Flowers Inspired by Cecil Beaton

We love a brief which provokes some thought and exploration. From the Chalke History Festival, which takes place at the end of June just down the road in Broadchalke we got just that.

Could we provide some flowers for the VIP marquee where guests and speakers can put their feet up and relax. The marquee’s interior was being design in the style of Cecil Beaton, a famous photographer, interior designer and socialite who lived in the beautiful Reddish House in Broadchalke.

So after some research and googling, we learnt some interesting facts about Cecil Beaton and his love for flowers. He found white flowers very chic and filled his home with decadent vases and cascades of white blooms, hence our inspiration for using white delphiniums and lillies in our arrangements. We arranged these statement flowers with large branches of greenery which worked perfectly in our urns to create the style he would have enjoyed.

Cecil Beaton also worked closely with Constance Spry a famous florist to the stars and upper classes at that time. From her influence he understood the importance of using the Cutting Graden flowers in arrangements and as a result created his own Cutting Garden at Reddish House. So, in this vein we used white flowers from our very own Pod & Pip Cutting garden to fill bud vases to dot round the tables in the VIP marquee, to sit alongside the larger urn arrangements. So thank you Chalk History Festival, we’ve learnt something about some local flowery history!