Barbican Conservatory Wedding - Floral Design Inspiration
Modern City Wedding At The Barbican
As a London wedding florist, I have become weather obsessed. The same is to be said of many brides, anticipating the weekend ahead. Weather uncertainty can be a huge stressor or letdown for those that have pictured a marquee wedding in glorious sunshine. This conundrum brings me nicely to the second in my series of London Weddings in Autumn, another example of a beautiful day that wouldn’t have been changed by hail or storms. The weather was no issue for Aimee and Simon, who celebrated their Barbican Conservatory Wedding in October.
Barbican Wedding Floral Design Process
As a celebrity stylist, I knew Aimee would have an exacting eye for just how she wanted everything to look on her big day. We spoke at lengths about her ideas, what she loved about the venue, her bridal party outfit and party favour ideas. I use these points as not only a source of inspiration but also allow them to inform my design choices with flowers. I previously worked as an events manager and stylist and I see my role as ‘wedding florist’ very much to tie everything together, bridging aesthetic continuity across the day. Aimee is a visual person, so it’s no surprise that she had an abundance of ideas. I worked with her to consolidate the final look and how we would execute this through the florals.
Both Aimee & Simon loved the brutalist architecture of the Barbican Conservatory and the somewhat out-of-place tropical nature that makes it feel otherworldly. We chose to work sympathetically with the ‘interior’, with floral design ideas that were effortless yet striking.
How to style a Barbican Wedding
On first viewing of the Barbican Conservatory Terrace, the couple felt this space lacked the same magic that the rest of the Conservatory had. They wanted to continue the overgrown plants into this area on both the tables and across the high ceilings.
For the tables we worked solely with tropical leaves that offered different shapes and sizes, creating a very simple table design which was highly effective. We arranged stems and trailing vines at different heights and lengths, creating an undulating table-scape that contrasted the white tablecloths. For a pop of colour, bottles of peachy rhubarb gin, made by Aimee and Simon’s family, provided this accent along the tables.
Decorating the vast ceiling was a challenge but we decided to work with one variety en masse to create as much impact within budget, whilst looking as if it had grown there. Meters upon meters of Spanish moss was strung together to form long trails that were suspended above the guests heads.
Fashion-led Flowers
With Aimee designing all the outfits herself, I was so excited to see what she had created. Simon and the groomsmen wore very timeless all-black, which the bridesmaids and flower girls made a nod to in their accessories. For the bridesmaids’ hair, they wrapped slicked-back ponytails with black velvet ribbon, used again for their simple wrist corsages that featured single orchid heads.
Aimee’s dress was striking, clean and elegant which suited her so style well. She accessorised with gloves hand-strung with pearls and pearls again in her hair. Aimee wanted a feminine but ‘cool’ wedding bouquet; to balance the detail she already had in her outfit. I used blousy garden roses and orchids in shades of white and the palest pink which made for a modern design that complimented her look. This has to be up there with my favourite bride’s looks.
Wedding Suppliers
The Barbican Conservatory itself makes for the most beautiful backdrop to wedding photography. Iona Wolff, who also works a lot in the celebrity world took these incredible shots, with her second shooter, Chloe Winstanley. At Still Life Flowers we are extremely proud to have provided the wedding flowers for this beautiful Barbican Conservatory wedding alongside some incredible suppliers.
If you would like to discuss your floral brief with us to see what we can do, please get in touch.
“Still Life Flowers made my vision come to life. They also let me explore new ideas throughout the planning process and helped guide me to make the right decisions without diluting the end result and impact. I’ll be forever grateful to them for making me feel secure in knowing that when I stepped in to my venue on the day of my wedding it was going to look the way I imagined it, and it really did. Absolutely faultless.”
I hope this has inspired you to consider your own Barbican wedding come rain or shine. For more autumn wedding inspiration, take a look at Chris & Skyla’s London wedding at St Lawrence Jewry Church and Hawksmoor Guildhall.
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