What if your wedding flowers could look as though they had just been cut from the garden, feel beautifully realistic, smell like fresh flowers and still be enjoyed long after the final glass of champagne has been poured?
That is the idea at the heart of Peony, the family run floral business creating remarkably realistic faux flowers from its home on the Ruckley Estate in Shropshire.
With a story rooted in a genuine love of flowers, gardens and botanical detail, Peony has spent years perfecting the art of creating florals that make you want to reach out and touch them.
Ahead of meeting Peony at The National Wedding Show, we caught up with the team to discover the story behind the brand, the wedding flower trends they are loving right now and why going faux could open up a whole new world of possibilities for your wedding.
From 100 acres of flowers to Peony
Peony’s story begins many years ago with founder Margaret Ashbourne and her love of gardens and flowers.
On the family estate at Ruckley in Shropshire, Margaret planted around 100 acres of fresh flowers. These were dried, and sometimes dyed, before being transformed into beautiful dried flower arrangements.
The business grew enormously successful, eventually supplying prestigious names including Harrods.
But working so closely with real flowers also gave Margaret an extensive understanding of how flowers naturally look, from the shape of individual petals to their movement, colour and character.
At the time, she felt the artificial flowers available simply did not capture those details.
So, she decided to create something that did.
Peony was born from the idea that faux flowers should look as though they had just been cut from the garden, rather than trying to create a perfect, uniform imitation.
Margaret’s daughter later joined the family business, bringing her own love of flowers to Peony and continuing what her mother started while helping the company evolve for a new generation.
So realistic, your guests might not believe you
For Peony, the difference is all in the detail.
The brand’s flowers are designed to be botanically accurate, with many individual elements cut and painted by hand. Selected flowers also feature Peony’s Real Touch finish, designed to recreate not only the appearance of fresh flowers, but their texture and natural movement too.
That attention to detail continues when the arrangements are created at the Ruckley Estate.
Vessels are carefully chosen for each design, while natural materials including real moss, soil, bamboo, gravel and bark are incorporated to create the impression that the flowers and plants are genuinely growing.
And then there is one detail you might not expect from faux flowers: fragrance.
Peony’s signature Fresh Flower Fragrance combines notes including eucalyptus, rose and freesia to recreate that gorgeous moment when you step inside a florist.
The result? Wedding guests regularly assume the flowers are fresh.
Wedding flowers without the seasonal rulebook
One of the most exciting things about choosing faux flowers for your wedding is the freedom it can give you.
Love a particular flower but getting married completely outside its traditional season? With Peony, that does not have to matter.
Couples can choose their flowers, foliage and colours without being restricted by seasonality or unpredictable weather.
That freedom also means arrangements can be designed around the atmosphere you want to create rather than simply what happens to be available at the time.
For Peony, wedding flowers should ultimately feel personal.
“Every wedding is completely individual and, even though we have designed flowers for many celebrations, each new wedding is a first for us because it belongs to that particular couple.”
From those first conversations about the venue and overall vision through to seeing everything come together on the wedding day, the team becomes part of the couple’s journey.
And there is one moment that remains particularly special.
Seeing the bride walk down the aisle surrounded by flowers that have been created specifically for that celebration.
The wedding flower trends to know now
While green and white remains a timeless favourite, there is one flower having a serious moment according to Peony: the calla lily.
Elegant, romantic and beautifully sculptural, calla lilies can make an impact without needing to overwhelm a space. Even individual stems arranged along a banquet table can create a refined, contemporary look.
Statement urns are another favourite.
Large urn arrangements filled with foliage and flowers can be placed on plinths to frame a ceremony before being moved into the reception and used around the top table or another focal point.
It is a clever way of creating those big floral moments while making each arrangement work harder throughout the day.
Hydrangeas remain hugely popular too, particularly in white, alongside soft lilacs and classic roses. For couples who want to introduce colour gently, Peony is also seeing growing interest in delicate lemon toned roses paired with whites and greenery.
The seasons are inspiring couples in different ways too.
Spring weddings continue to embrace natural, meadow inspired arrangements, autumn celebrations are leaning into rich foliage, while winter weddings lend themselves beautifully to white florals, frosted foliage and touches of subtle sparkle.
But perhaps the biggest trend is not following a trend at all.
Couples are becoming more confident about choosing flowers and colours that mean something to them and using florals to create the atmosphere they want for their day.
Make your flowers work harder
Wedding flowers can transform a space, but creating impact across a ceremony and reception can quickly become a significant part of the wedding budget.
This is another area where Peony sees an opportunity for couples to think differently.
Because faux arrangements can easily be moved, a statement design created for the ceremony can have another life at the reception.
Those beautiful urns framing your vows could later sit behind your top table. Statement florals can move from one area of the venue to another as the celebration progresses.
Rather than creating completely separate installations for every part of the day, couples can repurpose key pieces and potentially achieve a much bigger overall look within their budget.
And unlike fresh flowers, the story does not necessarily end when the wedding does.
Arrangements can be enjoyed again afterwards, turning part of your wedding styling into something you can keep.
Come and see for yourself
For anyone who has previously dismissed faux flowers, Peony has one request when you visit them at The National Wedding Show.
Come and see them in person.
Touch them. Look closely at the petals. See how they move. Smell them.
Peony may have grown from a small family idea into a brand with decades of floral expertise behind it, but its philosophy remains remarkably simple: create flowers with the same care, detail and botanical understanding you would expect from the real thing.
And apparently, watching someone discover that the flowers they have been admiring are not actually fresh is still one of the team’s favourite reactions.
Visit Peony at The National Wedding Show and experience them for yourself.
📸: @markbamforthphotography