March 31, 2018

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle select florist for royal wedding

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With less than 50 days to go until the royal wedding, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are putting the finishing touches on plans for their May 19 wedding.

The couple has chosen Philippa Craddock to design the flowers for the Church Service at St George’s Chapel and the reception inside of St George’s Hall, hosted by Queen Elizabeth following their wedding ceremony.

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Craddock, based in Fulham, is one of the most notable florists in London, with clients including Kensington Palace, Hampton Court Palace, Alexander McQueen, Christian Dior, the Victoria and Albert Museum and British Vogue.

"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," Craddock said in a statement released by Kensington Palace. "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."

The wedding floral displays in St. George's Chapel will include white garden roses foxgloves and peonies, Meghan’s favorite bloom. Philippa will also source local branches of beech, birch, and hornbeam into her designs.

The couple plans to use locally-sourced foliage from the gardens and parks of The Crown Estate and Windsor Great Park from the area surrounding Windsor Castle.

Kensington Palace did not announce who will design the flowers for Meghan and Harry's intimate evening private reception for 200 of their closest friends and relatives at Frogmore House, which will be hosted by Prince Charles.

After the wedding, the couple has arranged for the flowers to be donated to various charities.

Earlier this month Kensington Palace announced Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had selected California native Claire Ptak, owner of Violet Bakery in Hackney, East London, to design a lemon elderflower wedding cake with buttercream icing and fresh flowers as decorations.

Victoria Jones/PA via AP
Claire Ptak, owner of Violet Bakery in Hackney, east London, March 20, 2018. Ptak has been chosen to make the cake for the wedding in May for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Kensington Palace said Tuesday the royal wedding cake will be a lemon elderflower concoction incorporating "the bright flavors of spring." It'll be covered with buttercream, and adorned with fresh flowers.

Harry, 33, and Markle, 36, are "very much looking forward to sharing this cake" with their wedding guests, the palace said.

Ptak's bakery is notable for using seasonal and organic ingredients in cakes.

The pastry chef gives people a glimpse into her beautiful delicacies on Instagram. Some of her recent posts include fresh flowers on cakes, as Markle and Harry have requested for their wedding.