Green-Fingered Couple Rent Allotment To Grow Their Own Wedding Flowers

Tyler and Aimee Morrison, both 25, from Salisbury, Wiltshire, spent a whole year growing colourful flowers to decorate their special day, and even rented an allotment.

The flowers were used for everything from decorations for the groomsmen's buttonholes on their suits, to the confetti thrown as they left the church. They also decorated the tables and the venue with their homegrown blooms.

The couple grew everything from poppies, dahlias, cosmos, sweetness and an array of wildflowers for their big day - and the result was an absolute spectacle.

In their wedding venue, Tyler and Aimee had a floral arch with 20 different types of pink, white, purple and yellow flowers as well as filled bouquets and table arrangements.

While the mammoth project sounds like something only an experienced gardener would take on, believe it or not, Tyler said he had no skills beforehand other than having "killed a few house plants".

"When we first got the allotment last summer we didn't really have a clear aim in mind," he said.

"It wasn't our initial thought to grow the flowers for our wedding. We've always had the ambition of being quite self-sustaining, and growing our own plants.

"Once we'd decided we'd grow flowers for the wedding, it was quite a steep learning curve. We jumped in at the deep end. We had to prepare it all in the winter, so we spent quite a lot of time down there with freezing fingers."

The mission took a lot of dedication, getting up at 7am in summer to water the plants, and spending most of their weekends at the allotment.

"Minutes definitely turn to hours down there - but we enjoyed it. We weren't sick of it," he added.

"In the weeks leading up to the wedding we collected loads of jam jars and dotted them around with flowers in them.

"We also had a floral centrepiece on each table, and I built a wooden arch that we could decorate with flowers."

Luckily, the couple had a reliable group of pals to help them arrange all their flowers as the day grew closer.

And their flower arranging was so successful that they've even been commissioned to help out with flowers for their friends' wedding as a result.

He added: "A friend of ours is getting married in three weeks and has asked us to do the flowers for their wedding.

"I think the aim is eventually to turn this into a small business. We've invested a lot in the allotment in the last year, and the flowers always grow back after you cut them."

So, not only did the idea save them a shed load, it also sparked a potential career.

Where can we get ourselves an allotment, then?!