Forget the tiaras it is all about floral headpieces

Set in a woodland and with a theme to match when Lydia Moon was planning her wedding seven years ago there was one person she wanted to channel.

“I have always wanted to be Maid Marian from Robin Hood,” she smiles.

“For my wedding I knew I wanted a floral headpiece but couldn’t see anything I liked so I decided to make my own.”

When orders started coming in from friends and then friends of friends Lydia saw that there could be a gap in the market for producing handmade flower head pieces.

“I didn’t start it as a business it was something for my wedding but it has grown really naturally,” she explains.

“I have just set up my Facebook page but I have got a lot of my work from word of mouth and recommendations.

“People will be at a wedding see my work and ask where it is from.”

Lydia admits she has always been a creative person working as a painter and sculptor and much of her inspiration comes from the art world.

“For my wedding we had the woodland theme and it conjured up images of the painting the Lady of Shalott,” she reveals.

“It is of a woman with long hair going across a lake in a boat. I love it so much that for my wedding I recreated it and went across the lake with my brother.

“The name for the business was also inspired by art. I knew I wanted my surname Moon but for the first name I chose Seraphine after a painter.”

Seraphine Louis worked in the 1920s and 1930s and used flowers to make pigments which she used to paint flowers.

“I love her work,” says Lydia. “She had a sad ending though as she spent many years in a mental institution.”

The headpieces and hair slides that Lydia creates are made using flowers created from fabrics such as silk and velvet.

“I use someone in the Old Town in Hastings for the flowers they make them out of vintage silk and velvet,” she explains.

“But I can also make pieces as well. I have had people come to me in the past with family heirlooms, such as their great-great grandmother’s Victorian wedding dress that I made into flowers and leaves for their headpiece.

“Over the years I have collected a large stock of flowers that I use.

“Every artist has a box of junk they have collected and that comes out when they want to create something.”

Alongside the bespoke wedding pieces Lydia also makes and sells festival pieces where she will do a few of the same design to sell.

She estimates that it takes about eight hours to create a crown.

“I very rarely get a bride who just wants a crown though many want something for the whole bridal party so i do the slides for bridesmaids and flower girls.”

Lydia adds that she likes to keep things as natural as possible and also uses foliage in her pieces such as cones and twigs collected from a park near her home.

“I stick to the brief so the bride gets exactly what she wants,” she adds. “It can be a challenge but I love every moment of it.

“Each one is unique to them, and I make them all myself. People also like that they can keep them after the big day as they don’t die like real flowers.

“I want to create their fantasy and make their dreams come true.”

For more information on Seraphine Moon, visit www.facebook.com/seraphinemoon