Who is designing the flowers for the Royal Wedding? Meet Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's brilliant florist
Philippa Craddock, the self-taught florist, reveals her ethical approach to the marriage of the year
Royal wedding flower arranger Philippa Craddock describes herself as having a “down to earth” approach to floristry.
She appeals, though, to the very top end of the market. She might be self-taught, but the fact that she has an outlet in the prestige London store Selfridges — where a luxury bouquet will set you back £175 — suggests she has learnt well.
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She describes her company as the “preferred supplier” to Kensington Palace, the V&A museum and Hampton Court Palace and if you look at some of the beautifully elaborate designs on her website, it isn’t hard to see why.
Singer Ronan Keating and his wife Storm chose Craddock to provide the floral decoration for their wedding in 2015 and posted their gratitude.“We loved working with you — your stunning floral was the perfect touch to our special day.”
For Saturday’s wedding she’ll be directing a team, including florists from St George’s Chapel and Buckingham Palace, to produce displays inside both the chapel and the reception room at Windsor Castle.
She says the chapel arrangements will be created using foliage from gardens and parkland owned by the Crown Estate, together with branches of beech, birch and hornbeam as well as white garden roses, foxgloves and peonies, which are thought to be a favourite of Meghan’s.
After the wedding, the flowers will be distributed to charitable organisations.
Craddock says her conversations with Harry and Meghan have been “highly collaborative, free-flowing, creative and fun. The final designs will represent them as a couple, with local sourcing, seasonality and sustainability being at the forefront.”