Q&A with Zita Elze

From bespoke wedding flowers through to entire concepts Zita Elze's event and wedding designs are theatre at its purest – immaculately conceived, perfectly scripted, organised down to the finest detail, inspired, individual, heartfelt and always breathtakingly beautiful.

Award-winning floral artist, designer, teacher (Zita set up her own academy in 2010 which is now one of the leading flower schools in the world) and creator of the Living Embroidery Bridal Collection, Zita Elze studied artistic bookbinding in Paris, followed by Interior Design at London's KLC School of Design and Garden Design at the Inchbald School of Design, where she graduated with a distinction. She won the prestigious Design and Decoration Award 'Graduate Garden Designer of the Year 2003′ and opened her eponymously named first shop in Kew in the same year. In 2009, Zita won a silver-gilt medal for her first major exhibit, entitled A Celebration of Life, at the Chelsea Flower Show, where she revealed her ground-breaking floral embroidery technique.

We caught up with her to get some insight into her design process and what advice she would give to those planning their wedding.

GB: Do you follow trends? Where do these trends come from?

ZE: I tend not to follow any trends and prefer to work with a client’s brief, taking their personal taste into consideration as well as the location.

GB: Are there specific seasonal trends, for S/S or A/W?

ZE: For me only those which are dictated by the availability of flowers and foliage at specific times of year.

GB: Is there anything in particular that you avoid when working on a wedding?

ZE: I try to avoid spending the budget on random small items here and there. I encourage my brides to focus on big statements instead – the use of trees, impressive arrangements or a floral wall, for instance.

GB: What has been your favourite arrangement to make? Bridal bouquet, bridesmaids bouquets, centre pieces?

ZE: I especially love creating brides’ bouquets.

GB: What advice would you give a Bride / Mother of the Bride / Mother of the Groom arranging a wedding?

ZE: Bride: follow your heart. Mother of the Bride and Mother of the Groom: let your daughter and her groom make the decisions, it’s their wedding!

GB: Do you get to see the dress? Do you use the dress for inspiration?

ZE: Yes, I always ask to see images of the dress. It is helpful for the overall design and especially in terms of getting the style of the bouquet right.

GB: Where would you recommend brides look for inspiration, your favourite mags/blogs/Pinterest accounts?

ZE: I suggest that they prepare a personal mood board from a variety of sources – Pinterest is used by a lot of brides for this purpose. The mood board should include ideas and impressions of things that they like. With this a good designer can easily interpret and create their own concepts rather than copying someone else’s floral designs.