going to share with a beauty of a gem, perfect for cheering up this very cold day. Back in May 2014 we created an effortlessly beautiful look which took full advantage of the lush green backdrop. The first look saw our bride and groom embrace under a natural arbor complimented with a love quote plaque and candles (frequent followers will know I have a candle obsession). The bride had a stunning relaxed bun up-do decorated with flowers. Her dress was trimmed with beads and featured a small train, perfect for the relaxed feel.

Our couple dined at a table brimming with eucalyptus and brass candlesticks, gip filled the mini glass vases and rustic Mr and Mrs hand painted signs hung from the chairs.

With the beautiful setting it would have been rude not to take advantage of the outdoors so we created a picnic, which has to be the ultimate in relaxed wedding dining.

White was our non-colour of choice, it really pops against the green and the beautiful relaxed hand tied bouquet was to die for!

The second look saw the bride in a short lace and loose waved hair, the groom looked dapper in shirt and braces. 2016 is all about signage and our Mr and Mrs signs and chalk boards provide amazing photo props.

I love the intimate feel of this shoot and how in love the couple look. When I style shoots I love to help create the relaxed vibe that was over whelming on this gorgeous day.

I hope you love it as much as I do.

Here is the full list of suppliers, they are all amazing –

Photography: www.summerlilystudio.com

https://www.nikkismoments.com/

https://www.sungblue.com/

https://www.loveandlifestudio.co.uk/

Hair: www.updosbynatasha.co.uk

Make Up: www.facebook.com/makeupbymackenziekate

Styling little old Me!: www.thewhiteemporium.co.uk

Flowers: Wood View Floral Designs – lesleymutz@hotmail.co.uk

Cake: www.icakeyou.co.uk

Stationery: www.karleegould.co.uk/

Accessories: www.somethingnewsomethingblue.co.uk

Happy Weekend

Gem xxx

The White Emporium

What’s going to Rock 2016!

27th December 2015 by Gemma Leave a Comment

So as everyone sits in a mince pie induced coma in their brand new Christmas pj’s here’s a little evening reading to keep you entertained. Scarily 2016 is only a few more sleeps away so what better way to welcome the new year than to highlight a few of the key wedding trends for the upcoming season.

1 – First on our list are oversized bouquets – filled full of luscious greenery, statement blooms and tied with strands of ribbons, hand tied bouquets got a whole lot more jaw dropping. Straight from the styled photoshoots these bouquets pair perfectly with a vintage inspired dress guaranteed to help make an impact and add that additional wow factor to your photos.

Oversized Bouquets – Images from various sources

2 – Next up its time to start thinking out of the box for your welcome drinks, get crafty and reflect your personality with decadent cocktails, get creative with White Russians and Porn Star Martinis (my absolute new found favourite, the passion fruit counts as one of your 5 a day right?). Adorn with herbs, fruits and berries, rim glasses with sugar or glitter and pour into vintage glasses or modern copper highballs. Display on trays filled with flowers, surrounded by candles for a breath taking welcome drinks tablescape. Can’t decide on one cocktail why not allow guests to mix up their own, what better way to get your guests stuck into your day.

Decadent Cocktails – Photos from various sources.

3 – 2016 is the year of the doughnut, personally I’m not a fan unless filled with jam but I love the idea! Ditch the traditional wedding cake and serve guests mountains of mini doughnuts instead. A new take on the favour provide each guest with their own little box of batter Krispy Crème style! Alternatively get a bit retro and fill paper cones full of mini doughnuts as an alternative to canapés.

Doughnuts – Photos from various sources

4 – It may be the penultimate but it’s my favourite – breath taking lighting (don’t pack away your Christmas lights just yet). String barns full of festoon lights, fill rooms full of candles and string fairy lights from tree’s. Less definitely is not more where lights are concerned in 2016 . I love the idea of festoon strung back drops and dance floors canopied with lanterns and fairy lights and that hanging light topped table scape is to die for!

Lighting

5 – Is a look at one of the new colour palettes for the season and it’ time to get a little dark and moody. Greys, midnight navys and indigos provide a moody breath-taking base with which to contrast golds and coppers against.

Dark Palettes, photos from various sources.

Drop us an email for ways we can help you incorporate the above trends.

Happy New Year to you all and I will see you in 2016!

Love Gem xxx

The White Emporium

Copper Crazy

21st December 2015 by Gemma Leave a Comment

I have found myself with a spare few minutes! Crazy I know! So here is a short but sweet blog!

I have realised I have gone a little copper crazy in the images I have been liking and pinning so thought I should put them to good use and show you lovely lot what I have been drooling over.

I don’t think there is currently such a thing as too much copper!

Have a look at the below mood board and judge for yourself, I especially love the use of copper pots and candlesticks as table centers

Hope this provides a little bright inspiration into this dull and wet day!

Love Gem

The White Emporium xxx

Spring Country Wedding Styled Shoot

12th June 2015 by Gemma Leave a Comment

Oooppps been a month since our last blog post! Life at The White Emporium has been non stop and manic but in a good way so please forgive us for the absence.

But we have something below certainly worth waiting for!

A couple of weeks ago we took part in another styled wedding shoot with a band of amazing wedding photographers. The look was a summer country wedding, the feel was fresh and airy. There was crispness in the styling with only white flowers contrasting against beautiful greenery and eucalyptus, the only real use of colour came from gold highlights in the invites and styling accessories. May sees an abundance of Cow Parsley which makes for a dreamy back drop.

The table was dressed with vintage linen and accessorized with brass candlesticks and glass tealights. I love the idea of stand out plates, (I wish I had thought of interesting plates for my own wedding plain white just looks so boring now!) so we found some beautiful gold rimmed, dinner and side plates, you can create some really beautiful table settings with a few simple touches and we tied a few sprigs of greenery in with the knife and fork.

The second look saw the bride and groom heading to a vintage picnic complete with crates and slate boards. This idea can easily be translated into a cheese table or why not have welcome drinks in a picnic setting.

At The White Emporium we have a wide selection of chalk boards and love nothing better than a good love quote. Don’t miss these below!

Check out the beautiful striped cake, i love this idea what a way to make a unexpected impact and how amazing do the flowers look on top!

Finally the group of lovely photographers whose photos are below are super talented, they all have a slightly different style to their technique make sure you hope over to their websites for full photos don’t forget to check out all the other suppliers below who worked on this beautiful shoot!

Credits:

Photography: www.summerlilystudio.com

http://www.sungblue.com/

http://www.nikkismoments.com/

**Also Laura Mutz

Hair: www.updosbynatasha.co.uk

Make Up: www.facebook.com/makeupbymackenziekate

Flowers: Wood View Floral Designs – lesleymutz@hotmail.co.uk

Cake: www.icakeyou.co.uk

Stationery: www.karleegould.co.uk/

Accessories: www.somethingnewsomethingblue.co.uk

Love Gemma

The White Emporium xxx

Bunting Love….

29th April 2015 by Gemma Leave a Comment

I am a dab hand with a sewing machine and bunting is one of my favourite things to make. It is such a versatile way to add colour and height into a room.

Weddings are getting more and more creative and the decoration more unique and colourful with every issue of Brides Magazine you pick up. So I thought I would share with you my top 5 favourite alternative bunting ideas.

In at number 5 – Lace and crochet bunting (did I mention we stock lace bunting)

Watch the light fall beautifully through the dainty lace fabrics. Crochet doilies and the more traditional lace triangle flags are a must have for summer weddings. Perfect for woodland blessings and old barns.

Found in the littleweddinghelper

Found on ETSY

Closely following behind at number 4 is bunting made from pine cones and ribbon. Effortlessly rustic and simple, it is a great for those who love the idea of a DIY wedding. I love the idea of mixing this with rag bunting which you can never have enough of!

No 3 – Photo Bunting! This can be incorporated in so many ways. why not make garlands adorned with images of you growing up as a child surrounded by all your friends and family. Or use it as part of a guest book, hire a Polaroid camera and encourage guests to snap away and then add the Polaroid onto the bunting. It will serve as a great time line for how the night evolves.

Image found on bespoke bride

No 2 is Big, Bright and beautiful flower garlands. String carnations ( a relatively in expensive flower) across your venue and watch the colours pop! Or string them vertically to create a sumptuous back drop.

Image found on Hello May

And my all time Summer 2015 bunting idea is…. Lampshades! A key trend for SS15 is bringing the inside out, perfect for creating a unique area. I love how the image below shows them strung from trees, imagine a relaxed seating area below and you instantly have the most sought after wedding vibe!

Image from the wedding community

We have some photo shoots coming up and hopefully we will try and include some of these beautiful ideas.

You can’t beat a bit of Wednesday hump day inspiration!

Love

Gemma xxx

The White Emporium

Flower Love

20th February 2015 by Gemma Leave a Comment

Feeling a little nostalgic today, so was taking a trip down memory lane and found the inspiration board for my wedding flowers. I loved my flowers and I still love these images. I wanted the vintage colours but contrasted them with the bold pops of colour like the bright pink, deep purple and corn flower blue. If I do say so myself they looked pretty amazing! (I know very modest). I was lucky that The White Emporiums number one fan (my mum) has a natural talent for flower arranging, she translated my ideas for the venue and church beautifully, everywhere you looked there was a little floral display. Fortunately my florist Elaine was also on the same wave length and the bouquets and buttons holes fitted in perfectly with the venue displays.

Flowers by my very talented mum x

Flowers by my very talented mum x

Flowers by my very talented mum x

Flowers by my very talented mum x

Bouquet by Elaine

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Bouquet by Elaine

Hopefully this board of lovely colour will brighten up your day, my little trip down memory lane has put a smile on my face.

P.S – If you need a little flower inspiration head To Liberty’s of London the florist there is amazing!

My wedding bouquets were created by Elaine at http://www.elainesturges.co.uk/

Photos by Two-D: http://www.two-d.co.uk/

Happy Flower Planning!

Love Gemma

The White Emporium xxx

How to incorporate metal ware…

16th January 2015 by Gemma Leave a Comment

When I was planning my own wedding I collected and found lots of beautiful metal and tin items, many were found buried in sheds and green houses. Long had they been forgotten, left out in the elements to weather and age beautifully! I loved the wear on them, the hints of rust and distress, I just had to incorporate them into my day. As a bride it can be quite difficult to picture these alternative wedding items into your big day so I thought I would share with you some of my favourite images that will help to inspire you.

Flowers look great displayed in tin buckets, my particular favourites are the gyp and lavender, what a beautiful colour scheme the ivory, purple and grey makes.

Found on g-style.blogspot

Layering items together to create a feature make for lovely photo back drops, it also provides a great space for displaying flowers. I’m in love with the below image and hope to use it as inspiration for the display at our next wedding fair.

found on arquitetura-pessoal.tumblr.com

It’s not just buckets and baths that can be used as decoration, why not display your flowers in watering cans and milk urns. The pink roses in the below image add an excellent colour pop.

found on fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net

found on dreamywhites.blogspot.ca

At our wedding we used tin baths and buckets to display the welcome drinks and keep them cool. They make excellent photos and provide a great talking point. OI love the below ideas of storing the sparklers in for a sparkler send off and blankets to keep guests warm, perfect for outside orientated weddings.

Photo by two-d photography

found on weddinginspire.com

found on sherricassaradesigns.com

I hope this gives you some food for thought and a little bit of inspiration.

Love

Gemma

The White Emporium xxx