Even before Coronavirus reared its ugly head Scotland was fast becoming a popular destination for elopements, especially the dramatic and romantic landscape of Glen Coe. We’ve already worked on a few beautiful elopements and micro weddings around Glen Coe including a beautiful autumnal elopement in a forest in Glen Etive.
When Jess got in touch about flowers for her elopement with Patrick and their wee son Finlay I jumped at the chance to create seasonal wild flowers for such a beautiful Scottish elopement. With amazing scenery like that you don’t need much in the way of wedding flowers but traditional stuffy bouquets would definitely look out of place: cue Briar Rose Design’s romantic wild style wedding flowers.
Wild flower style for a Scottish Elopement
Travelling up from England (at a point when lockdown rules allowed) this adventurous loved up couple planned to go hiking on their wedding day and were looking for relaxed, natural looking flowers grown locally if possible.
Looking at the amazing photos taken by their photographer Ceranna Photography, I fell in love with Jess’ outoorsy boho bridal look: wedding dress plus hiking boots and sheepskin jacket. I love a bride who comes prepared for the Scottish elements! They weren’t scared to get their feet muddy and the result is a truly unique and personal elopement and some breathtaking wedding photos.
Natural and seasonal Scottish grown bridal bouquet
Jess wanted a loose natural bridal bouquet with some cascading elements and touches of mauve colours among lots of greenery. Using mainly Scottish grown flowers from the Briar Rose cutting garden and other local growers I added in some burgundy and biscuity tones here and there too to tie the bouquet to the autumnal colours of the landscape. This works well in the photos with the beautiful coppery colours of the bracken and grasses in Glen Coe in October.
We used imported “Notre Dame” roses in a beautiful sandy mauve colours as well as Scottish grown amaranthus, Japanese anemone, salvia, coreopsis, rudbeckia, verbascum, astilbe, thistle, sanguisorba, astrantia, aster, hydrangea, scabious, ranunculus (imported), dahlia and peacock lilly. For foliage I used honeysuckle, eucalyptus, ivy and jasmine among other things.
Ribbons and finishing touches
To add to the boho effect I added hand dyed silk ribbon in a plummy colour to the bouquet which contrasted nicely against the wedding dress and looked great blowing in the breeze in the wedding photos. It really helped add to the wild and natural look of the piece.
For Patrick and Finlay’s buttonholes (which looked amazing on their tweedy jackets) I used thistles combined with flowers from the bridal bouquet to tie in the designs. I always love seeing photos of the wedding and how my flowers worked with all the other elements and I especially love the shot of Finlay holding the bouquet, it’s as big as his head!
Dried Flower Wreath Keepsake
Jess also asked for one of our signature dried flower wreaths made up in similar flowers to the wedding bouquet as a keepsake for the day. To try to minimise waste throughout the year I dry flowers from the Briar Rose cutting garden and other growers or even imported flowers left over and then use them to create beautiful dried flower wreaths and installations. Now as well as their beautiful photos the couple will have the dried wreath to remind them of the flowers from their elopement.
Elopement and Micro Wedding Planning
If you are looking to elope or plan a micro wedding get in touch or have a look at our wedding gallery for inspiration on colours and seasonal flowers. We’ve got a blog on the kind of flowers you might need for a micro wedding and make sure to follow me on instagram for more flowery inspiration.
Elopement photos kindly provided by Ceranna Photography.