My Potted Rose Wedding Aisle
In July 2021, I wrote of my optimistic endeavor to grow QTY: 10 potted roses to line our wedding ceremony aisle. You can read about it here.
Now that Alex and I have been married for almost 4 months, it’s time for an update on how my ambitious idea turned out.
Let me start by admitting this…I probably should have listened to Alex when he told me this was a crazy idea! But to know me at all is to know that the second someone questions my ideas, I become dead set on bringing them to life.
Had our wedding been local to Philadelphia, there would have been a lot less time and stress to bring my plan to fruition. That being said, we were married on Nantucket, Massachusetts. To arrive at our wedding venue, The Wauwinet, the potted roses had to be transported ~7 hours by car plus a 2-hour ferry ride to the island, which lies 30 miles out at sea.
The roses looked and smelled spectacular as they bloomed in our garage. In my original blog post, I shared my concerns about the roses surviving the winter and blooming at the right time for the wedding. I was thrilled when all the roses came back vigorously in the Spring and I tracked their progress carefully leading up to the big day. Unfortunately, despite lugging them in-and-out of our garage for temperature control, the roses started blooming 1-2 weeks before the wedding. In hindsight, I probably should have disbudded them (pulled off all the buds) when they first started forming to delay their bloom time.
I journeyed to Nantucket one week before our wedding date in my brother-in-law’s minivan. By the time I set off, most of the flowers were about a week old and starting to become very fragile. But the show had to go on and I felt very determined as I loaded the mini van and wrapped the pots carefully with bubble wrap. Little did I know when I set out that a hail storm awaited me on the Merritt Parkway!
Oh! But before I go any further describing the the hurdles that awaited me once I made it to Nantucket, I have to tell you about the gorgeous pots I selected for my David Austin Desdemona roses.
After looking at quite literally hundreds of pots online, I settled on the Aged Pie Crust Planters from Campo de’ Fiori. I absolutely love the look of these planters. To me, they perfectly encapsulated the laid-back, timeless style of Nantucket and Nantucket gardens. Practicality-wise, the pots were very lightweight which was key because I probably lifted these pots hundreds of times. On the flipside, they were a bit fragile and I did end up breaking a few because of my insane plan to move them hundreds of miles (shout out to the fantastic customer service at Campo de’ Fiori for helping me with quick replacements!). These classic planters will remain in my landscape for decades to come and will always be a happy reminder of our wedding day!
Fast forward about 11 hours after I left King of Prussia and I finally arrived on Nantucket! Here was where two more challenges set in; the cold and the deer.
The weather is variable in Nantucket in late May/early June. I didn’t anticipate how the nightly lows in the 50s would affect the already-opened roses, turning the petals brown and causing them to ball up and fall off even quicker.
Although I did anticipate the hungry deer, my makeshift netting was no match for their hungry mouths. A large doe broke into my enclosure and enjoyed a morning buffet. I can hardly blame her if the roses tasted as good as they smelled!
Needless to say, by the time the wedding rolled around a week later, the roses were looking pretty poorly. Thanks to my trusty Felco pruners, I was able to prune off the damaged buds and salvage the remaining plants.
Spending a relaxing morning working on my roses turned out to be the exact thing I needed. I spend most mornings from May-October with my pruners in my hand in my own rose garden so doing the same on Nantucket brought a sense of joy and serenity to an otherwise hectic wedding weekend!
I was hopeful that my bird netting and stakes would keep the deer at bay.
Despite everything, we (me and the roses, of course!) finally made it to the big day. June 4, 2022. Although the entire process was a challenge, testing my patience and determination, I am really happy that I stuck with my crazy idea to grow my own potted roses for the wedding aisle. Although the blooms weren’t as abundant as they had been, I am really happy with the overall look of the pots and the wonderful keepsake I have from our wedding day. And as Kelly Clarkson says, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!”
David Austin’s Desdemona rose lined the wedding ceremony aisle in pots by Campo De’ Fiori. The floral urns at the end of the aisle were done by our wonderful florist Scarsella’s.
I love how the roses framed the guests’ and processional in the photos above.
How spectacular are the roses popping out in the lower left corner of the image above. Some of my favorite images of the day were of my dad walking me down the aisle. My simple bouquet was composed of all white roses, of course.
All of the gorgeous photos in this post from our wedding day were taken by Liz Banfield. She used a mix of digital and film photography which was so special!
In the photos above, the extremely talented Jasmin of Linden Illustrations created a custom illustration of the Desdemona potted rose that became a wonderful element that we incorporated onto our wedding menus and cocktail napkins. I am completely enamored with her work and have even had the menu framed!
Our florist, Scarsella’s, replicated the potted flower idea on a smaller scale for the cocktail hour florals. Are these not the sweetest!
If you are thinking about growing your own roses for your wedding aisle there are several things to consider first in terms of timing and logistics. As with all things in nature, nothing is absolutely certain but the beauty is certainly rewarding in the end!
