What a project to work on!! A wedding in Christchurch!  The last wedding held in Christchurch before this one was 3 years ago, and that was a choir member’s! Lorraine and I were part of a team of 3 – the third being Margo Mulvihill who had been dealing with the bride and groom.  RosieDays were asked on board at a late stage, with just 4 weeks to go before the wedding !

Sunday (6 days to go) midnight saw the arrival of the sundries, gladiolies and greenery from Holland and I got to work trimming the glads and getting the greenery into water.  Tuesday: Lorraine and I got to work – soaking the oasis and prepping the dishes, and if you’ve ever wondered how many blocks of oasis fits in a bath?? Well the answer is 20 !

Wednesday: 9 crates of Flowers arrived from Holland at 9pm. 2.5 hours later Lorraine and I have them conditioned and ready to go!

And so….we get to work !! First things first, everything to be greened up ! Margo and I got to work, Margo started doing the candelabra centrepieces and I got the aisle stands completed and ready for flowers.
The next thing on my list – the 4 Hydrangea “Topiaries” – The Bride and Groom had requested lots of hydrangeas – and so they got them The 4 topiaries were destined for the long hallway between the drinks reception area and the main reception area at No. 6.

We were also asked to do a memorial arrangement for a relative of the groom – specifically using carnations..and so I suggested something a bit different, to tie in with the topiaries we were making for the reception, as the memorial arrangement would be brought to the venue also. I started first by covering the base with Ruscus and Green Hypericum Berries, created the stake and then filled a pomander ball with dozens of white carnations.

Next item on the list : Display for table in reception of No. 6 – The Groom spotted arrangements of Hydrangea he fancied in the Shelbourne, so duly armed with a photo I got to work. I wanted to put a RosieDays spin on it so we packed 4 heads of Hydrangea into 3 tall cylindrical frosted glass vases, tied 3 heads with the plum ribbon and put them in to display on a height, then the fishbowls we handtied bouquets of Limonium “Hot Pink”, tied, of course with the plum ribbon that was the colour of the day! in the base of the bowl we placed loose sprigs of limonium and alchemilla Mollis.

Lorraine worked on the 4 long dishes of roses for the 2 fireplaces in the drinks reception area – dishes were lined with large formium leaves (all the way from the parents garden in Donegal!) and filled with oasis. Sweet and white avalanche roses were clipped short and packed into the oasis, and some beargrass threaded with pearls added as a final detail.

For cake topper I used a mix of sweet and white avalanche with diamontes.

Then I got started on the first of the church pedestals. The Groom specifically requested modern style arrangements so I got started on two L shaped arrangements for the beginning of the aisle, these would then be moved to the base of the staircase in No.6. I used Double Delphinium, Stock, white lisianthus, limonium leaves, Brilliant White and pink Hydrangea, white avalanche roses and hard ruscus.
Lorraine completed the Aisle Stand arrangements – filler of soft ruscus and lots of white flowers – white dahlias, akito roses and freesias.

And so, the work continued. More pedestals – this time for the alter area. 3 Modern arrangements were requested. So I got to work, setting up all three on pedestals so to work simultaneously.  For these arrangements I used Double Delphinium for height and filled with lisianthus, stock, avalanche roses and of course, the white and pink hydrangea to give a wonderfully full centre. For the alter arrangement I used the same flowers, in a different style, giving separate groupings of each flower.

The bouquets (my favourite bit) were completed last but not least! The Bridal Bouquet I assembled using white and sweet avalanche with diamonte pins and a ruscus collar. The bridesmaids were a mix of the same flowers with ruscus collars and the pomander a mix of lisianthus, hydrangea and roses.