FEATURE
Q: What information do you need from a Bride when she hires you to design her flowers?
A: I always have her close her eyes and I ask her to tell me
about what her dream wedding is. Every bride has her dream wedding and knows what it will look like. I always want to know what is the first thing that comes to her mind because that’ s how you define the theme of the wedding.
Q: What is your advice for the Bride on how to define the wedding décor, colours, floral?
A: I think the problem for Brides is that there are so many
things out there for people to consult in Instagram, Pinterest, etc. Before, Brides would just buy your magazine to get ideas, but now every time that you turn on your telephone, every 15 seconds there is a new idea. My advice to Brides now is, when they are really looking into planning their wedding, stick with their original ideas, with their original dream, their original theme. Try not to change your mind so often because it will just ruin the process because it just will cause confusion on what to do or not do.
Q: What do you recommend for the perfect bouquet? A: There are two things: I am not a big fan of boutonnieres. I
recommend not to have one. After hugging people they just get damaged. For most Brides, if they spend so much money on their wedding dress, I always feel it’ s necessary to create an understated round beautiful bridal bouquet. It is the best way to go because the more large( bouquets) takes away from the dress, it takes away from the Bride, and ends up being the first thing people will see when she walks down the aisle.
Q: You have succeeded in your career. Is there something that Jeff Leatham still feels he has to accomplish?
A: I am very lucky in the fact that I am always having different
opportunities, and often I am thinking to myself what is the most amazing thing that can happen now? Just last year I got Knighted by the French government!( The Ministry of Culture awarded Jeff Leatham the highest honour by Knighting him Chevalier Des Arts et Letters in a ceremony at Versailles – the historical palace of King Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette.) This year I am designing the Christmas decorations for Bloomingdales. I always thank God that I am so blessed. If I always stay exited about what I do then I will always be able to motivate and inspire people, and amazing things will happen. It is important to keep dreaming and I am always dreaming of what I want to do... bigger and bigger things. Hopefully I can pursue( a career) into more design, interiors, fragrances. There are always endless possibilities because the design world is so inspired by flowers. I loved working with Waterford Crystal, designing beautiful vases. It is important for me to design something that doesn’ t die after two days!
52 Perfect Wedding Magazine’ s 10th Anniversary Special Edition / Spring Summer 2016