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Morning all! Catching up from the long not long enough weekend? Check out what you missed and take yourself back.
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The Ultimate DIY Wedding Giveaway – Craft Artist Wedding Day – Five to GIVEAWAY
Keep Calm… The Outlook For Brides Up North…
She’s The One – The Winner of the Karen McGowran Photography Giveaway
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Brides Up North Bootcamp – Eats.
Brides Up North Bootcamp – Week One – Exercise: You Can’t Escape It.
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On with today’s wedding blog business. If you are planning a pretty, vintage themed wedding (and I know a lot of you lovely ladies and gentleman are), then you will love these whimsical buttoned up hand tied bouquets by Newcastle Upon Tyne Florist Floral Quarter.
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This morning on the wedding blog, Vicky from Floral Quarter and I chat all things flora.
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How did Floral Quarter begin?
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Being a Florist was something I first thought of at a very young age, of course back then the industry was very different to what it is now! When walking past Florist shops I would look at all the stands filled with lovely flowers whilst holding my Mum’s hand. I also loved going on walks and picking and arranging wild flowers (I still do!). After school I knew I wanted to do something creative yet organised, so studied photography at college, but then fell into an office job for many years which I didn’t particularly enjoy but paid well. Finally last year I took the brave decision to go for a complete career change and do something that I wanted to do, rather than just a job I’d fallen into, and that’s when I rekindled my love of flowers.
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I immediately enrolled onto the part time floristry course at Tyne Met College in Newcastle and then went down the work experience route, thanks to my local florist Linda from The Little Flower Shop in Gosforth.
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In January this year, I decided to really kick start Floral Quarter and started attending a local market every Sunday. I also did orders for friends and colleagues. Since those humble beginnings I’ve gone from strength to strength, doing everything from small gift bouquets to weddings. I’m now at the stage where I have left that office job and am concentrating on floristry full time, it was a daunting decision but one that has proved very worth while and recommend it to anyone!
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What services do you offer?
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Weddings
Sympathy arrangements
Events/Proms/Parties
Corporate contracts
Gift bouquets
I also sell a variety of plants and herbs
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What is your favourite bouquet design and why?
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As far as weddings go, you cant beat a hand tied bouquet. I love these because they can be adapted to suit anyone’s tastes, flower choice and budget and feel really nice to hold.
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What are the floral trends for weddings in 2011?
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The vintage/country garden look seems to be very popular this year. Brides are thinking outside of the box and sourcing unusual containers such as old bottles and tins to place flower arrangements in. One of my brides asked all of her friends and family to donate jars of all shapes and sizes and we wrapped different styles of ribbon around each one, we then took 3 jars and clustered them together to make table centres filled with stocks, lisianthus, matricaria, aster and sweet pea. For her top table arrangement, we made it a bit more special by clustering 5 jars together and adding items used in her bouquet and his buttonhole, such a craspedia and sunflower. The reception room smelled amazing!
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Its all about that matching but not matching look, things that come together as a set but don’t match exactly, check out my Facebook page for examples of the ribbons on jars that I mentioned, you’ll see that they’re the same colours, but the types of ribbon are different yet they all work as a set.
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Any really memorable weddings that you have provided your services for?
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My first wedding was very memorable, the bride and groom had a classic white theme and wed in the beautiful setting of Doxford Hall Hotel and Spa in Northumberland. Its a great feeling to see everything come together on the day after months of planning, designing and organising. Good planning ensures that there are no surprises on the day and that the bride and groom are 100% happy and that’s exactly what happened on that day. Not only did the bride get what she asked for, the flowers suited the venue perfectly.
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What can Brides Up North do to achieve a stunning floral look on a budget?
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If you’re on a budget, then a good florist should be able to make suggestions to achieve the best possible floral displays that you can afford whilst still complying with your personal taste. Its not just a case of choosing carnations instead of roses, brides can perhaps reuse arrangements, for example in a recent wedding that I did, the couple took the symmetrical displays from the Church and used them at the reception venue. Low cost should not mean low quality of flowers or customer service. At Floral Quarter, the most important thing is to make sure the bride and groom are happy, both during the planning process and with the end result.
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Are flowers really that important at a wedding? Why?
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You’ve heard the saying ‘A picture paints a thousand words’? Well the same goes with flowers. The right flowers can really set the tone for a wedding and make your special day very memorable. Flowers have been used since as long as we can remember for any occasion, especially weddings. In fact throughout history, that’s the only luxury people had as they couldn’t afford beautiful gowns. A village would simply club together and adorn the place with flowers that grew nearby along with a feast and some good tunes! I guess weddings haven’t changed an awful lot have they?!
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What sets your service apart from other florists?
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You are looked after from start to finish, from the moment you enquire right through to your special day and beyond. It is of paramount importance to me that my customers are happy during every stage of the process, they will feel comfortable that they have chosen the best flowers and arrangements for the day and also won’t feel as if they have to chase me and organise their own wedding flowers, that’s what I’m here for, to make that side of things as easy as possible for them. It should be the most exciting time of your life and a very pleasurable experience, not a headache.
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To me, its the best feeling in the world when the bride and groom come back to me after a wedding and give me feedback on how happy they were and how much of a good job I did, that makes it all worth while and its a big part of why I chose to be a florist: to make people happy!
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What flowers would you choose for your own wedding?
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That’s a question which I have often asked myself! Its very difficult to say as I love all types of flowers and am constantly amazed with how beautiful they are (hence choosing this as a career!), but I quite like the country garden look that’s in fashion at the moment, so I’d probably have lots of ethereal looking flowers such as lisianthus and peonies. Lets just hope that’s still in vogue when my time comes! Scent is also very important to me, so flowers such as freesia and stocks would probably be on the list.
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What celebrity wedding would you like to do the flowers for and what would you choose?
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Can I do Jennifer Aniston’s wedding flowers please?! She’s beautiful but also natural looking and i’d choose flowers that reflected that. I can imagine her in a beach ceremony with lots of lovely lights and flower arrangements entwined around the marquee poles. Her bouquet would have a classic look, something not too over the top but also something that’s in keeping with her high profile status, so a classic hand tie with various white flowers such as orchids, freesia and roses is what I’d do for Jen.
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Can you give Brides Up North an idea on prices for your services?
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A hand tied bridal bouquet of roses will cost around £60
Buttonholes around £4.50
Table centres start from £20
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Of course, it all depends on which flowers are chosen. As mentioned above, I will work with you to choose types of flowers and displays that will suit your tastes and budget. You’ll definitely get the best flowers that you can afford with Floral Quarter.
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Can you do a discount for Brides Up North readers?
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At the moment, I am offering free Mother’s thank you bouquets with every wedding booked (anything up to the value of £50 in total). Just mention Brides Up North when booking.
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How can Brides Up North get in touch with you/ see more examples of your work?
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Check out my Facebook page - where you can see a photo album with examples of my wedding work and general information about Floral Quarter, or my website – www.floralquarter.co.uk – to view images and testimonials.
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If you have any questions or wish to make a booking, please call me on 0191 246 1052 or email floralquarter@hotmail.co.uk.
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I also offer a free initial consultation so that we may discuss ideas, get to know each other and I can gather the information I need to provide an initial quote. I look forward to hearing from you!
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Why do you read and like Brides Up North?
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Its so useful and approachable, it has an easy to read layout and it actually has information that people need. Its almost like speaking to a real person!
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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2011 Floral Quarter
Floral Quarter is a Brides Up North Featured Supplier
Contact Brides Up North to submit your business as a Featured Supplier
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