Forage & Feast Course At Nancarrow Farm

Last October I attended the most fabulous and inspiring course hosted by two of our List members, Nancarrow Farm and The Garden Gate Flower Company. A couple of weeks ago we shared the styled images from the course, but today I wanted to share some of the behind the scenes details. Whether you’re in the wedding industry already or you are a Bride who has perhaps caught the bug while planning your wedding, I can’t recommend actually getting out there and surrounding yourself with creatives highly enough. You always learn something new and meet a wonderful group of friends in the process. (And if you’re a Bride looking for a wedding supplier – ALL of the people involved below will be able to make your wedding dreams come true, they are such a talented bunch!)

{The Film}

Day One

We began the course with tea, ginger cake and a quick introduction to each other. Foraging bags made by Sail & Canvas in collaboration with The Garden Gate girls were handed out and then we were off to explore the farm. As you can see from the photographs, it’s a truly magical place. Becca and Maz grow all of the flowers they use in their weddings from seed, which is why they have such a distinct and organic style. They were happy to let us all loose on the flowers and hedgerows – we started at the top of the farm alongside the sheep and worked our way back to their gorgeous aisles of dahlias, roses and cosmos. The flowers were then loaded up into the van and driven over to Nancarrow Farm, ready for the following day’s activities.

Day Two

After a hearty breakfast from the Nancarrow team, we headed to the Rusty Barn (Nancarrow’s gorgeous new ceremony and events space) and began working on hand tied bouquets. It was so interesting to see everyone’s own style coming through, despite all the bouquets being created from the same stock of flowers, grown at The Garden Gate Farm. Lunch followed and I chatted to everyone about finding the right Brides for you and choosing where online to send your work. The afternoon was spent making the Rusty Barn look beautiful.

The Wonderful Florists

I met a seriously talented bunch of ladies on this course. Floristry is often one of those things that people think it’s easy to turn your hand to. Trust me – it really isn’t. There’s a huge amount of time and skill involved. Lovely Nicola from Flowers by Eve is already one of our List members, she works in London and you can see some of her work featured on RMW here. If you’re looking for a city florist with an elegant and feminine style, then she’s the one for you. My gorgeous new friend Philippa has just launched her flower shop in St Agnes Cornwall, Recipe For Flowers, where you can purchase beautiful bouquets or flowers by the stem and watch this space for her mail order and letterbox flowers service. Dom from Dom & Kwiaty had travelled over from Poland from the course, she runs a homeware and flower shop in Kraków and it was fascinating to chat to her about the floral industry there. Creative force Grace at Grace Alexander Flowers grows her own blooms in a stunning walled garden in Somerset and is a seasoned florist with real flair – her burnt orange bouquet blew me away. Sharron at Frog Prince Events runs one of Dublin’s leading floral and event styling companies. She’s used to huge budgets and giant arrangements, so I think she really enjoyed getting back to basics, cutting the flowers from the ground and putting them together in the rustic, agricultural spaces at Nancarrow. Emily from 3acre Blooms is just lovely, another new friend of mine. Emily is based in Cornwall too and is slowly building an incredible growing space for herself and sister Lucy to operate from. Their style is simple but beautiful, Em has the most wonderful eye. And last but by no means least, Lucy Hunter – whose background in landscape gardening brought a completely different perspective to things and if you’re not following her lovely Instagram feed already, then you need to do so right now.

Time For Feasting

As dusk began to fall, it was time to welcome the dinner guests to Nancarrow Farm for the feast night. This was all about a celebration of British produce, the element of foraging and feasting ran through from the florals to the food. Nancarrow run these nights throughout the year, so if you fancy a trip down to Cornwall, dining in a beautiful barn and perhaps even staying in their gorgeous rooms, then make sure you’re signed up to their newsletter for the latest event news.

The Images & Film

I’ve been a fan of Ross’s style for a while, it’s atmospheric and captures the moody nature of the British weather perfectly. He captured the many smiles, interesting conversations, concentration faces and of course, the amazing flowers, to perfection. Chris and Caroline from Baxter & Ted are consummate professionals – they go above and beyond to make sure each frame will be magical. The blend of super8 and digital is a tricky one to get right, but they really do strike the balance of nostalgia, story telling and honest portrayal. The film really made me smile and remember what a wonderful time we had.

The Garden Gate Courses

The next course from The Garden Gate Flower Company will be run at the end of March and those people attending will be playing with a host of vibrant Spring blooms. If you’d like more information, please visit their website, you certainly won’t regret it.

Photography by Ross Talling

• Floral Design The Garden Gate Flower Company
• Venue Nancarrow Farm
• Film Baxter & Ted
• Hand Died Ribbon Lancaster & Cornish
• Foraging Bags Sails & Canvas
• Floral Styling Flowers by Eve
• Recipe For Flowers
• Dom & Kwiaty
• Grace Alexander Flowers
• Frog Prince Events
• 3acre Blooms
• Lucy Hunter

Author: Fern Godfrey

Fern spends most of her time dreaming about weddings and trying to convince her long-suffering boyfriend to propose. Lucky enough to live in sunny Cornwall, if you need her – you’ll find her at beach.

Tags:Rustic |Wedding Breakfast |Venues |Inspiration |planning |Barns and Farms