Royal Wedding 2011

Dobney, NAFAS National Chairman

What a special day 29 April was - the wedding of HRH Prince William and Catherine Middleton, now Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Since their engagement and subsequent announcement of the wedding date and venue of Westminster Abbey, we had hoped that NAFAS would have an involvement in this very special wedding.  With only weeks to go the call came at last!  The Floral Designer, Shane Connolly, who has a Royal Appointment to HRH Prince of Wales, asked for six members of NAFAS to help arrange the flowers in the Abbey, with the names and specific security information being required within 36 hours!

I forwarded the names of the team, Jane Rowton-Lee, NAFAS Westminster Abbey Co-ordinator; Pat Martin, National President; Wendy Davis, National 1st Vice Chairman; Sue Brinton, National 2nd Vice Chairman; Dorothy Irvin, past National President and myself, together with all the relevant information.  We were then sworn to secrecy and all had to sign a confidentiality document sent out from Buckingham Palace.

We promptly ordered poloshirts, embroidered with NAFAS on the front and the logo on the back - if we could get noticed and get publicity for NAFAS - we would!  At 6.30am on the Wednesday before the wedding we set off from NAFAS Headquarters to Westminster Abbey, in said poloshirts and we certainly got noticed!

We conditioned, fetched and carried - as all the team did - and we helped pass up plant material to the people working in high places and to under plant the trees, the very stately Field Maples.  Wendy & Dorothy and Pat & Sue worked in teams to create natural arrangements in the huge urns at the West Door, which were almost seven feet across and filled with wonderful branches of flowering shrubs and foliage, all brought in from the Royal Estates, in particular, Windsor.

On the Thursday, Jane and I went back to the Abbey to arrange flowers around the antique candlesticks at the High Altar, plus a few smaller arrangements.  The Abbey is vast and it is hard to get the perspective on television, but these candle arrangements were three feet across. 

The plant material generally used was Rhododendron, Azalea, Lily of the Valley, White Lilac, Solomon Seal, Viburnum Opulence, Hellebore and Jasmine for perfume.

In the high places planted Wisteria was used, along with huge branches of Beech and Whitebeam - Sorbus.  The trees placed down the Nave were Field Maple, under planted with Lily of the Valley, strawberry plants, ferns and moss.

All the flower arrangements were very naturalized, which was what the bride and groom wanted, created to Shane Connolly's design.  Although it was not the usual flower arranging that we have come to know and it was using garden plant material at a time of year when it can be tricky, it does show that we can adapt to any and every situation.

To our delight NAFAS was beamed across the world!  We have been mentioned in New Zealand, had a photograph in the Kansas City Star and been mentioned on many websites, including the official Buckingham Palace website.  I was on ITV News and Jane was interviewed by Huw Edwards on Friday afternoon as part of the BBC coverage, not to mention local interest and coverage in newspapers and television.

It was a huge privilege and an honour to be involved on behalf of NAFAS.