The White Horse Flower Company

It’s Friday again, it’s Saturday, Sunday What?

Bank holiday Monday thats what!

Here at WHFCo Hq. I’m actually luxuriating in a no wedding weekend. I’m just off out to deliver a tenth anniversary recreation bridal bouquet to one of my couples celebrating and then I’m out of the office until Tuesday when we roll straight into an end of August wedding with all the gorgeousness this season has to offer.

Hope you have a cracking B/H weekend p*eps, as you were … L x

It’s Friday again…
Sun’s up, Sky’s blue and I really should be in the garden tidying, weeding and admiring the glut of cucumbers and courgettes, my tomatoes are coming on but are still green. The damsons are falling and I really should pick them up and make gin with them. But instead I’m basking in the calm, quiet afternoon haze…

Cheers to the weekend flower friends I hope it’s a good one. X

Just because I bloody love an unscripted bridal bouquet. Proper free styling, no restrictions, nothing off limits = the best bouquets IMHO, you never really know until you’ve got all your ingredients in front of you. Then you have to select the combination.

This was Ellie’s bouquet.

Photography by

Is it me or does anyone else feel mid August to mid September has a warm fuzzy lovely glow about it? Warm sunny mornings with a dew on the ground reminds me nostalgically of camping holidays with small boys.
Nowadays we don’t holiday in August mostly because I’m always working so it makes a week long break tricky, a fortnight break neigh on impossible. So I tend to holiday around the peak times when it’s quieter. It does mean I get to enjoy my veg garden in full flow - courgettes and tomatoes, cucumbers and whatever else I’ve tried my hand at growing.
Everything feels quiet this week, it’s as if everyone had gone away in holiday, I like these quiet weeks where I live, the roads are quiet and everything is subdued. Bliss

I’m in the studio this weekend preparing for a Monday wedding which feels really lovely, an unusually quiet week leading up to a gentle weekend of preparation.

Hope you’re all enjoying August as much as me. X

A simple bucket of flowers on my very pristine workroom floor back in August 2020. I’d taken the opportunity to repaint and scrub it clean at a time when there were no gatherings permitted.

Scrolling for an August inspired floral image to post I went back to 2020.
The day this photo was taken, my dad died later this day 2020. I was with him at the time accompanying my mum as she has Alzheimer’s Dementia, I drove us to the hospital to say goodbye to him in A&E where he’d been taken that afternoon.
This photo transported me right back to that day, a day in the time of Covid 19, with all those restrictions which made his cancer treatment almost impossible to navigate and any hope of palliative treatment virtually nul and void.
It was a terrible time for me, I struggled dreadfully with isolation and depression, finding shards of light and purpose on those doorstep bouquet deliveries I was able to make alongside volunteering.

I look back and marvel at how far we’ve come in 4 years, how much me changed forever as a result of that difficult time. It really does feel like a lifetime ago.

One of the most potent take aways from then, and I know my own situation was just a scratch compared to others hardships, was the importance I felt through the giving of flowers, the love transcribed in the messages I wrote on behalf of those sending: the families, friends and loved ones unable to be with them at poignant moments.
I sent bouquets on what should’ve been wedding days, bouquets for birthdays, the births of babies and of course for those who like me, lost someone. Many couldn’t be with their loved ones when they died… what a cruel time it was in so many levels. And yet, it’s as if it never happened. A blurred memory of a troubled time.

Never underestimate the power of the gift of a beautiful bouquet and those sentiments behind them. 🌸🌻💐

#2020

August is high summer. Higher temperatures and holidays aplenty (unless you’re a wedding florist that is)!
August is heat haze and early morning walks before it gets too hot. It’s quiet as it feels like everyone (except me) is in holiday.
August is ABCD… Agapanthus, borage, crocosmia and of course DAHLIA season! It’s brown lawns and runner bean, tomatoes and courgette gluts. It’s rosè wine and balmy nights with windows flung open.

August. 🫶

Florists are akin to modern day Cinderellas, we don’t go to the ball, we ‘do’, deliver and disappear! We often rely on lovely clients (and generous photographers) sharing their images to see how our flowers looked on the day, in context and in the moment.

So I was delighted to have a sneak p*ek at Saturday’s wedding just gone from my lovely bride
A scorcher of a day, (always a worry as a florist) but a bright and beautiful one with a stellar lineup of all locally grown flowers.

Here’s our happy couple after the confetti shot, bouquet in hand and love struck. ❤️

Congratulations E & B

Photo credit

#

It’s coming around again 🧡💗🧡💗 pink and orange. Such a joyful combination of colour

July in a vase.

Throwback to 2018
For a beautiful couple who loved colour.

I had a free rein on this flower palette, I knew I needed to keep the look bright, summery and cheerful. It was as I recall such a happy day.

I thought a deep dive into TWHFCo portfolio would turn up some real gems of colour schemes not to mention favourite flower combinations. Those sunflowers are so joyful- I use the little ones so as not to overwhelm the bouquet and unbalance it.

Six years ago - time sometimes feels like it’s running away, we’re fortunate to work with clients who trust in the process of giving an outline brief and allowing the season to influence the outcome.

So here’s to summer, hopefully a run of warm weather and an abundance of flowers in every colour.

Although we’re just tipping into the official summer holiday season here in the UK, many businesses like mine tend to work through the holiday season, so here’s to all those (like me), not having a summer holiday any time soon! Here’s to grabbed moments of sunshine and days out, to cheerful flowers to remind us of the season.

Hope you have a good week.

Thank You 🙏

More than anything, words of appreciation like these mean the world to me, an acknowledgment of attention to detail, an eye for colour and design and a trust in each other. Listening, understanding and ex*****on of the job.

I keep all the notes, emails and cards, all the words of appreciation, they are a true measure of the work I do as a florist.

Politeness, humour and knowledge always come fitted as standard.

Happy Sunday!
As you were …

For Pippa who married Jowan today.

Classic and timeless: a teardrop bridal bouquet never really ever goes out of style. Fashions come and go but a variation on this bouquet and flower combination has continued over the twenty plus years I’ve been a wedding florist and long long before my time as this one was inspired by Pippa’s mothers bouquet on her wedding day. Indeed my own mother had a similar combination sixty years ago, albeit a more pared down skeleton version as was the trend unlike my more fuller 2024 take. None the less, I do consider the wiring of flowers is a specialist skill among only a handful of wedding florists these days; anyone can hand - tie a bouquet, but only a specialist florist can make one of these.

I’m incredibly proud to have passed this skill on to a great many florists over the years who have come to a workshop to learn from me.

Anyhow, back to work as I finish tomorrow’s beautiful wedding flowers, load the van and do it all over again tomorrow. What a day !

Polly. On quite possibly the most beautiful day of her life (so far).

Flowers were an important element in hers and Jamie’s wedding day and I'd like to think that’s why she asked The White Horse Flower Co. to arrange their flowers.

We pride ourselves on combining all elements and distilling the essence of any given season by arranging flowers that embellish any wedding day. I'm a firm believer that it’s the people who make a wedding and the details enrich and colour those memories made on such days. So if you’re going to do it, do it to the best of your ability. and never underestimate the skill of a good florist to bring your day to life.
Quality, knowledge, skill and a passion for fine flowers.
Thank you for trusting me.

Photo credit:
Venue
Flowers supplied by:
Co florist

THIS is not just any old Gyp
This is locally grown Gypsophilia not wishing to sound like an M&S advert (much) is in my humble opinion, in a league of its own. It’s’ pretty star- like petals on a delicate yet remarkably sturdy stem are really rather beautiful It’s oh so dainty and doesn’t unlike the baby’s breath paniculata widely available in all supermarkets carry a niff of cat p*e! 🤣🐈
And whilst so many weddings love a bit of baby’s breath and yes, I’m not so precious that I refuse to use it (it’s trending doncha know) I would wholeheartedly recommend this as a preferred option.
Just saying…

Flowers: How much? Yes..THAT much!
The cost of flowers is a subject long overdue an airing and in need of discussion and some explanation.

I’d like to start by stating that I think it’s entirely reasonable for any couple planning their wedding to have absolutely no idea or appreciation of how much their flowers might cost!
I generally presume this to be the case (it mostly is) and set out some information before they even book to discuss flowers with me.
After booking a venue, and securing a photographer, dress etc, flowers are often further down the list and consequently budgeting priority, therefore finances need to be considered before we sit down to talk.

Flowers are expensive. Fact!
Particularly when €1 equates to 0.84 pence in the pound and most florists buy imported flowers. Importing for most of us flor is our modus operandi and although some like myself choose to buy local when in season, we often require high volumes or a particular colour and it can be impossible to rely solely on local flower farmers (however much we’d like to) also locally grown doesn’t mean to cheaper.

Flowers for my customers are often a key detail to their day; instagram and the likes of Pinterest showcase the trends and it’s no wonder couples fall in love with spectacular backdrops and installations for their dream wedding day with no clue to their actual cost.

The harsh reality is that the flowers may well exceed an allotted budget, indeed why would anyone know the cost of flowers unless they are themselves a florist. It has become increasingly apparent to me that when expectations and reality collide the reality has a nasty sting in its tail.
On top of the high price of flowers we need to factor in the skills, logistics and labour to create these arrangements which often swallow huge volumes of flowers and greenery - the latter btw is also grown and harvested like flowers.
As professional florists we earn our living doing flowers and it’s a huge responsibility, in spite of waxing lyrical about it here, I require insurance, pay rent, hire props, vans and pay our staff a living wage.
So when you see a quote and say “wtf? How much?” These are the facts.

By the time a wedding day arrives, the planning and organisation which goes into it is complete apart from physically setting out the arrangements and delivering the flowers (which for the most part are already done), fun fact but I’m already planning and preparing for next week!
Yes, of course I am present and in the moment, watching a brides face as she sees her bouquet will forever be my benchmark of success. Wedding planners have to wrestle me to the ground before they are allowed anywhere near my flowers, it’s a florist’s prerogative to hand over the gold star of her work. To see their faces - will forever be a special moment.

Today (Friday) the table centres and the pew ends are to be arranged (in water) and because I wire all my detailed work such as hair flowers and boutonnières, these were made yesterday, so are now beautifully cool and fresh in the flower fridge.
Sometimes we do these details last thing but on busy weeks like this one, we sat quietly yesterday afternoon and between us wired 24 boutonnière and 12 wrist corsages as well as hair flowers for 4 maids. Planning in this job is EVERYTHING!
I’ve written it once this week but if you fail to prepare one should prepare to fail, it’s is a motto I live by as an event florist and it’s fundamental to my process as a florist.

It’s a complicated weekend as my weddings are 200 miles apart but I’ve got all my ducks in a row and even managed to pick 500 stems of the flower order yesterday!!
All that’s left to do now is finish the job, and make sure we are all singing from the same hymn sheet!

I’m a list girl and live my life by checks and double checks!
Right now I’m already looking into the flower order for next week’s wedding. Some flowers are already on order, the sundries are already here, the minute details is where the magic happens.. this will reveal itself over the next 5 days (Welcome to my world)!

Flowers are just one aspect of a wedding day. It is why couples enlist professionals not to just get the job done, but execute to perfection. If a jobs worth doing, do it well. Employ skilled florists, photographers, stylists, MUA’s, caterers. You only plan to do this once, so do it well.

Flower Recipes
Pulling a floral palette together is like being a chef preparing a Michelin starred meal. Being a good reputable florist takes time, knowledge, experience indeed I believe my best work comes from trusting my instincts honed over twenty three years (yikes, that long)!

For really big events there is an absolute requirement for stem counts, quantities and allocations. It’s essential when you’ve got a huge team of florists working on various areas. But for the most part I’m a medium size event florist and not a conductor of the of an orchestra type florist, I actually do the flowers: I choose the combinations, I roll up my sleeves and create these arrangements myself alongside my small team which more often is a team of one other.

My flower arrangements are one off unscripted combinations which mean the variables are interchangeable until the flowers are in my studio.
Control freaks and micromanaging types would not do well in my studio it’s hugely intuitive which I believe you can’t teach, it’s more of a gut feeling. There’s nothing scientific about being a florist, it’s 100% creative skill.
This week’s bouquets are as yet unscripted combinations partially pre ordered but tomorrow I’ll be in the flower field myself picking the remaining ingredients. Yes the colours are often the only constant but the varieties and colour quotas are my variables. Flowers are gathered from multiple sources so I don’t quite know what’s going into the final cut until everything is in the studio and I can choose the best blooms for the most iconic arrangement a bride will ever hold: her bridal bouquet.
TWHFCo’s reputation has been built on this approach and I couldn’t imagine creating my flowers any other way. I always say my flowers come together on a wing and a prayer! But it’s actually a skill I’ve honed over many years.
My best work has been produced this way!

It’s sweet pea season and it’s fair to say they are one of my top three favourite flowers. I know, most florists will tell you they don’t have a favourite flower but I have several. Hellebores in wintertime, tulips in spring and sweet peas in summer, there, I’ve said it. Easy sweet peasy!

I’m heading over to this week to gather a huge bucket of gorgeousness for this weeks summer weddings.
Sweet peas might not be huge focal flowers like a rose or peony are, but they come in a myriad of colours and the scent.. well the scent let me tell you is exquisitely intoxicatingly quintessentially the scent of an English summer.

Sweet peas create impact on two levels firstly you smell them before you see them in an arrangement but they add a flutter of colour and if like me you love texture and intrigue in your flower arrangements, their curly tendrils create another layer in the arrangement. I literally adore them.

Summer without sweet peas is like bread without butter or a scone without jam. Unthinkable !

This is me, in my happy place - with the flowers.


Photographer
MUA
Location

Monday.
Summer season
Wedding & Event florist: the process.

Wedding flower preparation for a Saturday wedding begins on Monday for me.

Once funds are cleared, the budget is set and one can begin to prepare the rudimentary, preliminary list of potential flowers.
For me this starts with ascertaining what is available locally.. What non negotiable flowers (if any) are required and where they are to be sourced.

The sundries are already here, candles, ribbons, props and hardware will have been organised weeks in advance.

The devil is in the detail and this is never a set piece. The varieties, the quantities and the sourcing starts as close to home as possible and moves outward as necessary.
After contacting local growers for availability in my colour schemes, I need to allocate budget and to some degree a stem count.

Factors affecting this process include weather, demand, quality and of course price. Prices go up with demand and scarcity and can skew a budget so that you may need to rethink & rejig recipes.

It’s not like placing a repeat order for a set piece, every week there’s a variable such as a new seasonal varieties in bloom or a requested flower which proves to be problematic .. today it’s peonies. The colour, the availability and the fact they’re technically no longer in season
It’s only Monday and my two weddings have opposite styles, colours and therefore present different issue and the cake supplier for one of these events requested a list of varieties (no chance)!

So now that I have begun the process I can move onto emails resume quotes and continue with the zoom calls and domestic side of life as an event florist.

Many mistakenly think the magic only happens in the preceding hours leading up to the wedding? No way José! It’s now the magic happens - those colour combinations those unique recipes are honed this end of the week.
The part when you actually see, the final piece was curated five days beforehand.

The physical part of the work begins 72 hours before the wedding. The planning and recipes written four- five days beforehand.

Fail to prepare - then Prepare to fail.
The best florists know this to be true.

Making a Statement

SO many of my 2025 couples are embracing colourful flowers.
Colours such as pinks, orange, corals and generally all brights are very much in vogue.
This is wonderful news to me, especially if it means I can lean into what’s growing down the road of my local flower farms and create flowers which are also seasonal and local.
Colour can also complement a more subtle palette elsewhere at a wedding by that I mean if for example the bridesmaids are in a neutral colour, colourful flowers lift up draw attention and breathe life and soul into a wedding.
Colourful can be everything including the kitchen sink or just a touch with a couple of specific accents. A few focal accents of colour can look really stylish for those who want to keep the overall vibe lighter and more neutral but for the odd “pop” of colour.

Colour can mean an ombre of one shade from the palest hint through to the deepest hue. It can be beautifully balanced and not too in your face (as demonstrated in this pedestal). Accent colours contrast - often by incorporating a colour from the other side of the colour spectrum, this sometimes breaks up an overriding colour and actually balances it out beautifully.

Colour doesn’t have to be big in your face focal flowers, it can be small ditsy flowers with accent colour details such as coloured taper candles, napkins, ribbons, runners or table cloths.

Colourful weddings are very much on the up and for a florist who’s always let out a little whoop of joy when asked to embrace colour in my work, am overjoyed to see a huge resurgence in bright florals for 2025.
They bring intensity and drama and are incredibly stylish and memorable.

That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with paler schemes, on the contrary, you do you, but if you were in any doubt about upping the ante and making a statement, be brave, it’s guaranteed to be memorable.

What makes a bouquet so special?
Firstly it’s the gesture behind receiving it, the acknowledgement and sentiment which is the first benefit, then and hopefully almost immediately is the actual visual effect of holding that bouquet, the colours and of course as importantly the scent.
We often look at our screens like you are doing now, but the actual sensory experience is most definitely the best!
We use scented foliage, scented flowers as well as beautiful blooms, there’s a serendipity with my flowers which ensures unpredictability in the varieties, no two bouquets are ever the same. Always a variation in colour, combination and scent. This one had mint, geraniums, English roses and peony all wafting their beautiful fragrance.

There are flowers and then there are The White Horse Flower Company bouquets.

May is bowing out to June. All we need now is warmer weather and a little less rain (please and thank you Mother Nature)!

It’s a strange year for many florists as it seems for many reasons there are fewer weddings occurring this year than the previous years since 2020/2021.

As a florist, florist teacher and mentor I’ve been fielding a great many messages, calls, emails and face to face conversations with fellow florists and the anxiety and insecurity amongst them (us) is palpable.

Posting pictures and up beat tag lines instead of lifting spirits and helping distract, merely compound these feelings for everyone looking on..

As a small business and sole trader myself I hear as well as feel these frustrations and concerns personally because regardless of your experience or success, no one is exempt from this situation I know first hand It’s not an easy time.

Having been through previous recessions I know how hard it is to stay positive and not feel isolated; social media often amplifies these feelings rather than quell them.
Whilst I don’t have the answers nor do I know how long this industry-wide downward spiral is going to last but I do know that sharing the burden and offering words of comfort and solidarity sometimes helps to ease the angst and inward self loathing and fear which begins to bubble up from within. Those thoughts of “Is it just me?”

So please inwardly digest this post and their words and know that as a community, we are in this together.

As you were.

Linz x

This photo: June flowers. That poppy and all hail the foxglove!

Glimpses of J&J’s wedding flowers are over on my story.
Meantime here’s a basket of bouquets ahead of their debut, captured on the bench in my studio this Bank holiday Monday.

I’ll share more anon. I only saw Josie - today’s beautiful bride just after the ceremony this afternoon. Her first words to me were “I’m obsessed with the flowers Linz” ..

I’ll take that :0)

Beautiful seasonally inspired flowers for the end of May included peonies (in every colour), sweet peas, orlaya, foxgloves, lupins, delphiniums, agrostemma (a new favourite), clematis, poppies, sweet William, antirrhinums, ranunculus and anemones.

Credit goes to and for the lions share of today’s flowers all grown within a few miles of both my Berkshire studio and - today’s beautiful venue.

My thanks to for being the best co-florist (as always).

I’m back in a few weeks with a long run of gorgeous summer weddings bringing you
All the flowers
All the colours
All the abundance and of course the one thing you cannot appreciate here: ALL the delicious scent.

I’m off to enjoy the few remaining hours of this bank holiday weekend. X

Go check out the stories. I’ll post Josies bouquet soonest.

Bank holiday weekend vibes
Keeping it casual, cool and relaxed
Pours wine. Sips kicks off Birkenstocks and breathes.
*tehorseflowercompany

Late Spring, Early Summer wedding flowers.

May flowers appear have a lightness about them that I love and try to reflect in my bridal and bridesmaid bouquets.
The “Wispy bits” as many of my brides would describe them as, elevate these focal and iconic hand tied bouquets to exquisite floral accessories which should harmoniously complement the bride in her beautiful dress.

My hand tied bridal bouquets are intentionally lightweight and delicate, they may have some show stopper flowers amongst the miscellany of blooms but these will be in dispersed with delicate flutters of sweet pea, campion, delicate bells of tellima, maybe even a froth of Alchemilla Mollis, it varies with every one I make; whether it’s an all white ensemble such as this one or a sumptuous, richly bejewelled concoction.
Being light in the hand is fundamental as well as a “nipped in waist” (which comes from spiralling the stems) so that one hand around the bouquet is all that’s required to hold it and waft and whirl it around all day!

We have a bank holiday wedding coming up and today I was compiling my flower lists as well as getting in the peonies early ensuring everything is open and on point for the big day.

It’s not a one stop shop but rather a carefully curated list of different flowers from various sources. Some will be picked on Friday evening, others will be winging their way to me in the coming days.
Timing is everything as an event florist. Timing and an eye for details.

This is me.

Unlike the usual line I’ve got lots of new followers so here’s a big about me … yadda yadda yadda I’m not entirely sure if I have any new followers because the likes and follower go up and down like a hot air balloon! But if you are new to my account, welcome to one and all.
I’m Linz, I’m an event florist and have been arranging flowers for almost two and a half decades. I became a florist whilst on a career break, I was once a midwife, a nurse but that was a looong time ago and another story. I was “bench trained” by another florist who was a florist herself for over sixty years before retiring… (I’ve got a long way still to go)!

I could tell you all sorts of fun facts as everyone does but I won’t mostly because I’m not one to follow the crowd! 🤣
What I will say is that I am incredibly lucky to run a successful event florist business, I’ve worked incredibly hard to build my business which allows me to express my creativity so freely. I’m a sole trader and it’s me who you meet, me who answers your emails, me who chooses and arranges your flowers me who washes up and packs it all away.
One of the best parts of being an event florist is every brief is like a blank sheet of paper - a clean slate from which I get to come up with new ideas to create beautiful arrangements, focal centre pieces or stunning backdrops to all of life’s special occasions.

Over the years I’ve become more mindful of the need to work with Nature and not against it. We live in a fragile world and flowers allow us a means to reconnect to our natural environment. For me the simplest example is working as much as I can seasonally, using where possible locally grown flowers and being flexible with what’s available.
In so doing, I also engage my customers by helping them appreciate this aspect of their flowers.

Flowers are my medium of choice to tell other people’s stories of love, happiness as well as loss and sorrow, they are both a visual and sensory interpretation.

I hope this little insight into my take on being a florist is more interesting than telling you how I like my tea (earl grey and no milk) and my coffee (black Americano) I’ll save that for another time! Xx