- Jul 17, 2022
- 3 min read

Tatton goes green. It's a nice day for a green wedding

Strawberry and cream cheshire grown flower Installation at RHS Tatton Flower

Reconnecting with Nature at RHS Tatton Park Flower Show

Over the past few years, we have spent more time at home in our gardens. We have watched the seasons change and it's given us time to reflect on what's important to us and to reconnect with nature. This rekindled a love for gardening and countryside walks amongst lush green trees. Escapism was at the heart; we immersed ourselves in the sights, scents and sounds that gave us a truly sensuous experience while lifting our spirits.

As 2022 is known as the year of weddings, our floral installation celebrates unity, uniqueness and noble trees, making it the perfect setting for wedding ceremony memories. The backdrop of a majestic tree or two is a symbolic way to begin married life together. In Celtic times the tree symbolised strength, wisdom and longevity. It captures the sense of the past, present and future, while the roots of wisdom it brings inspire a strong union. And what could be more romantic than a woodland wedding?

Trees of Unity

The Celts believed that the ‘Tree of Life’ was an ancestor of the human being and interconnected all life on Earth. A forest is made up of a large number of individual trees; the branches of each one link together and combine their life force to provide a home for thousands of different species of flora and fauna. This in turn reminds us that this is the union of two people in love, who are making a commitment and starting their journey of discovery together, under a woodland canopy that shelters and protects their relationship. A ceremony of love that grows organically with the marriage.

Jacqui O at RHS Tatton flower show — Jacqui O

“At Tatton Park, I wanted to recreate the emotions a bridal couple feel when surrounded by natural beauty and flowers, by having a model couple pose as a bride and groom under my floral arch. As more and more couples are choosing to get married outside this year, my canopy with its vibrant, summer flowers, is the perfect backdrop for their photos.”

Blossoming Love

Our ‘Bee Friendly’ Cheshire blooms form a crescent which hugs the couple as they say their ‘I do’s’. The flowers, representing the blossoming of the relationship, appear to be growing on the edge of an ancient woodland filled with an abundance of scent, textures and the natural rhythms of the season. These beautiful blooms are grown with passion and love, and have already provided food and a habitat for a huge variety of butterflies, bugs and bees in rural Cheshire before being cut for our floral creation. Along with a floral palette of lush greenery from our Irish grower, they add spontaneity and romance, with soft buttermilk blossoms and bold splashes of wild blackberries, raspberry and strawberries, symbolising a long and fruitful marriage.

Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship

The exhibit reminds us of the importance of caring for our planet, especially in the light of climate change and the threats it poses. We believe looking after our planet and people is all our ‘blooming responsibility’, and as a floral designer, it’s my responsibility to be the keeper of natural beauty as I am dependent on the earth for my profession. Our pre-loved silver birch trunks are repurposed from our wedding equipment and supported by our metal stands, which have been used for over 100 weddings. We will create a canopy with a hidden metal construction to appear like silver birch. The flowers and foliage stems will be carefully placed into an eclectic mix of vessels from recycled and pre-loved containers, supported by twig constructions to help hold the flowers and foliage in place.