Prince Harry and Meghan Markle select roses, peonies and foxgloves that make bride ‘endlessly happy’ for Royal Wedding flowers

Wedding plans: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle receiving flowers during a walkabout in Belfast
PA
Chloe Chaplain1 April 2018

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have chosen white garden roses, peonies and foxgloves for their wedding day flowers because they make the bride “endlessly happy”, it has been revealed.

The couple will work with self-taught London florist Philippa Craddock to create the floral decorations for their May wedding – with much of the foliage set to be taken from the Royal gardens.

Peonies are Ms Markle's favourite flowers and, shortly after she began dating Prince Harry, she posted Instagram photos of a stunning bouquet of pink and white peonies, captioning it: "Swooning over these. #London #peonies #spoiledrotten".

In 2016, the American star wrote of a bouquet of the delicate fragrant blooms: "I bought these peonies for myself yesterday because they make me so endlessly happy.”

Florist Philippa Craddock, who has been chosen to create the floral displays for the wedding
PA

The palace said the designs for the big day will reflect the wild and natural landscapes from which many of the plants will be drawn.

Ms Craddock will direct a team, including florists from St George's Chapel and Buckingham Palace, to create the displays at St George's Chapel and for St George's Hall, Kensington Palace said.

Where possible, Ms Craddock will use flowers and plants that are in season and blooming naturally in May.

These will include branches of beech, birch and hornbeam, as well as white garden roses, peonies and foxgloves.

Where possible, Ms Craddock will use flowers and plants that are in season and blooming naturally in May.
REUTERS

The Royal Parks will also supply some pollinator-friendly plants from their wildflower meadows, which will be incorporated into the floral designs.

The palace said these plants provide a great habitat for bees and help to nurture and sustain entire ecosystems by promoting a healthy and biodiverse environment.

Meghan is a big fan of flowers
Getty Images

After the wedding, the couple have arranged for the flowers to be distributed to charitable organisations.

Meghan and Harry's official wedding china

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Ms Craddock, based in Central London, with a studio in Fulham and a flower shop in Selfridges, said: "I am excited and honoured to have been chosen by Prince Harry and Ms Meghan Markle to design and create their wedding flowers.

"Working with them has been an absolute pleasure. The process has been highly collaborative, free-flowing, creative and fun.

"The final designs will represent them as a couple, which I always aim to achieve in my work, with local sourcing, seasonality and sustainability being at the forefront."

Ms Craddock started her business nine years ago, and her client list includes the V&A, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court Palace, Alexander McQueen, Christian Dior and British Vogue.

Such is Ms Markle's love of flowers, the couple's lemon and elderflower wedding cake - by Claire Ptak, owner of the east London Violet Cakes bakery - will also be decorated with fresh spring blooms.

When the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wed in Westminster Abbey in 2011, an avenue of eight potted trees, some as tall as 20ft, lined the aisle leading to the altar.

London-based Shane Connolly was the artistic director of flowers for the royal wedding.

The colour scheme was white, green and cream, and Kate decided upon euphorbia, a green shrub with yellow blossoms, white lilacs, magnolias, and lily of the valley.

Kate's choices were inspired by the language of flowers, a communication method in the Victorian era when flowers were used to send coded messages to express unspoken emotions.

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