The assignment: create Bridgerton-inspired floral designs with a lavender and white floral palette for a bridal shower at Rivercrest Golf Course in Phoenixville, PA.
For the unfamiliar, Bridgerton is a show by Shonda Rhimes, based on the books by Julia Quinn, which follows the members of the Bridgerton family as they find love. The show is set in a fictionalized regency era, with the colors and details dialed up for an element of fantasy. Ladies and Lords meet at gilded balls, take promenades through extravagant gardens, and lament love and societal expectations in their gorgeous manors. And it is full of flowers.
With the overarching themes of romance and love conquering all, it is a fitting reference point for a bridal shower, so it was a delight to tackle this challenge and bring this fantasy to life. The bride’s family selected the beautiful Rivercrest Golf Course as their venue and provided details like precisely-layered cakes and fine-lined illustrated gift bags. They also selected honeycomb details, alluding a plot point in season 2 (if you know, you know).
All of these pieces helped solidify the theme, but the florals needed to be show-stopping pieces with intricate, garden-themed glamour. Simple bud vases were elevated with deeper purples and ribbed glass. Footed centerpieces warmed the cool palette with soft golds. Our lead florist, LeeAnn, chose large scale florals that referenced the romantic gardens of the show with smaller details that reference the meticulous attention to detail that high society demanded. Those little details make each arrangement a statement worth exploring and admiring. We’re not checking a box on a checklist–we’re creating a setting and story for people to live in.
That story needs to fit within the reality of the event space, fitting the scale of the space and any existing challenges. One such challenge was an entryway piece, which needed to not only indicate that guests were in the right place, but also withstand the windy conditions of the entry. For that piece, LeeAnn selected a heavy urn with huge white dahlias and arching snapdragons that set the stage for the event inside.
Flower Details:
The arrangements were created with roses, lisianthus, and stock amongst other florals and foliage. Here are a few little details we loved:
Green hydrangeas: Hydrangeas bring the garden vibes–important to the Bridgerton theme–while also being a timeless, elevated cut flower. The green tone, however, gives the whole arrangement a depth and maturity that allows the other flowers to shine.
White Carnations: Having trouble spotting the carnations? Exactly. Carnations are an excellent cut flower with a long shelf life, but a little too commonplace for this sort of event. Luckily, we learned a little trick. By pulling out some of the center petals, carnations become a light and frilly lisianthus dupe. The carnations complimented the shape and color of both the white roses and the real, locally-grown lisianthus within the arrangements.
Bluebeard: When LeeAnn unpacked that bunch from our local farmer, she said, “What is this and can we grow a bunch of it?” Totally understandable reaction! Bluebeard, or Caryopteris is a gorgeous, late-blooming flowering shrub with little pom-poms of periwinkle. Once you notice it, it catches your eye in every arrangement.
Conclusion:
It is always a joy to work with a family who has a concrete vision that we can bring to life! This was a wonderful way to reference an existing piece of art, while bringing into the context of this bridal shower. We were thrilled to be part of it and wish the happy couple the best!
Here at Colonial Gardens, we’re proud to be part of your homes, celebrations, and family traditions. Our floral team creates stunning pieces for weddings, formals, funerals, and “just because” for Phoenixville, PA and the surrounding area. Housed within our main garden center, we have the ability to grow some of our flowers on our property and utilize large-scale trees and shrubs in your events. You can find out more at our floral page.