Summer Cotswold Wedding Ideas

You will find Lords of The Manor, a quintessentially Cotswold manor house, nestling in the hills of Upper Slaughter, with both formal and informal gardens that have been lovingly tended for over 350 years and a gentle stream meandering through wild flower meadows.

It was in this inspirational location that Lilyfee Floral Designs and Nikki Kirk Photography came together to create photo shoot for Lords of the Manor that would unashamedly show off both the hotel and the skills and creativity of their Wedding Team. Bringing in seasonal colours with free-flowing designs, gorgeous bridal gowns and of course diamonds. Lots of them!

Inspired by the glorious colour palette that this English summer season offers, Cotswold florist Lilyfee Floral Designs included the vibrant jewel like coral tones of both the Coral Charm and Coral Sunset peonies. Florist Clare then added a symphony of bright and bold contrasting blooms for a result that was stunning riot of colour and a joyous nod to the surroundings we found ourselves in.

Foam Free is a key phrase at the moment and one the floristry world is coming together to solve. Clare took this opportunity to highlight the importance of moving away from using floral foam in floristry. Floral foam or oasis as it’s also known, is not biodegradable. Alternatives are a must and the way forward for us all. All of the floral displays featured in this shoot are foam free. From a style and future trend note; the foam free movement is leading towards softer, more relaxed and less structured floral designs.

For this shoot Clare teamed bold mixed colours and a loose style which can be adapted to suit your own wedding day. A few carefully placed hand tied clusters of flowers can make a huge impact, with doorways and entrances also being dressed with large clusters of flowers tied with gorgeous ribbons to add movement.

The RSA Design Awards Clare has won are reflected in her interpretation and design inspirations, helping clients to realise their wedding day dreams. And as a recommended florist at Lords of the Manor Clare loves nothing more than meeting with clients and helping them to interpret their wedding day thoughts through their floral colour and style choices.

Urn arrangements can also be moved to ensure that they can be enjoyed throughout your whole day.

Clare has been asked many times if it is possible to wear a flower crown with a veil. Yes you can is the answer as this shoot demonstrates. And if you don’t think a full floral crown is for you, then a single wired peony or rose, or maybe a small collection of brightly coloured rose buds would be perfect.

Madeline of Wedding Paint created the elegant hair styles and make up to compliment both the venue, the dresses, and the flowers. The softness of the make-up colour palette perfectly complimented the boldness of the flowers.

Exclusive Cheltenham jeweller Beards also joined the team and ensured that we had a bounty of diamond necklaces, rings, earrings, and their very own family heirloom tiara for the photo shoot. Our models looked like princesses and we were in heaven just ooooohing and ahhhhing over the pieces.

And of course, the dresses…. oh my goodness the dresses… Wedding Days of Cheltenham provided the bridal gowns all courtesy of Enzoani to compliment and create the wow factor in the images. The gentlemen’s suits were provided by The Regency Groom. Both Wedding Days and The Regency Groom are in the same building in Cheltenham making it the perfect solution for both brides and grooms.

And finally, the photography from multi award winning photographer and wedding photographer of the year for the second year in a row; Nikki Kirk. As the recommended photographer at Lords of the Manor, Nikki knows the house and the grounds incredibly well and was the perfect person to creatively direct the photo shoot on the day. Her knowledge of light and being able to see and harness light meant that even though the days of the shoot were scorching hot with strong sunshine, she was able to create soft elegant images to showcase the huge amount of work that went into this shoot and to capture the romantic mood of the brief.