Mollie and Andrew were married in October 2021 at the absolutely stunning venue Paddock Barn in Town Yeat, Kendall.
I asked Mollie how she would describe their special day, and she said:
“Gorgeous, chilled and happy!! After 2 cancelled weddings it was so nice to be able to go ahead without any restrictions with our close friends and family. The day was so perfect and relaxed as we had changed to only having 50 people and I couldn’t recommend smaller weddings enough! Everyone said it was the best wedding they’d been to which was so nice to hear! I wouldn’t change a thing.”
The florist used for the wedding was Bluebell and Ivy in Ulverston.
“Lauren at Bluebell and Ivy (and the team) are amazing florists so I really didn’t have to do much thinking! I knew I wanted autumnal colours as we got married in October with a rustic feel to match the wedding. Other than that I pretty much gave them free reign and what they produced exceeded all my expectations!”
Mollie said she thought Bluebell and Ivy were “the best in the business” as far as florists go. She also said she thought their floral arrangements were very classy and such good value. I have to say the flowers were indeed spectacular!
When Mollie’s bouquet arrived with me, it was still very fresh and still had all the beautiful ribbons and a little personalised heart attached to it, which I think was the ‘something blue’. Unravelling a wedding bouquet feels very special. It is almost as if all of the memories and happy moments from the wedding day come tumbling out as I carefully separate each stem. It makes me feel grateful to be trusted with such precious memories and I am especially honoured.
Mollie asked me to make a set of two A5 sized ceramic wall hanging tiles, a small square vase, and eight heart trinket dishes using her flowers.
I always try to use at least one of every type of stem on each piece, depending on the clay surface area space and size of the flower heads. Arranging the flowers into a composition is one of my favourite parts of the project. I love seeing all of the different shapes, colours and textures coming together and think about which glazes I will be using to decorate the pieces.
With the wedding being in October, the flowers were bursting with autumn colour and I couldn’t wait to start adding colour to bring the flowers back to life.
The pieces needed lots of time to dry at a nice slow rate before I could colour them, so lots of patience needed.
The wall hangings, trinket dishes and vase were all fired in my kiln to 1260°C. Opening the kiln to see the results was like walking into a sweetie shop as a child, and so rewarding to see such beautiful results after a lot of time and care has gone into making forever keepsakes that will be cherished.
I wrapped the finished pieces ready to send back to Mollie, and finished the brown paper parcels with the ribbon from her wedding bouquet. The blue personalised heart was attached to one of the parcels, and I also included some of my own handmade ceramic charms for her to keep.
Mollie found my business on Instagram in 2019. She hadn’t thought about ideas for preserving her flowers until she saw the services I offer, and continued to follow me so that she could be reminded closer to her wedding date.
Some of the pieces were kept for Mollie and Andrew, whilst others were given to their mothers and Mollie’s Nana for Christmas. Mollie has displayed their pieces in their home, and added: “We are hoping to move next year so that’s where they’ll really shine!”
| I asked, Would you recommend Charlotte Hupfield Ceramics to a friend? “Definitely – such a lovely idea and service with fantastic results , I was gutted thinking my flowers would die but this is a lovely way to remember them.” Huge thanks and congratulations to Mollie and Andrew for sharing photos from their special day, which were taken by photographer Adam Bird. Adam’s photos capture all the magic and tell a story, just like a fairy tale! |
