DV customer, Stems Brooklyn, recently had the opportunity to design an entire wedding for their clients Oliver and Nick using the Shades of White David Austin Wedding Package. We were so excited to see the final images from the event that we thought it would be great to share the details with everyone. With some help from our friends at David Austin and Julia from Stems, we put together a special article/interview chronicling how the vision went from a mood board to a real life fairytale wedding.
Meet the Designer - Stems Brooklyn
We love to take a bit of time out to sit down and talk with our floral customers, and what better way to do so than to discuss our special David Austin Wedding promotion with one of our long-standing customers, Stems Brooklyn. So, let’s get to it…
Hi Julia, thanks for talking with us about the David Austin Wedding package you recently purchased through DVFlora. We wanted to share your experience of using 504 David Austin Roses so all our customers can immerse themselves in the world of roses and hopefully, can also have a share in this special promotion.
1. Firstly, how did you hear about the David Austin Wedding package and is this your first time using David Austin Wedding Roses?
I heard about the package in an email that our DV rep, Heidi, sent out to all her clients! I didn’t know that DV had this partnership with David Austin previously, and once Heidi sent out some information about it, I knew we had to give it a try. This was my first time ordering so many David Austin Roses, for sure; I may have used a pack or two, but never this sheer volume.
2. For this particular wedding, did your wedding clients request David Austin Roses or was this something you introduced to them? How did that conversation go?
Our clients, Oliver and Nick, did not request David Austin Roses specifically. They were very drawn to a clean spring palette: lots of greens, lots of whites, and subtle hints of blush. When I designed their initial mood board, I included some garden roses as potential floral elements, along with ranunculus, spirea, tulips, etc. We’re a seasonal florist, so we generally try to use only seasonally available materials from our region when possible.
Photographer: Larisa Shorina Photography
3. The color palette chosen was Shades of White. What influenced your decisions on the floral designs and creativity using this colorway?
Our clients were mostly drawn to a crisp, clean, yet romantic spring palette. We’re very lucky that our clients trust us, knowing they will get seasonal designs based on what looks best the week of their wedding- we never guarantee specific florals, but our mood boards we create give our clients a good sense of what their florals will look and feel like.
We try to design with lots of shapes and texture in a really organic style, so even an “all-white” wedding for us has to feel interesting and textural. I loved that the David Austin Rose Shades of White package came with several different varieties – we weren’t locked into just one style of rose, and the varieties gave us a lot of different shapes and shades to work with, from cream to ivory to blush.
4. How many different floral arrangements were you able to create using 504 roses?
We created a super lush arch, 10 aisle markers, 2 statement pieces, 3 bouquets, and a garden tablescape for 40 guests using the 504 roses. We even had some left over!
5. You designed an incredible foam-free arch full of David Austin Roses and supporting flowers and foliage. How did you go about doing this?
It truly wouldn’t have been possible without our new arch base from Floral Fabrications all the way over in the UK. They design incredible modular arches for florists that allow for foam-free design mechanics with a super sturdy base.
This design was our biggest challenge of the day! Suzanna, Stems’ owner, and I sat down together several days before the wedding to sketch out on paper a design for the mechanics we’d be using. We had about an hour to get this arch completely built and designed from start to finish, as the venue is strict on vendor load-in times, so we needed a design that could be established quickly, with a focus on making sure every single rose was in water. This meant we placed cups of water throughout the arch, along with chicken wire all around the arch structure.
It wasn’t terribly hot that day, but the roses would absolutely have not lasted out of water, so once the greens and the dogwood branches were placed, we made sure all the roses along the sides of the arch were placed in our hidden cups. All the roses along the top were water tubed. We had 5 people working on this arch at once which made this all possible! As an eco-conscious florist, we are dedicated to foam-free designs and sustainable practices, and it was an incredible win that we were able to create such a lush design with such delicate garden roses on a tight time frame. With creativity and planning, anyone can do it!
6. Would you recommend other floral designers to take up the opportunity to create A David Austin Wedding and if so, why?
Absolutely! I think this package is especially fabulous for any wedding with a somewhat limited colorway; if you’re trying to design a rainbow, it may not work, but if you have a few shades you really want to lean into, it’s perfect. You get HIGH quality roses in several shades to work with- and they’re fragrant! We love when flowers have scent that our clients and their guests can enjoy all night long. We especially loved watching them open over the course of several days in our studio- the guide that came along with the package made it easy to keep track of how many days each variety needed to open completely.
Thank you so much for giving your time to talk to us, we know how busy the floral life can be! We wish you all the best for the 2023 wedding season and we hope to see more David Austin Wedding designs from you in the future.
To all our other floral customers, don’t forget, there’s still plenty of time to secure this special promotion. Orders can be placed up until October 31, 2023 and delivery of orders can take place through to October 2024. This year we have four color palettes to choose from.
If you would like to know more about this special David Austin Wedding promotion, please get in touch with your sales rep for more information or click here to read more about what this special promotion is all about.
