Flower power bringing venues to life

These days it seems like everyone's twittering about Twitter, and in this new weekly column we delve behind the stories of some of our favourite Shropshire tweeters to find out how they're using the popular social networking site.

A twittering floral designer in the border village of Llanymynech is making the most of the recent rise in the popularity of winter weddings.

Aileen Cooper, who tweets from @LavenderBlueWed, moved to the area with her husband to escape the busy pace of city life in the south and a stressful job in events management.

"Around nine years ago, we moved into this lovely old farmhouse and converted one of the barns into an office.

"The house came with a garden nursery so we started off doing that, but then I did an HND at the Welsh College in floristry and made a conscious decision to specialise in weddings and events."

She's since worked on a host of weird and wonderful weddings, from a hippy-themed ceremony at Llanrhaeader Waterfall to an contemporary, Japanese-themed wedding at an ultra-modern venue, as well as a recent ceremony at the Ironbridge museum Enginuity.

"It's a very creative job," says Aileen. "We have great fun and it's lovely to see our designs helping to make people's weddings so special."

Aileen works with couples to create a floral concept for them, from church and reception flowers to table and chair decorations.

"We create a moodboard for them and help them bring to life the themes and colours they'd like, although occasionally we might have to give them a little guidance to make sure the colours don't clash!"

It's a job which keeps her constantly occupied and on a typical day, Aileen could be doing anything from setting up arrangements at popular venues like Rowton Castle and Mellington Hall to attending bridalwear shows up and down the country.

"Floral design is very much like the fashion industry," says Aileen. "The trends change every year so you need to look ahead."

Aileen says she's noticed a change in the time of year people are choosing to marry and agrees the credit crunch has made couples more cost-conscious, opting for weekdays rather than weekends.

"July was a rather quiet month but the rest of the time we've been flat out, and we're expecting to be very busy next year too. August and September are very popular months, as well as winter and Christmas weddings."

While vintage-themed weddings featuring classic flowers like roses and peonies in pinks and coffee colours have been a popular theme this summer, couples marrying in winter are choosing deeper tones like rich reds and dark burgundies.

Aileen has found Twitter to be a very useful resource for the industry and regularly finds tips and inspiration on the site.

"One of our favourites is the Flower Council of Holland who tweet lots of useful suggestions and advice for gardeners and florists, but I've also discovered several wedding suppliers through the site and will hopefully be using them in the future."

Visit Lavender Blue Events for more information.

By Lara Page