Admittedly, I am taken by the celebrations of England’s royal family. Last Friday’s wedding celebrated by William and Kate was no exception. The gentle grace shown by Pippa to her sister Kate during the processional and wedding; Harry’s blow-by-blow description of the processional to his brother, whose back was turned until Kate’s arrival to the altar; Grace Van Cutsem, the three-year old bridesmaid who indicated she was through with the day, by frowning wide and cupping both her ears with both hands on the balcony during the couple’s kiss.  It is the collection of all these activities, and surprises, which create the memorable wedding day.

The flowers?  In our studio’s humble opinion, they could not have been lovelier:  An “avenue” of English Field Maple and Hornbeam trees lined the aisle of Westminster Abbey; the branches, greenery, and flowers (azalea, rhododendron, Solomon’s Seal, jasmine), all from the family’s estate; the showstopper, Kate’s all white bouquet, each stem and blossom of hyacinth, lily of the valley, sweet William, ivy, and myrtle…individually wired before it was designed into its gentle, cascading composition.  We say “well done” and “brilliant” to the talented designer of this bouquet, Shane Connolly and his team.  Moreover, the flowers which Kate chose for her bouquet made reference to the “language of flowers” a language which Shakespeare often included in his works. You may recall Ophelia’s conversation with her brother, Laertes, in Hamlet:

“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray, love, remember: and there is pansies. that’s for thoughts.”

Now, while Ophelia was continuing her spiral into madness when she said this, it is with joy that we remember the events of last Friday, and the virtue’s of Kate’s bouquet:  the signature lily of the valley means “trustworthy”, myrtle  “hope and love”, hornbeams “resilience”, and field maples “humility and reserve”.

Kate and William, cheers!