Tropical Flower Cocktails

Aloha!

On a rainy day like this we thought we’d invite you to come with us on a journey, to a little tropical island, surrounded by clear blue sea.

Imagine yourself lying on hot sand surrounded by palm trees, scented flowers and lush foliage. A pure breeze ruffles your hair and you slowly sip your cold cocktail…

… yes, at Your London Florist we’re still in holiday mode. Summer might be coming to an end, but we just want to keep on dreaming, and today we want you to dream along with us as we visit flower paradise!

A short while back we had the pleasure of creating flower arrangements for an OK! Magazine private party. We were asked to design flower arrangements inspired by cocktails, and you know what? We loved every sip of it! Have a look what we created:

Mojito

Green anthuriums, palm leaves, exotic cymbidium orchids and moluccella, mixed with some mint and of course – a dash of lime juice to finish.

Blue Monday

In this all-blue sea cocktail we used hydrangeas, delphiniums, agapanthus and very unusual dendrobium orchids.

Pina colada

Ah, funky pina colada – dreamy pineapple eremurus, celosia, bird of paradise (because pina coladas somehow always remind us of those days in paradise) with a cherry on top.

Adam’n’Eve

His and hers, the creation. Fiery gentle gloriosa and hypericum complemented with strong bamboo. But of course, it’s all about strawberry base line.

Strawberry Daiquiri

Calla lilies, pink flamingo anthuriums, kniphopia, gloriosa lilies and cheeky strawberry skewers to seduce your lips.

Let us know which one is your favourite by leaving a reply below! And when you realise that the grey London sky doesn’t inspire the day-dreamer in you, you can order on line for your dinner table centre piece, as a unique gift, or simply to entertain at your bikini party!

Just choose your favourite flower cocktail and start dreaming, because this tropical arrangement could be standing right by you in your own little paradise.

Let the holiday begin (and never end)!

Isabel&Frank’s Big Day at The Chiswick House

While summer is treating us with the best that Nature can offer – plentiful greens, wild grasses and flowers of all the colors in the rainbow we visit memory lane and one of the weddings we did last summer… nostalgic with a touch of vintage feel, yet very elegant classic whites and dusty pinks with silver foliage, strings of pearl and candle lights – it’s a wedding of childhood dreams.

Our wonderful couple Isabel and Frank couldn’t have chosen a better venue for their dreamy wedding – The Chiswick House and Gardens. This Palladian villa was inspired by ancient Roman architecture and built in the seventeenth century together with breathtaking gardens which are considered to be one of the earliest examples of an English landscaped garden. Stunning garden views together with our flower arrangements reminiscent of days gone by, carried everyone away with memories of the first love, romantic long walks and dreams about The One.

Once again we witnessed that combination of an amazing venue together with a brilliant team of wedding planners – Just as Planned can make any wedding vision come true. It was our pleasure to work with Mati – such a charismatic, lovely and talented young lady who knows everything there is to know about planning your special day. And of course, when your dream needs to be captured by a professional photographer – Photography by Abi is just what you need. Dream on!

Elegant wedding at “Botleys Mansion”

Fran and Jamie’s wedding swept us over to a beautiful venue in Surrey – “Botleys Mansion” – a grand 18th Century Palladian country mansion surrounded by extensive and beautiful parkland grounds.

Fran had a clear vision of which flowers she likes, and which ones would suit the venue perfectly. She chose white and pink dainty flowers to create an elegant look. We used a selection of roses, ranunculus, freesia, eustoma and spray roses with neat foliages like dill, brunia, eucalyptus and trailing jasmine.

Besides bridal flowers and table centerpieces we decorated the seating plan, hat hanger (brilliant idea to keep your big hats and fascinator) and the gorgeous cake in flowers.

Thank you to Wendy Aldiss Photography for capturing our work.

 

Country wedding at the Manor Barn

I love working with seasonal flowers. So it was such a joy when Kathryn asked for daffodils, tulips, ranunculus and other bulb flowers to use for her and Roberto’s wedding at the beginning of March. The lucky couple got married in a lovely village church in Cambridgeshire, followed by a wonderful reception at a stunning venue – The Manor Barn – a unique old barn just 20mins away from Cambridge.

Kathryn loves colours, so we made a really colourful loose bridal bouquet with a selection of spring flowers. To complement the bridesmaids dark purple dresses we arranged for them to carry bright yellow posy bouquets. For the flower girls we created flower circlets using ranunculus, narcissus and lavender foliage.

To add some colour into the stone built church we tied spring posies in jam jars to the each of the pew ends. At the venue we hung lilac/purple bunting and an innovative seating plan! Instead of a traditional seating plan Kathryn came up with the idea to use a ladder, with the guest table lists marked onto antique juice bottles filled with scented yellow narcissus. For the guest tables we created miniature English gardens – herbs planted in a aged terracotta pots, ceramic birds, daffodils in mossed planters, and a selection of jam jars and miniature bottles with bright spring flowers sprightly popping out of them.

It was such a pleasure to be a part of this beautiful country wedding. The sweet couple gave out Sunflower and Wildflowers seeds for us to take home to remember their special day. So, today was a perfect day to start sowing! Hopefully in a few months we’ll see a results, and remember their gorgeous wedding day!

A big THANK YOU to Lyndsey from Lyndsey Challis Photography for letting us share her beautiful work (and giving us a helping hand at the venue)! 

Easter Nest

We do love Christmas – pine trees, door wreaths, and pine garlands hanging on the fireplace. We even start to decorate our houses as early as November. You transform your house into something magical!

But don’t forget about celebrating Spring, and especially Easter. The first daffodils, the fresh green grass, white cherry blossom trees… the start of a new year!

So it would be a treat for me to show you how to make an Easter nest table arrangement, which you can use as your table centrepiece.

To make the nest base you will need wire ring, moss, reel wire, pussy willows and twigs.

Entwine the moss around the metal ring and add branched twigs. Then entwine the pussy willow twigs around the circle to make a nest base.

To give some colour to our twiggy nest we use spring bulbs and a selection of cut flowers such as bright yellow narcissus and paper whites. To keep them fresh you embed mini glass bottles filled with water, so you can keep changing the flowers on your wreath.

There you have your own Easter table arrangement. Good Luck!

Valentine’s day cliche

February – cold, wet and usually miserable time of the year. Did you know that in February we have “Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day” (first Saturday of the month) – not a brilliant idea if it’s -10C outside, “Kite Flying Day” (8th of February) – excuse me! Are all the Summer days already booked up?! And the best one – “Don’t Cry over Spilled Milk Day” (11th of February) – is in recognition of everyone who spills a little bit of milk every now and then 🙂 It’s a day to  be optimistic, think positive, look on the bright side, and to find something good in everything that happens. I do like this day! From now one I’m going to celebrate it!

And then there is 14th of February – St. Valentine’s Day – you love it or hate it! But why not – why not to make it the LOVE day – let’s celebrate love! It’s so amazing to see an older gent coming to our shop and asking for a bunch of flowers for his beloved wife – she probably doesn’t even remember that it’s Valentines Day – but what a surprise when she opens the door and will see her husband for 45 years standing with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and big red heart balloon – isn’t it sweet…

So why be anti-Valentines day? I do understand that the cost of flowers increase on this day and you get frustrated at having to pay more than usual. Unfortunately because of high demand, flower growers put their prices up – so it affects us – the florists. But we will still do everything possible to make them beautiful and affordable! And why not support your local florist at least once a year.

So please spread the Love and be Happy!!!!

You can buy Valentine’s Day bouquets at our online shop www.YourLondonFlorist.co.uk or just give us a call 0208 920 3713 and speak with our trusted florist team (shown artistically modelling their own bouquets in these Valentines day pictures!)

Secret forest at The Brewery

Last October we arranged wedding flowers for a beautiful couple – Gina and Chris. They chose The Brewery as their wedding venue – a stunning place with history in every corner. Brick walls, beams and high timber ceilings make this venue such a unique place in the heart of London. As the ceilings are so high in The Brewery we created tall table arrangements with twisted twigs and pussy willow to make an impact in such a big space. Gina wanted to create a romantic woodland feel so we added hanging t-lights to the table centerpieces. I love to use seasonal flowers in an arrangements and I was so pleased that Gina chose an orange and cream colour scheme – perfect for an Autumn wedding.

Gina and Chris had a real dream teem to organise their big day – The Perrys Wedding Company – The Wedding Lounge – Photography by Adam We created a short video to give you a better idea how everything was set up on a day.

2014 done and dusted

Happy New Year to all our flower lovers! It’s been an amazing year and we had so much fun creating such wonderful and unique flower arrangements! We had the pleasure of working at some of the most beautiful venues in England this year too – The Langham Hotel, St. Paul’s Cathedral, The Brewery, Hatfield House, Hanbury Manor, The Mayfair Hotel, The Dorchester and many more.

Thank you so much to all our 2014 couples for letting us to be a part of their big day. We enjoyed every bit of it!

Have a little look at some of our work from last year

 

 

 

 

 

Greek wedding with Asian spice at The Langham Hotel

It was such a pleasure to create flowers for Vasoula and Imran that it’s a shame they’ll be getting married just once.

Vasoula was the most relaxed bride I ever met. One meeting, a few emails, and result!

Vasoula wanted to have romantic wedding flowers to match the Grand Ballroom at the The Langham hotel. She chose white and blush coloured flowers with a selection of silvery foliage. We made two designs: tall vases with a loose flower ball on a top and low arrangements on glass stands. We used blush talea and avalanche roses, dahlia and white hydrangea – stunning ingredients!

For the top table we arranged compact flower posies with a selection of t-lights and parfumerie bottles in between, in order to create a romantic wedding feel.

After the wedding the lucky guests got to take flowers home!

It was always a pleasure to work with a great wedding planning team Perrys (they always make sure we have enough coffee!) and great Greek wedding photographers team Nek Vardikos Photography Read their blog and see the wedding through the photographers lens.

Thank you for a lovely testimonial:

“Migle of Your London Florist was our florist for our wedding in September 2014. We met some other florists, but Migle was, by far, our favourite! Migle is so down to earth and took the time to listen and to understand what we were seeking for our wedding. Migle and her team created some fabulous arrangements for our wedding, which were simply spectacular! We received such positive feedback from our guests and they were thrilled to be able to take the flowers home with them! Migle’s creativity is classic and she and her team created such romantic scenes, not only with the stunning floral arrangements, but also with the use of beautiful glass perfumes and candles, offering great opulence! We can’t wait to see her and her work again :)”

Imran & Vasoula

Happy Birthday to US!

26th of November is a special day in Your London Florist Calendar – it’s our birthday!
We’ve been growing our florists for 3 years now, importing them from all over the UK and Europe. We need to feed and water them regularly, providing a lot of natural light, tea, coffee and biscuits. In our shop you can find the following varieties all year round!

KAREN

 The Karen Celosia – a most eye-catching and tender annual!

Habitat
Having been cultivated in London since the 20th century, Celosias Karenas are native to the tropical and subtropical Hendon, and are considered to be weeds in their native habitat.
Description
Celosia range in size and we found one that is more than six feet tall in our Karen! There are three types of Celosia being easily distinguishable from one another: plumes (travelers), crests (chocolate fanatics), or spikes (protectors of cleanliness).
Availability
The main season is April to October, but a workaholic, Karen doesn’t pay attention to the seasons, and works all year round to ensure we remain organized and efficient!
Care Tips
Karen Celosia needs regular watering and a constant supply of chocolate. She travels well, and regularly during wet periods, so is a very hardy and powerful plant. She doesn’t do particularly well in a messy environment, and has been known to metamorphosis into a Venus fly trap when there the place isn’t spotless and clean.

JACKIE

Jackie Helianthus. The Greek word “helios” means sun and “anthos” means flower. Our lovely Jackie is aptly named after the sun which she resembles!
Description
She is the large flower head of her family, a central part of her life, made up of thousands of tiny florets, or children as they are commonly known. Her petals are typically bright yellow, although some varieties are orange or red, which is reflective of Jackie’s warm and caring personality. 
Habitat
Jackie Helianthus originated in the Americas, where Native Americans grew it for years as a source of food. Jackie is now the source of our food, as our master baker and chef, she is the florist version of a culinary delight! 
Availability
Jackie Helianthus thrives in large clusters, affording protection from the wind and helping support each other, like our florist family. 
Care Tips
Sunflowers are generally hardy plants and can withstand short dry or wet spells, exemplified by being our regular shop feature Jackie joined us right out of florist school, our longest serving florist.

LOUISE

The Louise Amaryllis is the longest-lasting winter cut flower on the market, giving it huge appeal in British households and customers. Cheeky and smart, she is also known by her more common name ‘the naked lady’!
Description
With large, brown, rounded eyes, Amaryllis Louis has had a moderately fast rate of growth, especially in the last year as she gave birth to her beautiful little girl Rosy. A vibrant florist, the name given to the many varieties of Amaryllis reflect her vibrant, bold qualities; Ferrari, Liberty, Showmaster, and Nymph, for example 😉
Availability
Amaryllis is in high demand all over the world. As such, it can be an expensive flower to buy, whether in bulb or cut form. For us she is priceless!
Care Tips
Our Louise Amaryllis is planted up to its neck with care taken not to damage her chatty happy face!

MARIA

Clematis Maria Is a herbaceous species prefer full sun, from her native Greece, and like most climbers and shrub species will thrive in full sun or partial shade, smothering people with her charisma!
Flowering time
Did you know that clematis flowers twice a year: spring-blooming clematis flower on side shoots of the previous year’s stems, summer/fall blooming clematis bloom only on the ends of new stems. As Clematis Maria flowers all year round with her big and beautiful smile! 
Use
Native Americans used very small amounts of clematis as an effective treatment for migraine headaches and nervous disorders. The extracts of these plants also possess wound healing. We overdose on Maria to ensure we don’t suffer from any of these ailments!
Habitat
Native chiefly to northern temperate regions, Maria is at home in edgy North London!

ARUNE 

Arune Eucalyptus – Also known is Classical Greek as kalyptos = covered (from the covering of the buds) – and inside our Arune is a woman with an incredible passion for flowers, people and ally things fragile and beautiful. 
Flowering time
Size of eucalyptus depends on the species. Eucalyptus tree can reach 33 to 200 feet in height. There is no limit to Arune’s passion for flowers! Her love is sky high! 
Use
Leaves of eucalyptus are rich in oil that is used to alleviate symptoms of sore throat. Sore throat or not, Arune just loves to talk!
Habitat
Most species of eucalyptus shed their bark once per year. Bark can be removed in long ribbons, spongy pieces, furrowed and rough pieces or small flakes. You can get very creative with them, and our Arune is infamous for her sense of creativity.

MIGLE

Ranunculus flowers are popular as wedding flowers, as they are inexpensive, showy, and long lasting as cut flowers… all reasons why Migle makes a perfect wife! 
Description 
If flowering bulbs are one of nature’s mysteries, watching the claw-like tuber of a ranunculus produce three dozen rosette-shaped flowers must be one of nature’s miracles. For sheer petal count, it’s hard to top the ranunculus. We could just as easily be talking about Migle. A miracle working florist, delicate and tempting, she bleeds and breathes flowers. 
Availability
Pronounced ran-UN-kew-lus. The Latin name ranunculus means “little frog”. Migle hops about London, bringing florist love any time any place anywhere, whilst ensuring she is always close to water so she can keep her flower family alive!
Care Tips
They come in an array of colours including yellow, white, red, pink, orange, and and copper, with dark or yellow centres. Of course I’m talking about the haribo sweets that are migle’s life blood. Without them she would not survive. 
Habitat
This flower is a member of the Ranunculaceae family, which is also the family of the buttercup. Our Lithuanian Buttercup, Migle is colorful, pretty and will light up your face!

MARTIN

Martin is our very own Florist Father Christmas, delivering happiness and joy into people’s houses! As our responsible, organized and passionate delivery man, Martin represents all of our flower combinations – delicate, bright, attentive, genuine and a bundle of warmth, he is available for any occasion.

A big Thank you to Eva Grin Photography for making us look so pretty!