Small Hire Service Available!

Available as we speak Flora and Grace is now offering a small hire service from our Clifton store.  Would you prefer to hire than buy?  Well it is much more cost effective and you don't get stuck with a 100 tealights that your never going to use again.

We shall be adding a hire page to this site shortly so that you can see what will be available to hire and we are adding to our collection all the time.  Currently we have dressed topiary trees which look fabulous at any wedding reception, we can dress them with flowers real or artificial, fairylights, ribbons.  We have some lovely lanterns in 3 sizes which light up any walkway or a corner of your reception venue.  We also have birdcages in many sizes even ones that will double up as a postbox.  Perhaps your looking for an alternative to real flowers which can be quite expensive, well you can now hire beautiful decorations at the fraction of the cost of the real thing.  We can also supply artificial floral bouquets which are lovely and practical if marrying abroad.  Other items to hire will be tealight and candleholders, vaseware, candleabras the list is endless.

Pretty artificial flowers to decorate your venue in many styles

Plenty of styling items available

Pretty styling hearts

Decorative baskets

Birdcages in many sizes

Decorative jugs

Lanterns in 3 sizes

Artificial flowers

As well as many items to style your ceremony and reception venue we are available for advice so if we can be of any assistance please don't hesitate to pick up the telephone or pop into our Clifton store.

 

 

Flora and Grace News!

A couple of things happening at Flora and Grace firstly, we're moving.   Yes folks it's time to move and we have found a lovely new premises 11 The Clifton Arcade, Boyces Avenue, Clifton BS8 4AA.  Our beautiful Flora and Grace stationery will be the same but we will be adding to our range with personal and party stationery so please do pop in and take a look.  As soon as we have a moving date we will post on here and the website.

Kim at Flora and Grace is a florist so we have decided to collaborate with Clifton florist Kika from Belle De Jour to bring you the most amazing wedding flowers and styling.  Consultations will be held at Flora and Grace HQ your first consultation will be free of charge.  Why not pop in and we can discuss all your wedding flower requirements and advise on styling your entire wedding.

Be back shortly!

Coming Soon!

Shortly we will be adding an online shop to the website!  We hope that this will benefit people that are unable to visit Flora and Grace to organise their wedding stationery.  We hope to still be able offer a personal service providing a prompt email and a proofing service and of course we are at the end of the telephone should you need further help!

We are also introducing some very high quality lasercut stationery to our existing range of products.  These will also go online and we do have samples in the shop for those able to visit.

If you have a DIY wedding stationery project on the go or are planning to make your own stationery we CAN HELP by providing cards and papers for you.  We hold an extensive range of colour swatches in the shop and can advise what you will need to complete your stationery.  We can also provide matching envelopes in a variety of sizes.  If you need to print on card and your home printer won't take the the thickness of card our printer will and we are quite happy to quote for providing this service.

Let us know if we can help or pop in and say hello if you're in Clifton.

Stunning Parisienne Soiree!

I love styling, creative people, Paris and beautiful pictures so you can imagine my delight when I came across lesescretaudrey which is the journal of French photographer, Audrey.  I adore her photography and the styling for her beautiful party is exquisite....enjoy!

The wonderful Polly Alexandre alexandreweddings is responsible for the amazing photography at this very swish 30th birthday party for Audrey and her friends.  Audrey and her American husband live in Paris and are both very accomplished photographers. The little pre-dinner soiree was held at a suite in the elegant Champs Elysee Hotel Plaza. The happy couple and their guests later departed to a very chic Parisienne restaurant for some fine dining and then onto a club for some serious partying

The photographs speak for themselves and the beautiful, romantic styling from the very talented Annie Brahler (just happens to be a friend of Audrey)  euro-trash is exquisite!  Take a look at all the wonderful details....handwritten invitations.  Beautiful, fresh, flawless raspberries just waiting to pop into the very perfect Laurent Perriere bubbles.  Little silver bowls of blush hydrangeas and white anenome, a pretty handmade cake and a the most beautifully styled table to die for.  Simple, effortless just thrown together (although I very much doubt it) continuing with the palest of blush colour scheme with more gorgeous flowers, silver candleabras, crisp white linen, draped pale pink silk and (dare I say it) white fur!  One hundred percent my cup of tea, it has romance, elegance, prettiness and a whole big heap of style so much so I shall attempt something similar for Flora and Grace in the near future!

Well you've got to give it to the French when it comes to chic they've got oddles of it from the stunning black evening dress, elegantly coiffured hair to the perfect Louboutin heels this is French style at it's very best......voila what a perfect evening!

Credits:

Photography: Polly Alexandre
Portraits Location: Marais, Paris
Cocktail Reception: Hotel Champs Elysees Plaza
Cinematography: Studio Artifice
Event Styling: Annie Brahler
Flowers: Estelle Preston
Hair and Make Up: Yael, contact yael@gmail.com
Stationary: Calligraphy by Cristine
Dress: Aidan Mattox and Zara
Cake: Julie
Purple Shoes - Zara
Black Shoes - Louboutin

The smile that launched a thousand ships!

The very beautiful Queen Elisabeth........the lady with the perfect smile.........just stunning! 

A very happy sixty years on the throne.....what an achievement and very proud day to be British!

Stunning photographs from Alex James

This morning some of our invitations were used in a photo shoot for some very pretty engagement rings....the results are just gorgeous don't you think? 

The fabulous photographs were taken by the very talented Alex from Alexander James Fine Art Photography ........thanks Alex for sharing the beautiful images......Pop over to his website where he has some more stunning photographs and a great blog.....Alex is hugely passionate about his photography and it really does show in his images so if your looking for someone unique to capture your very special day give Alex a call, I'm sure you won't be dissappointed!  More to the point catch him while you can because Alex is going to Mexico at the end of the year to shoot with one of the worlds finest photogaphers Jose Villa take a look at the amazing wedding and engagement shoots on Jose's blog.  I was captivated by the beautiful simplicity of his wedding photography.  Interestingly all the weddings were held outside....the upside of marrying in warmer countries I guess.  Take a look at some of the little details....unusual flower combinations, lovely chairback ideas, stunning table settings all very natural and all very beautiful.

Editors Choice in Wedding Ideas Magazine

Yayyyy we made it to editors choice in Wedding Ideas Magazine May issue!  Thank you to the magazine for featuring our Shabby Chic range of stationery which we currently stock in our boutique in Clifton if you want to pop in and take a look!  Not to forget a huge thank you to Alexander James from Alexander James Photography for taking the beautiful photograph featured in the magazine.....thanks Alex much appreciated!

The range is just part of some new stationery releases that we will have in the shop shortly!  Trying to get time to sort out the new designs has been difficult because we have been so busy producing samples and lots of lovely wedding stationery for all you lovely people!

Beautiful Photoshoot!

Last week we were incredibly lucky to have the very talented Alex from Alexander James Photography in the shop to do a beautiful photo shoot for a new invitation which I recently designed for Flora & Grace.

Vintage Cookies So Clever!

I spend the first part of my day surfing the web like most people would read the paper (I tend not to bother with those) and I couldn't help but share with you these beautiful cookies....handpainted and ooooh soooo clever.

A Fabulous Day!

Thank you so much to all our fabulous customers who visited Flora and Grace today we were totally overwhelmed by all our visitors and their lovely comments about our little shop!

When we opened the shop two weeks ago we had no idea in what direction the business would take us but from what we have seen so far you're loving our wedding and reception stationery...and we couldn't be more delighted!

So for those of you who haven't visited our blog before.....go and get a nice glass of wine or a cuppa and let me explain a little how we work with our stationery!!!!

It appears from your feedback so far that you actually like to look and feel the stationery before you buy which is quite difficult when trying to purchase from the internet.  I certainly don't want to knock the internet as so many fine stationers use this method of selling to the general public!  Luckily for us we do have  the shop where you can visit and discuss your stationery needs at length with both Alex and I and of course we love to see you.

We are completely bespoke at Flora and Grace designing something individual and personal to you as a couple.  Your stationery is very important after all it's more than likely the first thing family and friends see regarding your special day.....so we really do need to give it some serious thought!

Where do you start?  Well first of all you need to come and see us at 16 Waterloo Street, Clifton Village, Bristol......open Monday to Saturday 10.00am till 5.00pm.

• As an introductory offer over the next couple of months we won't be charging for the design element of your invitation process....this will be free of charge.
• I need to spend at least an hour with you initially discussing requirements, ideas, colours, themes, card and paper stock.
• If you manage to read this prior to visiting us at Flora and Grace....great so you can come prepared.  I would like any dress swatches that you may have be it your's or your bridesmaids.
• If you have a scrapbook or a file of pictures relating to your wedding please bring this with you.
• Once we have decided on the design we must look the wording and fonts of the actual invitation.
• After our initial design meeting its possible for me to update you with proofs via email if you can't make it into the shop.  Once we have the wording of the invitation correct.....the design in place I will then produce a sample in it entirety for you to keep.
• Happy with the invitation....great we will then have to ask you for a deposit to secure your order.  The remainder of the monies will be payable on collection of your invitations!
• If you require reception stationery....table plans, name cards, menu's, order of service/day, tags, thank you cards we can tie all this in to match your wedding stationery at this point!

Over the next few weeks we will be adding our Etsy shop to this blog....so please watch this space!  In the meantime we look forward to meeting you at Flora and Grace soon!

Smelling of roses!

I love roses they are one of my favourite flowers to work with.......their versatility is immense as you can see from my collage below. 

These are just some of the flowers and styling from my venue last year over in Cyprus.....as you can see we have floral decorations for the tables, chair back posies, table plans, bouquets, table names and a tag tree......all made with Avalanche and Sweet Avalanche roses......stunning!

This is just one of hundreds of pretty looks that we can create at Flora & Grace........all you have to do is pop in and see us for a free consultation over a very nice cup of tea and VOILA you can have the wedding day you've dreamt of and more!

Flora & Grace officially opens it's doors on Monday 30 January 2012.........although we are having preview days on Friday and Saturday the 27 and 28 January should you be around that weekend.......news to follow on these dates.......watch this space!

Inspiration.....from two of the best in the business!

Inspiration!.....Where do any of us get that spark of inspiration from?  Difficult one but for me there are three individuals spanning two companies that never fail to inspire me.....their work in the wedding industry is high end, inspirational, beautiful.......and oh wouldn't I love to be one of their brides........very special!

Mark Niemierk  http://niemierko.com/ organises some of the most elite weddings in the UK.......if you're going to learn why not learn from the best.......I give you 'simply the best' Mr Mark Niemierko......ladies and gentlemen.....enjoy.


NIEMIERKO: SAY "I DO" IN 2012 from Niemierko on Vimeo.

Enjoyed that video......well now take a look at two boys who never fail to impress and are equally tops with Mr N..... they design and deliver the most beautiful weddings........Javier and Tony from By Appointment Only Design http://byappointmentonlydesign.blogspot.com/ absolutely divine!

Photo Credits.....By Appointment Only Design blog

Javier and Tony have a beautiful boutique in Chiltern Street, Marylebone Village in London......I will visit this year I promise!  Take a look at their blog http://byappointmentonlydesign.blogspot.com/  its well worth a visit and they have new information about their floral masterclass.....take a peek!

There are hundreds of people in the wedding industry who are offering wonderful services for your special day........my inspirational companies are at the top of the big wedding tree and I constantly love to follow what they are up to over the course of a year! 

Lets hope Flora and Grace has a foot on that tree this time next year.

Winter wonderland.....Flora & Grace....lovin the grey and white!

Well I'm back!  Couldn't stay away any longer missed my blog and my world of weddings so very much....it's been a long journey getting here over the last six weeks....full of every emotion possible......but here I am back where I belong......and I've waited such a long time for this moment!

Ten years of sunshine has been great but you can't beat a lovely cold dry blustery day in the UK......and I'm very quickly picking up on the winter wedding season which seems to be very boiyant.....not such a bad idea eh! 

I love the thought of a beautiful winter wedding.....lots of greys and whites, lots of candlelight and twinkling lights, faux fur and frosting.....how romantic!  I've managed to find some very pretty pictures to get us all in the mood for a winter wedding.....see what you think?

Photo credit...The Perfect Pallette

 

 

I love the knitted table accessories.....what about knitting pretty favour bags.....could be all the rage!!!!  Think of your flowers in the prettiest whites and pale greys through to a touch of amethyst with tinges of green.......delightful! Greys and whites needn't be drab they go beautifully with a whole host of colours.....so much so I've used the grey and white theme for Flora and Grace in the shop....again I can add in any colour scheme without any clashing.....even bright summery colours will work!

The Designer Wedding Show!

One thing I miss about being back in the UK is the fabulous wedding shows......usually a great day out and full of inspirational ideas!  Never mind I can get booking my tickets for next year and it gives me an excuse to get up to London and catch up with some old friends!

I just love the guys Javier and Tony from By Appointment Only Design they have a fabulous boutique in Chiltern Street, Marylbone.....another place on MY MUST VISIT list when I'm back in London!  The boys organise weddings and produce absolutely stunning bridal and event flowers.....I'm told that they don't actually use any foliage in their designs at all.  I'm a huge fan of their work so it was great to see pictures of their stand at The Designer Wedding Show in Battersea Park over the weekend....take a peek at the beautiful stand at the show by the BAOD boys!

 Just lovin the table draping and the rose petals!

 Very soft pastel colours in the flowers beautifully executed in their design

Just perfect!

Photography credit......By Appointment Only Design

Going vintage glam with stunning birdcages!

What better way to bring the Zucchini season to a perfect ending.....marrying some very good friends!  Angie was the first member of staff we employed ten years ago even before Zucchini became a wedding venue.  How ironic that almost decade later we would marry her in the gazebo just before we leave to go back to the UK!!!!!!!   

But the pleasure was all ours and on Sunday 9 October 2011 we married Angela Christie and Karl Gregory in a non denomination ceremony in the Zucchini gazebo......it was lovely!  Angie hadn't been at all fussy in the run up to the wedding....the usual hunt for the dress.....not easy in Cyprus (a post for a later date).  Trying to choose a colour scheme and we did go through quite a few until Angie saw some ribbon I had found in a shop in Limassol....she was hooked and it really changed the theme and colour scheme for the whole day.

We don't have the luxury of great shopping here in Cyprus and invariably when you are looking for something specific we have to trust finding it on the internet.....however I managed to find what I can only describe as a fabulous haberdashery shop full of beautiful double sided, floppy satin ribbon in the most stunning colours......all the vintage sludggies in greys, greens, dusky pinks and Angies mulberry colour.... pink hurrah!

So shabby chic....bordering vintage glam it was.......on a budget of course!  We chose cream birdcages for the tables and I had several white birdcages in various styles and sizes that we decorated the rest of the room with.....these are going to feature in my very first window display at Flora and Grace!  Angie and Karl had hired some pretty wooden signs.......BRIDE, GROOM, WEDDING THIS WAY, CANDY BAR and a very large pair of angel wings....that Alex took far too much of a liking to!  The flowers were very pale pink with eucalyptus, I added some ivory and a dash of tiny hot pink rosebuds for that romantic look.

Angie's bridal flowers were very simple but very pretty in Sweet Avalanche......and as a present from me I decorated the stems with antique lace and a diamante brooch.......stunning!  Also as a gift from Zucchini I made a very pretty birdcage table plan (which will also be available to hire from Flora and Grace as from January).  Sometimes I have to produce decoration for weddings that really isn't my style at all.....granted I can't do just everything that I like NOW can I.....but with this wedding it was very much my style of decoration which will be evident in Flora and Grace when we open the doors in January!

The whole day was extra special in so many ways.....good luck to this fabulous couple......Angie and Karl may you both live happily ever after in complete wedded bliss Xxxxx.