A simply styled spring wedding celebration at our small flower farm with the first of the spring blooms was a colourful seasonal and sensory delight. All captured beautifully by Jemma Keech Photography
A rustic, romantic farm shed wedding celebration for Alistair and Natalie held at our family property Riverdale Farm on the Kalgan River in Western Australia. The 2020 COVID 19 pandemic has meant many challenges for families around the world and ours was no different. Unfortunately with the challenges of 2020 many family members and friends were unable to attend this Australian spring celebration of their wedding on Prince Edward Island, Canada in Natalie's parents Cathy and Paul's garden in early July. A live streamed wedding was viewed in the early morning our time. The wedding flowers in Canada were grown and designed by Barbara of Island Meadow Flowers, who I had the pleasure of meeting at her farm last spring. Those that were unable to attend enjoyed celebrating the recent marriage of this beautiful young couple at Alistair's family home at the Kalgan.
Jim and I spent many long hours over winter pruning and planting the garden with spring blooms for this much anticipated celebration. Alistair and Jim were responsible for moving furniture, mowing and setting up the festoon lighting and underlighting some beautiful native trees in the wider garden areas.
Natalie's bouquet and Alistair's buttonhole was made with love and attention to detail by our daughter Abbey. Jemma styled our hair and did the makeup for the event.
The shed and workshop space has a lovely collection of garden brocante creating the impression of a potting shed inspired by the beautiful greenhouse spaces of Petersham Nurseries. A truly delightful oasis of calm in Richmond, UK. A lovely collection of terracotta pots filled with our seed raised violas and pansies complemented the floral arrangements. Pastel toned ranunculi, anemones, grevilleas, columbines and stock were the main flowers in the arrangements complete with fragrant trailing vines all picked from our gardens.
The essence of our work at Riverdale Farm is to work sustainably with our garden gathered blooms to create an authentically, individual aesthetic with a touch of romance and nostalgia. The vessels used for the floral arrangements have been gathered purposefully over many years mostly whilst on holidays. They represent collected moments of happy and relaxed times spent with family. Objects that transport me back to the moment and the memory of time and place. I find beauty in time worn, imperfect vessels. I love the nostalgia associated with heirloom items.
I chose to use antique urns, Victorian ironstone jelly moulds mixed with rustic wire candelabras and tea light holders. Charm in utility....
All arrangements were created sustainably with no floral foam with help from Abbey, Carmen and Natalie. Reuse, recycle and repurpose are themes at the core of how I work to keep my carbon footprint to a minimum.
Natural linen tablecloths and linen napkins in a variety of complimentary shades fitted perfectly with the colour palette of the blooms.
A wonderful select group of local vendors were a dream to deal with, all offering a very high standard of professional service. Mr Sippy Bar served local drinks from a lovely vintage caravan whilst Kooka’s served beautifully presented and tasty seasonal food choices, together with our home grown flowers made for a very enjoyable evening amongst family and friends. Gilbert's rose was a particular favourite with our guests!
No gathering at Riverdale Farm is complete without our beautiful Maisy.
Lovely cross back chairs and wicker sofas from Albany Event Hire complemented our collection of barrels, trestle tables made by Jim, wire table and chairs that we have owned for many years.
Candles in beautiful shades looked delightful as the evening turned to dark.
A couple of very short but heavy downpours meant guests quickly retreated to undercover shed spaces but they certainly didn't dampen the spirits of our guests!
