Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have chosen floral designer Philippa Craddock to make the church flowers for their wedding. Philippa Craddock will lead a team, which will include florists from St George’s Chapel and Buckingham Palace, to create the displays at St George’s Chapel and for St George’s Hall.
The floral displays in St George’s Chapel will be created using locally sourced foliage, much of which will be taken from the gardens and parkland of The Crown Estate and Windsor Great Park. Where it is possible, Philippa Craddock will use flowers and plants that are in season and blooming naturally in May. It will include branches of beech, birch and hornbeam, as well as white garden roses, peonies and foxgloves. The designs will reflect the wild and natural landscapes from which many of the plants will be drawn.
The Royal Parks will also supply some pollinator-friendly plants from their wildflower meadows, which will be incorporated into the floral designs. These plants provide a great habitat for bees and help to nurture and sustain entire ecosystems by promoting a healthy and biodiverse environment.
After the wedding, the couple has arranged for the flowers to be distributed to charitable organisations.
Philippa Craddock said: “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.
“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.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be married on 19 May 2018 at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. The ceremony starts at noon and is expected to last around an hour. The Dean of Windsor, the Rt. Revd. David Conner, will conduct the service with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, officiating as the couple make their vows. Ahead of the wedding, Meghan has been baptised and confirmed into the Church of England.
Harry and Meghan have also confirmed that they will invite members of the public into the precincts of Windsor Castle to share their big day. The 2,640 who are asked in will see the bride, groom and their guests arrive and depart from the ceremony. The happy couple’s first royal outing as man and wife will see them take a carriage ride through Windsor. The couple’s guests from their wedding ceremony will enjoy a reception at St. George’s Hall, Windsor in the afternoon. In the evening, the Prince of Wales will host a second reception for Harry and Meghan, which will see them continue their celebrations with family and friends.