Justin and Karen’s Cornish Wedding

The biggest honour as a wedding florist is having the people you love, trust their day in your hands…

Creative couple Justin and Karen were married at the beautiful Launcells Barton in Cornwall, a wonderfully romantic country house venue, with beautifully renovated light barns. They wanted meadow vibes to run throughout their relaxed, informal day.

I have known Justin since school, a friendship that has been over 30 years in the making. He’s a potential Masterchef contestant, has a great eye for interiors and design, a keen squash player, somewhat particular about things and wears his big heart on his sleeve. I knew he had met the love of his life in Karen and it has been such a pleasure being able to share my wedding knowledge with them. Imagine my excitement when Justin told me he was going to propose and then asked for my advice on the engagement ring, of course, I had to recommend my favourite jewellers Alexis Dove to create something stunning.

Food and music were key to Justin and Karen and they really wanted flowers that were in keeping with the light, airy barns of Launcells Barton but also remained reflective of the relaxed vibe of the day. We opted for an organic meadow-like approach to the flowers, varied colours with a natural and grown appearance.

Flexible arrangements to accommodate the inside / outside aspect that could be moved from ceremony to reception. We used a selection of alliums, cornflowers, nigella, poppy heads, delphinium, scabiosa, waxflower, daisies and craspedia with a mix of eucalyptus and other more seasonal foliage’s. It was important to represent Karen’s Scottish heritage and so we added Eryngium Thistles.

Originally the plan was to be married outside but you can’t count on the English weather so the ceremony was moved inside. This didn’t dampen spirits at all and if anything I think the indoor setting helped emphasis the flowers as there were no distractions from the beautiful grounds of Launcells Barton.

I created an asymmetric hanging arch of lush foliage for them to marry under and afterwards provided a great spot for photos later in the day. The aisle was lined with floor level arrangements of flowers that looked like a meadow was growing and two large arrangements in Milk churns made the entrance wow for the bride.

The ceilings in the Reception Barn were high and lent themselves to hanging foliage chandeliers so we created and installed two.

Bold and full of impact hanging installations help bring down the height of a room and create a sense of drama as you enter.

The tables were being laden with sharing platters and grazing boards, so there needed to be space for people to move dishes round. Instead of a traditional centerpiece, we arranged large palm leaves to break up the white table cloths and created individual foliage place settings with ferns and eucalyptus.

The meadow troughs from the aisle were moved to break up the wall leading to the gorgeous cake, made by Hannah’s Cornish Cakes. Hannah is also an old school friend of mine and it was so lovely getting to work alongside someone you know so well. Hannah used a delicate mix of flowers and foliage from the bouquets to add pops of colour to the semi-naked cake. Not only was her cake yummy but it was picture perfect.

The bouquets were loose and wild with a just gathered appearance and both the Bride and bridesmaids wore fine crowns of babies breath and parviflora leaves.

The buttonholes were small gathered bunches of a mix of the florals, tied with hand-dyed silk ribbons, these really popped against the Blue Suits from Gresham Blake worn by the groom and best man.

This was such a gorgeous wedding to work on. Not only did I get to watch two people I love say ‘I do’ but I also got to be part of making their day so memorable. From the start, I was treated as part of the family, with Justin’s parents setting me up a temporary studio in their garage. The venue staff were warm, welcoming and helpful and I can’t wait to hopefully go back there one day.

Attending a wedding that you have created the flowers for is hard and tiring, you never switch off as you want the flowers to be perfect for the whole day. Constantly you are keeping an eye to make sure nothing goes array and you are always on the alert. However, it was an absolute blast and I danced the night away knowing I had put my heart and soul into this wedding and that Justin and Karen loved it!

Thank you Travers and Brown for such gorgeous photos.

Here are some kind words from Karen –

”From the moment we started talking to Lisa about our wedding flowers, we knew there was no one better for the job.  We always had a rough idea in our minds about what we wanted and she managed to take these ideas and transform them into perfection.  Everything Lisa did from the buttonholes to the bouquets and the wedding arch to the hair crowns was exactly what we wanted it to be.  She made the whole process of choosing the flowers an enjoyable and exciting one and she was constantly on hand in the lead up to and on the day to make sure that everything was set perfectly.  Her stunning work contributed to our day being exactly what we wanted.  Finally, what made this process such a pleasurable one is that Lisa is just a lovely to person to work with – kind, patient and so generous with her time. Thank you so much for everything, Lisa’‘ – Karen

Supplier Links –

• Photographer: Travers and Brown

• Venue: Launcells Barton

• Cake: Hannah’s Cornish Cakes

• Hair: HW Hair Design

• MUA: Lizz Couch MUA