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You are here: Home / Archives for High Altar

Lily of the valley features at Royal wedding

April 29, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

Simple, natural flowers were the tone for the Royal wedding with Lily of the valley everywhere.

Ferndale Farm near Illogan received an order for over 600 stems of fragrant lily of the valley flowers and they took centre stage in Catherine’s bouquet as well as adorning the hair of her bridesmaids and sister Phillipa, who carried off her role as maid of honour  with elegance and grace.

Brother, James Middleton wore a simple few sprigs of lily of the valley as a button hole, a refreshing change from carnations and roses.

The Bridal Bouquet

A shield-shaped wired bouquet of myrtle, lily-of-the-valley, sweet william and hyacinth, designed by Shane Connolly, draws on the traditions of

Lily of the valley

Fragrant Lily of the valley symbolises the return of happiness

flowers of significance for the Royal Family, the Middleton family and on the Language of Flowers.

The flowers’ meanings in the bouquet are:

Lily-of-the-valley – Return of happiness

Sweet William – Gallantry

Hyacinth – Constancy of love

Ivy: Fidelity; marriage; wedded love; friendship; affection

Myrtle: the emblem of marriage; love.

The bouquet contains stems from a myrtle planted at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, by Queen Victoria in 1845, and a sprig from a plant grown from the myrtle used in The Queen’s wedding bouquet of 1947.

A traditional sprig of Myrtle from the Royal tree was included in the bridal bouquet but apart from that it was a very simple, moderate posy reflecting Catherine’s country tastes.

Wedding dress

Flowers were also reflected in the style and detail of Catherine Middleton’s dress, designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen and made from white and ivory satin gazar.

The dress design pays tribute to the Arts and Crafts tradition, which advocated truth to materials and traditional craftsmanship using simple forms and often Romantic styles of decoration.  The simple but elegant cut of the dress hinted at a medieval style, with intricate embellishment adding a distinctive, contemporary and feminine character.

The hand engineered lace appliqué for the bodice and skirt was made by the Royal School of Needlework, using the Carrickmacross lace-making technique, which originated in Ireland in the 1820s.  Individual flowers were hand-cut from lace and hand-engineered onto ivory silk tulle to create a unique and organic design, incorporating the rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock.

A trim of hand-embroidered flowers edged the soft, ivory silk, tulle veil, held in place by a Cartier ‘halo’ tiara, lent to Miss Middleton by The Queen.

White lilac

Sprays above the high altar included highly fragrant white lilac

Westminster Abbey

Within Westminster Abbey, the eight trees softened the architecture to give a natural feel and the displays of white flowers containing, lilac, hydrangea, blossom, solomon’s seal and wisteria were centered on and around the high altar.

Shane Connolly, the floral designer ensured that the displays looked natural and elegant, as the couple had wished.

More information

How to grow Lily of the valley

Lily of the valley suppliers

Official Royal wedding website – Read more about the dresses and floral displays.

 

 





Filed Under: Design, Features Tagged With: Alexander Mcqueen, Bridal Bouquet, Brother James, Button Hole, Country Tastes, Crafts Tradition, Feminine Character, Flowers Meanings, Grace Brother, High Altar, Isle Of Wight, Ivory Satin, James Middleton, Language Of Flowers, Lily Flowers, Lily Of The Valley, Lily Of The Valley Flowers, Maid Of Honour, Middleton Family, Natural Flowers, Osborne House Isle Of Wight, Phillipa, Posy, Prince Albert, Princess Victoria, Queen Victoria, Refreshing Change, Romantic Styles, Royal Wedding, Sarah Burton, Shane Connolly, Sprig, Terrace Walls, Traditional Craftsmanship, Valley Features, Wedding Bouquet, Westminster Abbey, White Flowers
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