On the 9th April 2010, Karen & Stephen were married in the picturesque Balheery Church in Swords, followed by a reception in Roganstown House Hotel,  and I learned that I really, really need to get a Sat Nav for my car!

Lorraine was doing another delivery in Foxrock in the van (with our Sat Nav) so I had to rely on my iphone “Map” App, which is usually reliable!! The trusty iphone brought me right to the doors of Karen and Stephen’s house for Bouquet and Buttonhole delivery….and then the fun began!

But first – the bouquets! Karen’s 2 Bridesmaids wore deep purple, one shouldered dresses, and she had asked us for purple calla lillies to be used in the bouquets! I love working with something a little different so this was a nice challenge! For the bridal bouquet – we handtied together deep and light purple toned calla lillies, with some crystal blush and highwood white lillies mixed throughout.  We didn’t use any greenery, instead showing off the beautiful shape of the lillies, the stems were covered with ivory satin ribbon and finished with a satin bow and diamonte detail.

The bridesmaids bouquets were a mix of white and purple calla lillies, and deep purple and white lisianthus – a fluffy contrast to the slim and elegant lillies – a little bit different to the “standard” mixed bouquet! These were finished with deep purple satin to match the bridesmaids dresses and diamonte pin detailing. The Groom wore a double lily buttonhole and the rest of the gents wore a rose with deep purple lisianthus. For the mums, we made corsages that were attached to their handbags.

In the Church – Balheery Church in Swords (which my trusty Maps App brought me too without a glitch!!) we placed a pair of wrought iron candelabra either side of the alter, with trailing floral centrepieces filled with lillies, roses, lisianthus and trailing italian ruscus. We decorated the pews with Ivory Tulle, calla lillies and gypsophilia. A pair of Bay Trees at the front entrance finished off the RosieDays treatment!

And then to Roganstown…now, apparantly there are 2 Roganstown Hotels in Swords, according to my Maps App anyway! After 20 minutes of sitting in bumper to bumper traffic in Swords village to arrive out on the Malahide Road..I remembered I had seen “Roganstown” near to Balheery on the Map!! So about a mile down the Malahide Road, I pulled in and searched again, lo and behold I was 20 minutes in the wrong direction! (Meanwhile Lorraine is happily having no issues with our Sat Nav in the Van!!) I went back the way I came, 25 minutes in traffic again through Swords Village (with a quick pit stop for a calming diet coke!) and I was on my way! Approximately 50 minutes after leaving the Church I arrived to the Hotel! Luckily, I had left oodles of time to set up the candelabra and wasn’t too stressed!

I have to thank Nikolei here for his amazing help transporting the candelabra up to the ballroom for me, individually they are heavy, in crates of 4 very, very heavy! The hotel staff were hard at work setting up the ballroom and I got to it straight away, placing the candelabra on our mirrored bases and setting the goldfish bowls with vanda orchids (supplied by MadFlowers to the Hotel) around the mirrored base. The overall effect was fantastic!

To finish off this entry and my calamities with directions, as I was leaving the hotel to go and collect the Bay Trees and Large Candelabra to bring back for the Reception, I noticed some cars coming in the opposite direction to which I had travelled from, I spotted ladies dressed in what looked like “wedding attire” and thought that maybe I could get to the church in that direction.

It turns out, Balheery Church is literally 5 minutes away from Roganstown.

Now, i’m off to research the best Sat Nav system for my car!