Long Table Wedding Flowers & a White Arch

Their story

Long table wedding flowers, from the arch to the last vase

Fabulous Flowers & Gifts, the Cape Town wedding florist founded by Josie van Aswegen in 1999, designed the long table wedding flowers for Chloe Jackson and James Gartshore's wedding at The Forum Embassy Hill in Constantia in March 2023, with guest tables planned around 60 small vases each so the white flowers and greenery would run as one continuous line. Chloe carried a loose and lovely bouquet of white roses and cosmos, and the white flower arch on the lawn was planned to move indoors behind the bridal table. Josie designed the white wedding flowers from our Claremont florist studio, and the photographs are by The Geldenhuyses.

A two colour brief went a long way at Chloe and James's wedding. Chloe was living overseas for much of the planning, so Cathy carried the brief between Chloe and the Fabulous Flowers studio, and the details were settled once Chloe landed in South Africa. Cathy had the arch built and supplied some of the greenery, and we filled it with white flowers and foliage. White petals were planned in two large glass vases for the confetti, and the couple's fur baby was to have a flower garland of their own. If you are still choosing where to marry, our guide to wedding venues in Cape Town is a good place to begin.

I · March 2023

Wedding flowers planned from overseas

A wedding planned from far away has its own rhythm. Photographs stand in for conversations. Chloe was overseas for most of the planning, and the finer points were always going to wait until “she arrives in SA”. Cathy carried the brief between Chloe and our Claremont studio.

The brief itself would have fitted on the back of a florist's card. White and green. Nothing else.

Two colours sound simple. They are not. White flowers are unforgiving: a bruised petal shows, and a cream bloom beside a pure white one can look like a mistake. Green is what rescues them. The right foliage gives white somewhere to rest, softens it, and keeps a room full of white from feeling cold. So from the start we thought about this wedding as much in leaves as in flowers.

In March Josie sent Cathy the full plan, and opened with a line she does not write lightly: “I am so happy to be doing the flowers for Chloe's wedding. We are going to make it absolutely beautiful for you.” What followed was a long and generous list. A bouquet, the bridesmaids, an arch, petals, the guest tables, seven cocktail tables, an entrance piece, the bathrooms, and a garland for a guest who would arrive on four legs.

It is a brief that trusts the flowers to do the talking. If you are drawn to the same quiet look, our guide to wedding flower symbolism explains why white has meant new beginnings for so long.

Chloe arriving at her white and green wedding in a vintage convertible, holding a loose bouquet of white roses and cosmos — Arriving in a vintage convertible, bouquet in her lap

Bride in a strapless lace gown holding a loose white and green bridal bouquet of white roses, cosmos, lisianthus and trailing greenery — Loose and lovely, and never too big

II · The bridal party

A loose bridal bouquet that was never too big

The bouquet was to be loose and lovely, like a picture Chloe loved, with one condition: she did not want it too big. Josie offered to work orchids in if she wanted them.

In the photographs you can see what that became. Creamy white garden roses at the heart, white cosmos with their small yellow eyes, closed buds of white lisianthus, a few spires of veronica, and silvery foliage. Long stems reach past the edge, so it looks gathered rather than built. The only colour in the whole bouquet is the yellow at the centre of each cosmos, and it is just enough to keep the white from going flat.

Size matters more than most brides expect. A bouquet that is too big hides the dress and becomes something to put down. Chloe's was sized to be carried. In the confetti photograph she lifts it high above her head with one hand, laughing. You cannot do that with a bouquet that is too big.

Her bridesmaids' flowers were agreed with Chloe herself, so that the whole party read as one family of white and green. The buttonholes in the photographs follow the same idea: a single white rose with a little gypsophila and greenery, neat against a pale suit.

And then there was the garland. The couple's “fur baby” was not going to be left out, and we had a measurement to work to, about 38cm around the neck. We keep the garland light and soft, and leave out flowers that are toxic to pets, such as eucalyptus, hydrangea, chrysanthemum and lilies. Check with your vet if you are unsure. The fastening has to stay put without pinching. It is a small thing to make. It is never a small thing to the people who love them.

III · The arch

A white flower wedding arch, built for Cathy and filled by us

Cathy had the arch built. It was large, and Josie knew straight away what it could become. “The arch is large and is going to look spectacular,” she wrote, and she promised “sufficient white flowers for it to look incredible.”

An arch like this starts with greenery. Cathy supplied some of the greenery, and we built a deep base of foliage so there were no gaps. Into that went white roses, big heads of white hydrangea, white gerberas, white chrysanthemums and clouds of gypsophila. Longer stems were left to hang from the top so the arch felt grown rather than wired. Our flower installations start this way more often than not: the foliage carries the shape, and the flowers sit inside it.

Mixing so many white flowers is a lesson in texture. The gerberas are flat and graphic, the hydrangea soft and cloudlike, the roses tight and round, the gypsophila almost smoke. From the back row they blur into one white frame. Close up, every flower is a different shape.

The arch was never meant to be used once. The plan was to carry it inside after the ceremony to stand behind the bridal table, so the flowers that framed the vows would frame the speeches too. A piece that moves has to be built to travel: stems secured so nothing shifts when it is lifted, water reachable for a quick top up, and enough hands booked to carry it across in the short window while guests are having drinks.

A few big hydrangea heads do the work of dozens of smaller flowers, which is exactly why they belong in an arch this size.

Chloe and James exchanging vows under a white rose, hydrangea and eucalyptus wedding arch with clipped hedges behind — The vows, framed in white

“The arch is large and is going to look spectacular.”
Josie, March 2023

Chloe and James walking through white petal confetti on a terraced lawn with guests cheering and mountains behind — Two vases of white petals, and every one of them thrown

IV · The ceremony

White petal confetti on a lawn in the mountains

The ceremony was held on a lawn, with clipped hedges, tall pines and a mountain behind. Chloe arrived in a vintage convertible, her bouquet resting in her lap, and walked up the aisle in a strapless lace gown scattered with tiny leaves. James waited in a light suit. The white and green of the flowers sat comfortably in all that green, the way a white house sits in a garden.

For the walk back down the aisle, the plan set out white petals in two large glass vases. Glass lets petals be part of the decor before the ceremony, two columns of white. Once they are handed out, they become something else entirely.

Petals are the only wedding flowers the guests get to hold, and in The Geldenhuyses' photograph you can see what that does to a crowd. Grown men with their arms up. Petals caught in James's hair. Chloe, bouquet high, laughing straight into it.

Real petals are kinder to a garden than paper, and they photograph better, turning slowly as they fall. We prepare them on the morning so they are fresh, and keep them cool until they are needed. Our event flowers team does the same for smaller celebrations that want a moment like this one.

By the end the lawn was white with them. Those are the flowers nobody takes home, and nobody forgets.

V · The tables

Long table wedding flowers: sixty vases, one continuous line

For the guest tables, Josie had one clear picture in her mind, and she wrote it down so nobody could mistake it. “I want the flowers to look like a continuous mass of flowers down the middle.”

There are two ways to get that look on a long table. One is a single long arrangement running from end to end. The other, which Josie chose, is many small vases set close enough together that the eye stops seeing the gaps. The plan was around sixty vases, each holding white flowers and greenery, with crystal candlesticks rising through them at different heights.

Small vases have real advantages. Guests can see and talk across them. Each one can be adjusted so the line looks natural, never regimented. They can be topped up with water without disturbing the rest. And at the end of the night they can be handed out, which makes for a lovely send-off. Our notes on wedding flowers for tables cover the other options if your tables are round or short.

Keep long table flowers low, below eye level across the table, so guests can talk over them, and let the candles carry the height. The candles matter as much as the flowers. Crystal holders at different heights give the line a rhythm, rising and falling the way a hedge does, and once the light goes the flames double in the glass. White flowers glow by candlelight in a way coloured ones do not. Setting sixty vases like this is slow work, each one nudged until it leans the right way. It is meant to look effortless when it is finished.

“I want the flowers to look like a continuous mass of flowers down the middle.”
Josie, March 2023

VI · The small places

Wedding table flowers beyond the tables

A good wedding plan follows guests around the whole venue, not only to their seats. Chloe and James's did. Outside, Josie planned flowers for all seven cocktail tables, so the drinks after the ceremony would already feel dressed. At the entrance, Josie's list had a large arrangement in a glass vase, the first thing anyone would see on the way in.

Inside, the arch from the ceremony was planned to take its new place behind the bridal table, at the head of the long run of vases. And the bathrooms were on the list too. Nobody needs to notice flowers in a bathroom. Everybody does. A small flower arrangement by a basin is one of the simplest ways to make a whole venue feel looked after.

Each piece belonged to the same family, scaled up for the entrance and down for the cocktail tables. That is what makes a wedding feel designed rather than decorated. For larger entrance pieces we often draw on our luxury flower arrangements, which are built tall enough to hold a doorway.

A guest will not remember that there were seven cocktail tables. They will remember that everywhere they stood, there were flowers.

If you love this look, our Cape Town wedding florist team can walk you through how far a white and green brief can stretch across a venue.

Couple kissing at a lush white wedding arch of roses, gerberas, hydrangea and eucalyptus in a garden — White roses, hydrangea and eucalyptus, with the garden showing through

White roses, white gerberas, chrysanthemums and gypsophila among silver foliage in Chloe and James's white flower wedding arch

White roses, gerberas and gypsophila with eucalyptus and hydrangea in the arch flowers at Chloe and James's reception

James's hand with his new wedding ring beside Chloe's lace gown

Close view of a white and green bridal bouquet of white cosmos, white roses, lisianthus, veronica and trailing foliage

The flowers

Chloe and James's wedding flowers, piece by piece

Bridal bouquet: Loose and lovely and deliberately not too big: white flowers including garden roses, cosmos and lisianthus, with veronica and trailing greenery.
Bridesmaids: White and green, agreed with Chloe so the whole party matched.
Buttonholes: A white rose with gypsophila and greenery, as seen in the photographs. See our buttonholes and corsages.
Fur baby garland: A flower garland for the couple's fur baby, made to fit a neck of about 38cm.
Ceremony arch: Cathy’s arch, dressed by us with white roses, hydrangea, gerberas, chrysanthemums, gypsophila and eucalyptus.
Bridal table: The ceremony arch, planned to be carried inside to stand behind the couple.
Petal confetti: White petals in two large glass vases, planned for the walk back down the aisle.
Guest tables: Around sixty small vases per table of white flowers and greenery, with crystal candlesticks at different heights.
Cocktail tables: Small arrangements planned for all seven outdoor tables.
Entrance: A large arrangement in a glass vase, as planned.
Bathrooms: Small arrangements planned in the same white and green.

Rose whiteIvoryCosmos eyeSilver leafEucalyptusGarden green

In the mix

Bridal bouquet: white roses, white cosmos, white lisianthus, white veronica and white astilbe, with dusty miller and trailing greenery; Arch: white roses, white gerberas, white chrysanthemums, white hydrangea and gypsophila, with eucalyptus and silver foliage; Buttonholes: white rose with gypsophila.

Chloe and James beneath tall pines on the garden lawn with clipped hedges and the mountain behind at The Forum Embassy Hill, Constantia

The place

The Forum Embassy Hill, Constantia: a garden setting for long table wedding flowers

The photographs show a garden built for this kind of wedding: a terraced lawn edged with low clipped hedges, tall pines, a mountain rising behind, and a cobbled drive where the convertible pulled up. Inside, Chloe was photographed with her bouquet beside tall white shutters and a window onto the garden. The Forum Embassy Hill is a heritage venue at 89 Southern Cross Drive in Bel Ombre, Constantia, with landscaped gardens bordering Table Mountain's Cecilia Forest. It has four indoor wedding spaces and two large garden spaces with 360 degree views, takes up to 150 guests and has four suites on site.

Dark, layered green is the best possible backdrop for white and green wedding flowers. White reads strongly against it from across a lawn, and the garden's own foliage makes our greenery feel at home. In a setting like this we keep the arch loose at the edges, so it looks as if it could have grown there. Our round-up of Cape Town venues has more gardens that suit the same style.

An outdoor ceremony and an indoor reception means planning for pieces that move, like the arch. March sun is hard on white petals, so the bouquet, buttonholes and petals stay cool and in water until the last possible moment.

We travel from Claremont with the flowers and set up on site. Have a look at our Cape Town wedding venue guide and then tell us where you are thinking.

FloralsFabulous Flowers & Gifts, Claremont (Josie van Aswegen, since 1999)

PhotographyThe Geldenhuyses

Arch frameBuilt for the Jackson family

VenueThe Forum Embassy Hill, Constantia

Planning notes

Planning white and green wedding flowers: what this wedding taught us

Choose your whites together
Pure white, ivory and cream behave very differently side by side. Ask us to show you roses in two or three whites so you can see which one suits your dress.
Let the greenery do half the work
In an all white scheme the foliage carries the shape. Chloe and James's arch was built on a deep base of foliage before a single rose went in.
Give your big pieces a second life
An arch that frames the vows can frame the bridal table too. Plan the move in advance, with enough hands and a clear moment in the timeline, and the most important flowers of the day work twice.
Use many small vases on long tables
Around sixty vases per table gave this wedding one continuous line of flowers that guests could still see across.
Remember the rooms in between
Cocktail tables, the entrance and the bathrooms are where guests spend more time than you think. A few small arrangements there make the whole venue feel considered.

Gallery

Chloe and James walking hand in hand across the garden lawn, James in a light suit with a white buttonhole

Chloe and James laughing together in the garden, her strapless lace gown against the greenery

James walking down the garden aisle in a light suit with a white buttonhole, guests seated on either side

Good to know

Frequently Asked Questions

What flowers are used for white and green wedding flowers?

White and green wedding flowers combine white roses, hydrangea, lisianthus, cosmos, gerberas, chrysanthemums and gypsophila with eucalyptus and silver foliage. For Chloe Jackson and James Gartshore's wedding in March 2023, Josie van Aswegen of Fabulous Flowers mixed several of these, choosing for texture rather than colour. Our white flower collection shows what is available through the year.

Can a wedding arch be moved inside for the reception?

Yes, a wedding arch can be moved inside for the reception if it is built for travel from the start. For Chloe and James's wedding in March 2023, Fabulous Flowers planned to carry the white flower arch indoors after the ceremony to stand behind the bridal table. The team secures the stems, keeps water within reach and plans the move into the day's timeline.

How many vases do you need for long table wedding flowers?

Josie van Aswegen of Fabulous Flowers planned around 60 small vases per table for Chloe and James's wedding in March 2023, so the white flowers and greenery would run as one continuous line down the middle. The right number depends on the length of the table and the look you want, and fewer, larger pieces suit shorter tables. Our table flower guide explains the options.

What is the difference between a floral runner and bud vases on a long table?

A floral runner is one continuous arrangement built along the centre of the table, while bud vases are many small vessels set in a line. For Chloe and James's wedding in March 2023, Josie van Aswegen of Fabulous Flowers planned around 60 small vases per table, placed close enough to read as one continuous mass of white flowers and greenery, with crystal candlesticks at different heights between them.

Can I plan my wedding flowers from overseas?

Yes, Fabulous Flowers plans wedding flowers with couples who live overseas. Chloe Jackson was overseas for most of the planning of her March 2023 wedding to James Gartshore. Reference photos and emails shaped the brief, Cathy acted as the contact in South Africa, and the final details were settled once Chloe arrived. Our wedding flowers service works well this way.

Can we use real petals for wedding confetti?

Yes, real petals make good wedding confetti, and they suit garden venues because they are natural and photograph beautifully. For Chloe and James's wedding in March 2023, Fabulous Flowers planned white petals in two large glass vases, so the confetti doubled as decor before it was thrown on the lawn. We prepare fresh petals on the morning of the wedding.

Can a dog or cat wear flowers at a wedding?

Yes, a pet can wear flowers at a wedding with a little care. Fabulous Flowers planned a flower garland for Chloe and James's fur baby at their March 2023 wedding, sized to a neck measurement of about 38cm. Fabulous Flowers keeps a pet garland light and soft and leaves out flowers that are toxic to pets, such as eucalyptus, hydrangea, chrysanthemum and lilies, with a fastening that stays secure without pinching. Check with your vet if you are unsure.

Your wedding

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White and green never needs to be plain. Tell us about your venue and your tables, and Josie will show you how far two colours can go.

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