Weddings flowers can play such an important part in creating a magical atmosphere on your day, particularly at a small wedding. They will also feature in all your photographs afterwards, so you want to make sure you get them right!
Cat at Tide Flowers has created so many beautiful wedding flower arrangements for Treseren weddings, from statement moongate arches in the gardens to paired back, elegant table displays. We caught up with Cat to learn a little more about her and her business, and to ask for her top tips on where to start when thinking about your wedding flowers.
How do you like to work with couples to create their wedding florals?
I like to create florals that capture your imagination and truly reflect your personal vibe. To do this, it’s really important for me to get to know you a little, so we will always start with a discovery call. I’ll ask about your plans and ideas for the day, how you met, your lifestyle and what sort of atmosphere you want to create for you and your guests. We’ll also discuss any specific floral arrangements you’d like and your ideal budget. This helps me guide you on what’s possible and where we should direct our focus. I’ll then draw up a detailed design proposal for you with full breakdown of costs. This includes florals for all aspects of your day, along with descriptive moodboards to help you really visualise what I hope to achieve.
It can be overwhelming choosing wedding flowers, a vibe or colour scheme. What advice do you have for the best place to start?
Our discovery call is the best place to start! I can guide you as much or as little as you need with the overall look and how it comes together. It’s a meeting of minds and imagination! Sharing a secret Pinterest board is a really useful tool, which I will always recommend. It doesn’t have to be solely flower focussed as inspiration comes from everywhere – our surroundings, the seasons, architecture, literature, interior design, fashion and so on. It’s an excellent resource for colour palettes and overall styling, as well as bouquet styles and floral arrangements. Again, I can guide you on the most useful search terms to use and how to get the best out of the resource. It’s about finding images that draw you in, images that reflect your own style and ideas that you’d love to incorporate.
Do you have a style and if so, how would you describe it?
Left to my own devices, my natural style is quite unstructured and a touch wild. I love to look at the placement of flowers as if they were growing how they would in a garden – they don’t all stand to attention in a symmetrical planned pattern! Some are ‘shy’ and like to hide a little, others are bold and attention seeking, and then there’s the wild ones who just do as they please – climbing to new heights through the foliage or tumbling over the edge of the vase. Every time you look at your bouquet or installation, you should spot something you didn’t see at first glance. Intrigue from every angle.
We love that you put sustainability and the environment at the heart of what you do. Can you talk us through that part of your work?
Even though we work with nature’s produce, the floral industry can be incredibly wasteful, with a huge carbon footprint, and uses a huge amount of products that are so bad for the environment, such as floral foam. When I set up Tide Flowers, I wanted to be as ethical as possible with every aspect of my business. 90% of the flowers I use are grown in the UK (mostly from local Cornish farms and I’ve just started growing myself as well!), the remainder are sourced from Fair Trade farms – especially during the winter months when there is far less availability here. I use sustainable mechanics for all arrangements – no floral foam or single use plastic. Everything can be reused or recycled. Ribbons and styling touches are all 100% natural materials. Green waste goes on the compost at my allotment and any flowers that still have some life left in them after the event are either packaged up for you to take home, or delivered to my local care home for others to enjoy.
Can you talk us through your favourite floral creations from previous weddings at Treseren?
Treseren provides so many options for backdrops and installations it’s hard to choose my favourites! I particularly loved the moongate on the terrace, created for Tom & Megan; and the huge moongate arch on the lawn for Charlotte and Huw. Both very different in style but created wonderful backdrops for their ceremonies and a fab photo opportunity for guests later on. Inside, I love framing the small doors at the end of the ceremony room. It’s such a beautiful way of softening the white walls and connecting the garden beyond. It provides a statement focal point for the ceremony but also acts as a wonderful backdrop to your meal later on, especially with a table filled with flowers that leads your eye all the way down to the end of the room.
I’m really excited by the new pathway you’ve created too… so excited to utilise this space. Imagine it lined with lanterns and flowers – magical!
We love your creation in our new cocktail bar, Loveday’s… the dried flowers really help create the atmosphere. What’s your take on dried versus fresh flowers?
Dried flowers are very much in fashion and I don’t think they’ll be going anywhere anytime soon. They have a totally different vibe to fresh and definitely don’t have to look twee and ‘country’ – used well, they can still look bold and modern. It’s all down to how they’re arranged and what types you use. They have a subtle faded and fragile look, so if this works with your overall vibe and colour scheme for the day, then why not? And of course your bouquet will last for many years as a keepsake.
What do you love most about your job?
Playing my part in a significant and personal life event and creating elements that have such an effect on the atmosphere. Each wedding is so individual, it never gets boring and I love the whole design process. Handing over the bouquet is always such a special moment too. It’s the most nerve wracking and emotional element for me as I can tell in an instant if I’ve nailed the brief or not! Thankfully, it’s always been a gush of sheer relief (and quite often some shared happy tears!).
If you would like to talk to Cat about your wedding flowers, you can get in touch with her here.
Photo Credits
