We heard Leeds Castle was one of the prettiest castles in England, but we got incredibly lucky going there right when they were having their Festival of Flowers.
The festival happens every year during Autumn. This year it happened to be September 24th-28th. The whole idea of the festival is that each of the castle’s state rooms are adorned with lavish flower arrangements with theme, “A Queen’s Castle.”
I am a sucker for flowers. This is my second time in England and I’ve done some pretty neat stuff, but this definitely gets top of the list status.
I’m going to be honest, this isn’t going to be much like my other blog posts. This is mainly going to be a collection of the pictures I took that day because I feel like they really speak for themselves.
So anyways, when I found out about the Festival of Flowers, I had no idea what I was in for. My boyfriend and I had spent a few hours in the trails outside the castle, getting lost in the maze, and appreciating the beauty of the castle from the outside. When we finally made it to the inside of the castle, our plan was to breeze through it since we had other plans for the rest of the day.
Then I caught a glimpse of this:
And that’s when I knew our tour through the castle was not going to be as brief as I expected.
It was not just the state rooms that were adorned, but there were charming arrangements all throughout the castle that made this trip a magical one. Some of them were big, others small; some were simple while others were extravagant.
Most of the halls had designs such as this one, which exhibited more herbs than flowers.
Other small designs were overflowing with different flowers. Some were vibrant while others modest, but each different arrangement set its own particular mood.
Then through a window, I took a glance at the most beautiful bouquet of roses my eyes have ever seen. This is my favorite picture I took that day. To be honest, it’s one of my favorite pictures I have ever taken. Hence why it’s the featured image for this post. I also think this was one of my favorite arrangements even if it was one of the smaller ones…if you’re thinking it’s crazy this is one of the smaller ones, you have no idea what’s coming.
The first big “state room arrangement” I saw was this one, set up in one of the dining rooms. It’s definitely also a close favorite…what I would do to have something like this at my wedding…
Talk about lavish. After all, we are talking about ‘A Queen’s Castle’ theme. Here is a close up of this arrangement. From what I know, it was mostly a mix of peonies with roses and hydrangeas, which in my opinion is worthy of any queen.
Here is a slideshow of a few other arrangements that caught my eye. I really wish I could of taken pictures of the whole rooms, but with the crowd of people, it was near impossible.
Most of the arrangements had a very classy feel to them, which made sense, considering the theme. However, others stood out such as these, which had more of a tropical feel to them. Nonetheless, they were still fascinating.
And last, but not least is the arrangement, which I thought contrasted all of the other ones. I keep using the word, ‘beautiful,’ but there really is no other word to describe it.
This is just the bed. However, the whole state was covered in these vibrant flowers that simply made me feel like an actual princess.
So now, I hope that next year’s Leeds’ Festival of Flowers is high up on your list. I know it’s on mine and I can’t wait to be back!
Other than this festival, Leeds’ Castle holds many other events year round.
Read More About My Adventures at Leeds Castle.
-Valerie
Valerie Overseas 