Everywhere I look at the moment, things are bursting into life. I love the fact that spring means flowers and flowers always get me thinking about weddings.
Today’s feature is all about the prettiest petals around as I have the huge pleasure of welcoming the wonderful team from The Real Flower Petal Confetti Company to Love My Dress.
Confetti is such an integral part of weddings – it’s joyous, it’s beautiful and it’s a symbolic showering of good wishes and love on a newly married couple. Let’s find out more in the company of The Real Flower Petal Confetti Company.
So, let me introduce you to these purveyors of perfect petals. The Real Flower Petal Confetti Company are the UK’s original growers of natural and biodegradable flower petal confetti. They’ve been growing flowers on the Wyke Manor Estate, a 250-year-old family farm in Worcestershire, for more than 20 years as the team wanted to provide an eco-friendly, no-waste confetti option for couples. The Real Flower Petal Confetti Company oversee everything ‘from field to throw’ and they are, as we’re about to see, the absolute confetti experts.
“Different petals behave differently, float differently and have their own distinctive impact,” says Sally at The Real Flower Petal Confetti Company. “Our delphiniums, wildflowers and small natural rose petals are the best choice for throwing confetti because they are small and light so stay in the air for a longer confetti moment. Delphiniums and wildflowers are the smallest and give a great ‘full’ effect in photographs whereas the small natural rose petals are a little bigger, they can give more colour and impact.”
Petals are, of course, also fantastic for scattering and for decorating and if this is what you’re looking for, there are petals that are perfect for you too. Sally recommends hydrangeas and large natural rose petals as both have their own distinctive shapes so they look beautiful as wedding aisle or table decorations. These are also gorgeous when given to a flower girl to scatter in front of the bride.
Let’s get down to confetti practicalities, shall we? When you’re trying to plan how much to buy and when to buy, it’s super important to have the right information and Sally has years of experience in guiding couples so here’s what you need to know:
“One of the questions that we get asked most frequently is ‘how much confetti do we need to fill a cone?’ Well, that’s simple because our confetti cones are designed to hold a handful of confetti petals. We sell our cones in packs of 10 so you just need a 10-handful bag of petals to fill them. All our measurements are by the handful because that way it’s easy to work out how much you need!”
“Decorations are a little harder to calculate because every person’s interpretation of a “light scattering” is slightly different to the next! Again, it can be helpful to think in terms of handfuls because you can picture that quite easily, and what it might look like on your table with all the glassware and centre-pieces.”
“When lining an aisle with petals you first need to measure to find out how long it is! Then think about how wide you wish the petal lines to be. We have guides on our website as to how much you need to cover a square meter with each type of petal, and you can then divide the metre by the desired width of your line, to work out how far the petals will stretch. It’s not quite as mind boggling as it sounds! But that is one of the questions customers call us to chat through. We are always available on the phone to discuss ideas and help with quantities.”
And when should you buy your confetti? Well, one of the very best things about petals from The Real Petal Confetti Company is that they last – they’ll store happily for many months (or even years!) and they won’t wilt, fade or go soft and soggy on your wedding day like a fresh petal would.
This means that you can place your confetti order at any point in the planning process and tick that job from your list whenever you like. On the flip side, if you’re getting married next weekend, don’t worry – The Real Petal Confetti Company offers a next day delivery service too so there’s still time to get your petals!
We all love confetti for that iconic ‘confetti shot’. As I’m planning my own wedding (July – eeek!), I had to ask Sally for her advice on how to get the very best confetti photograph and her tips are invaluable:
“Firstly, you should tell your photographer that you want to get that amazing picture and talk it through with them. They might have some suggestions and should be able to identify the best place at your venue for it to take place. There are two main options – a big group shot, or two lines of guests forming an avenue for the couple to walk through. The avenue option is generally the safest way to get that perfect picture – because the photographer has lots of time to take lots of photos as the couple walks down through the confetti.”
“Secondly, you need delegate the job of making sure all your guests have their confetti ready for the big moment – ask a bridesmaid, mother-in-law or an usher to take charge, hand out confetti or make sure people take a handful as they leave the church. There can be a lot of milling about after the ceremony and people need some direction! Your photographer will appreciate the help. Couples tend to forget that on the big day they won’t be at all involved in the organisation!”
Finally, I absolutely must mention that, for a few days in June, The Real Petal Confetti Company open their stunning flower fields to the general public and oh my goodness, this is an amazing experience. 25 acres, full of colour and beautiful tall flowers that you can walk around is a wonderful treat for anyone, particularly if you’d like to see your confetti ‘in the wild’!
“Before we harvest the flower petals, we open our gates to the public for about 10 days. It’s great to be able to share the flowers and we all love to see peoples’ faces when they turn the corner and see the field! The open days have grown in popularity and people now travel from far and wide to see the flowers and take some photos – it’s very Instagram-able! So, we have a little pop-up café selling tea and cake, and we sell bunches of flowers, and of course our confetti petals. It’s a bit of a festival atmosphere – especially when it’s hot and sunny!”
“We are an arable farm and the flowers are rotated with our other crops, so each year the field is in a different place and the planning has to start from scratch! We are waiting to see how things are growing and the effects of the weather before we announce this summer’s visiting days and details on Friday 1st March. It’ll be on our website and social media so do keep any eye out!”
‘From field to throw’ – The Real Petal Confetti Company is beautiful from start to finish.
To find out more about the confetti, cones and lovely little extras from The Real Petal Confetti Company, do take a look at their deliciously colourful website.
Love,
Tamryn x
Tamryn Settle View all Tamryn's articles
Self-confessed wedding addict Tamryn spends her days in her Berkshire studio writing about all things beautiful and romantic with her black Labrador for company.
