The Art of ‘Just Grown Here’ - Natural Wedding Flowers Explained

Image by Emma Ryan Wedding Photographer: Church Ceremony floral installation. 

The use of flowers at weddings dates back to the ancient Romans, for whom they symbolised new beginnings and fertility - two things the natural world has down to a fine art. For me, wedding flowers are a way of experientially connecting you to nature and merging the organic with the sculptural. The Dittany Entwined style is best described as ‘just grown here’ natural wedding flowers, leaning towards wildness and abundance, and is heavily influenced by my background in art. 

Image by Emma Shaw Photography : Place setting for intimate dinner at Prestwold Hall 

Just Grown Here - What Does It Mean?

When I talk about ‘just grown here’ florals, I mean arrangements that give the impression that they are organically sprouting and climbing from where they are placed. These floral designs are the closest representation of how plants grow in nature, and feel curated without rigidity or prescribed form. Every stem is unique and every bloom slightly different, even within the same variety. I like to embrace this and create carefully thought-out natural wedding flowers that feel free and expressive, full of texture and depth. 

This looser, more abundant style lives on a spectrum and can be adapted for each couple’s own tastes. For example, if I am designing a wildflower meadow I can add long stems, bigger depth gradients and trailing elements for a more wild finish, or tighten up the arrangement and make it slightly more structured for a neater finish. Whichever way we go with it, my designs are always contemporary and curated, and reflective of the world around us. 

Every individual flower grows naturally to maximise its exposure to the sunlight, and so often we see wonky stems and hardly ever two the same. I echo this in the designs of my natural wedding flowers, spending a lot of time and giving a lot of consideration to an effortless-looking finished product. 

I love creating installations in a space that look as though the flowers bend, weave and twist around man-made structures, almost as though the wild is reclaiming the venue. A lovely example is a staircase, where I consider all angles and artistically wrap your florals around and through so that they become part of one seamless sculpture. Even if a design as against a wall, I’ll pay attention to the ‘unseen’ sides as this is what gives it that truly three-dimensional feel.

I NEED JUST GROWN HERE WEDDING FLOWERS

Natural Wedding Flowers - Sidestepping Traditional Floristry Practices

Just grown here natural wedding flowers go against the grain of traditional floristry practices, and for me lean more towards creativity and artistry which are highly intuitive rather than prescribed. Classical floristry techniques include using groupings of 3 with differing stem lengths and arranging them straight upwards, along with creating neat rounded arrangements with a certain degree of homogeneity. 

Personally, I like to disregard all these rules when designing your wedding flowers and instead be guided by how flora behave in their natural environment. I love the deeper connection it creates for you, and I believe that nobody truly wants a wedding day that feels stiff and stuffy any more. 

In traditional floristry it often feels as though a lot of emphasis is placed on each individual element rather than the bigger picture, whereas just grown here florals offer a living, flowing guide through your wedding day. Each installation and arrangement is a natural sculpture that meanders languorously into the next, with careful consideration given to showcasing specific types of flowers or highlighting certain colours.

Image by Emma Ryan Photographer: Abundant floral staircase installation 

Abundance in Natural Wedding Flowers

My style of natural wedding flowers with a just grown here look is based on abundance. I like using a lot of flowers because I believe if you’re going to do something, it’s worth doing intentionally and making a statement. Even where foliage is the focus it will be used generously, and this bountiful approach helps ensure that all-important wild finish can be achieved. 

Abundance doesn’t always necessarily mean a lavish amount of flowers everywhere, and in some cases we will use as few as three considered stems in small bowl arrangements. The important factor is how well thought out the design is, whether it’s three or three hundred blooms.

Image by Eyes to Pixels: Natural floral arch 

Achieving a just grown here look for natural wedding flowers is a true labour of love, and if you resonate with a modern, playfully sophisticated vibe then we’re going to get along famously. Take a look at these florals I created for a Thicket Priory wedding, where they were used as a way to guide guests through the venue and included a spectacular staircase installation. 

You can also explore my love of immersive floral alchemy to light up the senses, and when you’re ready to say yes to plentiful, curated floral design that looks oh-so natural, get in touch:

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The Influence of Your Wedding Venue on Your Flowers: Architecture, Aesthetic & Artistry

Image by Emma Ryan Photographer: Modern Floral wedding ceremony in a beautiful Georgian Church 

Your wedding venue is often one of the first things you book when planning, and choosing a location for such a special day is a deeply personal and highly individual choice. When designing your wedding flowers, I work in a way that is sympathetic to your wedding venue and all the reasons you love and chose it - how the day will flow, what your specific intentions for particular installations are, and what about the venue you really want to highlight or enhance. Architecture, aesthetic and artistry blend to form a wedding floral design that is bespoke, considered and celebrates you and your wedding venue.

Architectural Influence on Floral Design

My approach to your wedding flowers is rooted in a love of architecture that was nurtured in my childhood, spending holidays with my parents exploring buildings and cathedrals. As an art student I completed a project about the many beautiful doors in Sorrento, Italy, and to this day I am still amazed and enamoured by characterful venues and lovingly kept buildings. I’m charmed by high ceilings, glass conservatories, secret nooks, crannies and passageways that encourage exploration, and tumbling ruins - especially when juxtaposed with tasteful updates to make for a contemporary yet authentic wedding venue. Designing wedding flowers to complement and celebrate the unique features of your venue is something that brings me so much joy.

Some particular favourite venues of mine are the ones that remain true to their origins and enhance and update their unique elements, especially when considerations have been made for weddings such as neutral toned decor and curated grounds. This makes them easy to work with and transform through floral design.

Great examples of venues that have been updated while retaining their original beauty include; Thicket Priory* with its lovely grounds, warm neutrals and classic fairytale feel; Middleton Lodge, which retains an English countryside feel but with beautiful spaces ready for transformation; and White Syke Fields, the quirky industrial-rural vibe of which is celebrated to perfection.  

Take a look at an immersive, living garden of blooms designed for a Thicket Priory wedding, helping to guide the flow of the day and tap into the senses.

Designing Wedding Florals with Your Venue in Mind

When I work on your bespoke Proposal of Dreams for your wedding flowers, I keep several things in mind to do with your venue. You can find out more about what’s included in my comprehensive, imaginative proposal guides here, to see just how much detail I go into to help you envision your beautiful blooms. 

Firstly, I always want to find out what you love most about your wedding venue and what made you choose it - a specific feature, room or feeling, for example. I want to know how you imagine your wedding day there, and get creative with ceremony configurations and dinner shapes and set ups. Knowing how you want to make the venue your own is the first step towards designing florals that flow and flourish.

We’ll then discuss the type of florals you love and want for your wedding day, and how they will work with your venue. My style leans towards blooms that blend with the environment and aesthetic and layout of your venue, and if you’re a lover of big floral installations I’ll always design so that they complement and enhance the space. For example, if you are having your ceremony outdoors then abundant arches or tall meadows can be beautiful and look as though they’re growing from the grass, but I’ll always consider what’s behind you as it’s a shame to ruin a spectacular view. Building your florals around the surroundings is important, maintaining symmetry and balancing scale and volume.

Image by Emma Ryan Photographer: Church wedding flower installation 

In some instances we may choose to intentionally create a feature that stands out from your venue or surroundings as a deliberate stylistic choice. I once designed an industrial floral crescent moon in the midst of a ruined abbey, unlike the soft, tumbling arches you might expect - it was impactful and striking, which was perfect for the look my couple was going for. 

With this we also think about size and scale. I won’t ever be the florist that does something on a minimal scale where it doesn’t fit, because when you’re building in a large space or a venue with high ceilings small arrangements get lost and lose their sparkle. My architectural brain comes into play, ensuring everything is in proportion and displays natural, wild abundance. This often involves managing impactful design with budget, and knowing whether to invest more in fewer, more impressive installations or more, less dense elements. I will always help you with a design that offers maximum impact and doesn’t look small or silly.

Designing around the flow of your day is important, and for this I will get to know which parts are particularly important to you. Some couples want more emphasis on a big entrance to their wedding breakfast but don’t want to make a fuss of the first dance, so knowing your standout points of your timeline helps me with your design. I’ll think creatively about how to use the space and your florals to highlight and celebrate the most important moments, which also means your flowers are seen and appreciated that much more throughout the day. If you have specific ideas about certain parts of the day, for example an entryway that everyone will use, we will think about whether you want a wild, abundant design that guests have to touch and brush through (like a little secret garden entrance moment) or a big, open framing arrangement. It’s about the bigger picture and the smaller details.

Image by Emma Ryan Photographer: Floral Tunnel Installation

My final considerations are about logistics and the practical limitations of the design in your venue. I have to consider things like what is already available to me for hanging installations, for example, and what is allowed within the space. Listed buildings have restrictions on what you can do, and working with the dimensions and flow of the space is key. I have all this in mind while developing your design, so I can give you the most realistic vision and price based on an accurate idea of the set up, team size and timeline. 

I am often asked whether we can reuse items, for example bringing floral meadows or archways from a ceremony into the dinner space. Of course it is sometimes possible, but not always - I will always explain what we can or can’t do and why, which generally has to do with the fact that I try not to use floral foam. This means things aren’t as easy to move, and so each time you do so you need to essentially redo the arrangement or installation - which comes at an extra cost. This is all part of the design process to work out what is possible and what can be creatively repurposed, and we’ll focus on your priorities and how we can make the most of your flowers.

It is also important to think about colour palettes and consider the time of year, and my Seasonal Style Guides are there to help you discover creative new ways to incorporate chic seasonality.

The best wedding flowers are designed to elevate your venue’s architecture and aesthetic, help the flow of your day and highlight your most important moments. I care deeply about creating a highly bespoke design for every couple, so every wedding’s florals are one of a kind and reflective of your personal style. For floral artistry that leaves no leaf unturned, get in touch - I can’t wait to get Entwined in your vision.

“Nature builds up her refined and invisible architecture, with a delicacy eluding our conception, yet with a symmetry and beauty which we are never weary of admiring!”

— John Herschel