HOT TOPIC Our local experts solve your wedding dilemmas PURPLE REIGN Purple is my favourite colour and I want to incorporate it into our flowers. Do you have any ideas of what blooms we should look for? Purple is often a complementary colour when adding to a bridal selection. It works well with a lot of other colours. Or just blended with whites also looks good as well - it’s a very dominant colour, striking and bold, so sometimes you have to be careful that it doesn’t over dominate the design. I would personally suggest adding hints of colour like the clematis flower. The clematis flower is not just a wall climber, in the garden, we can actually use cut flowers and they last really well and have a beautiful purple country garden hint to your bouquet. However, if you wanted to use a softer purple more like a lilac you can have lilac roses Memory Lane’ or sweet-scented stocks that also come in a bold purple as well. There are not many focal purple flowers but the ever-popular hydrangea in the calming colour of purple is truly beautiful, the variety ‘Moonstruck’ is a lighter shade or the rich tones in of ‘Deep Purple’ are sure to steal the show! Freesias are a sweet, scented option and Lisianthis is a bold but delicate wild looking flower with lots of heads for colour. The colour purple resembles luxury and devotion, so it’s the perfect add on your special day! Gillian Fautley | Courts of Rayleigh www.courtsofrayleigh.co.uk LIGHT ME UP I want to decorate my dancefloor but my sister used light-up initials a few years ago and I want something different. Are there any new options? Light up letters are still a very popular way to decorate the dancefloor with a lot of couples choosing to be different by going for an alternative font or style rather than the usual white lights. Very popular are initials in our art deco lights or vintage circus style letters. For the couples who want or to personalise their day further by having their surname with the matching Mr&Mrs (or Mr & Mr/ Mrs&Mrs) topper with the rustic letters very popular for weddings at barn venues. A great way to soften the dancefloor and to add the extra sparkle for your first dance photos, as well as continuing your colours and themes into the evening, is to repurpose some of your floral decorations. Blossom trees for example look great lit up by coloured uplighters and can be perfect for stunning evening photos or for framing your DJ, while flowers or floral decorations can be used for evening centrepieces and buffet and drinks tables. Karen Smith | KMS Hire www.kmshire.com 85 ASK THE EXPERTS
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