Lucie Loves… LEKxJMGwedding // How to pick a florist and make designing your wedding flowers more personal

I searched high and low for a florist to suit my needs/style and budget. It was really tough work. My friend Pauline and I spent a long brunch pouring over quotes from different florists at No 11 Pimlico Road and talked through the different options.

And then I found Zita Elze - an award-winning floral artist and designer based in Kew. I met up with Zita at her design academy and spoke to her at length about the kind of day that JMG and I have planned.

From the moment I met Zita, I knew that I was talking to a true artist. Her journey to floral design saw her study in Paris and add strings to her bow such as, bookbinding, garden and interior design followed by an intensive course in floristry.

“From day one the flowers were a success and the rest was history.” ~ Zita Elze

In all of the years that she’s been creating her arrangements, she has not once repeated a design. I was awe-struck!

“Flowers come very naturally to me.” ~ Zita Elze

Zita explained that she goes to New Covent Garden Flower Market for inspiration. She never goes with a recipe - even for big weddings. It is only the colour palette that plays a part in the floral decisions she will make.

Zita Elze’s top tips for wedding flowers

1. Create a mood board of everything that is important to you - I pinned lots of things - props, objects, fabrics, accessories, flowers, vessels, etc onto a few secret Pinterest boards and then printed out photos of the things that would form part of our wedding decor.

Having a physical mood board is great as you can stick things on with blue tac and remove anything that doesn’t fit your theme. I then sent a photo of my mood board to Zita to give her a feel for the style we were going for.

“If a prop makes you laugh - keep it! If it doesn’t work well with the other items - try another. If it changes the feel leave it.” ~ Zita Elze

2. Choose a colour palette - add these photos to your mood board. They don’t even have to be flowers - just swatches of colour or things that make your heart sing.

3. Take your mood board (or photos of it) with you when you go flower shopping - use the board and colour palette as a guide to keep you on track.

Zita works with a wide range of clients from weddings for bride-to-be’s like me to elaborate displays for luxury hotels, such as the Dorchester.

DIY wedding flowers with a difference…

For my wedding we’re planning something really special. I studied art & design for many years and have a love of getting hands-on with creative projects. For our big day I’ll be visiting New Covent Garden Flower Market with Zita at the crack of dawn and documenting the experience to share on my blog. The next day a group of us, including my mum, one of my bridesmaids and my friends are going to be at the Design Academy for one of Zita’s classes. We’ll be making my bridal bouquet, bridesmaid bouquets, buttonholes, and possibly even some headdresses! I’m so excited about it. Watch this space…

Zita teaches a number of flower school students every year with many of them going on to do incredible things and have their work published in top magazines.

Find out more about Zita’s amazing work at zitaelze.com

>>Take a look at my ‘Love is all you need’ Pinterest board for inspiration<<

>>Read more blog posts about our wedding journey at http://lucieloves.co.uk/tagged/lekxjmgwedding<<