Just as a quick note for this chapter, because some of my non-UK friends struggled a little with the correct pronunciation, Niamh is pronounced as Neve. The former is just the traditional Irish way of spelling it.


The next morning, the women of the Cambridge-Jones family headed down to Dublin, to visit what was rumored to be the best florist in Europe. Ailene had mentioned the small shop to Emma during the wedding plans and after a little research, she had been more than happy to agree to visit the store.

Knowing how people often reacted around Emma, Ailene had called ahead to book them a private visit to the shop. Much like Killian's plans for a date all those months ago, she'd also had to send some images of herself, with the princess, to convince the owner that she was not pulling some kind of elaborate prank.

Emma had done some more research of her own before the visit too. She knew a little about flowers and shrubbery, given that they featured heavily in all of the royal residences she'd visited, but she didn't know much. So, she'd carried out some Google research in the hopes that she wouldn't look too stupid during their meeting that morning.

"Your Highness, such a pleasure to meet you," the owner of the store greeted, extending a hand for Emma to shake. "I'm Niamh and I own this store."

"It's wonderful to meet you, Niamh," Emma returned. "Thank you so much for agreeing to see us."

"Of course." The older woman gestured through to the back of her store. "Follow me, I have a small workspace set up for us to go over some ideas for you."

The women made their way back to a table that had been set up with some paper; pencils; and a laptop, in the middle of what appeared to be some kind of workshop. There were flowers in vases all around the room, in different colours, shapes and sizes.

The place smelled incredible.

Emma took a seat in the middle of the table, her mother and Ruby to one side and Ailene on the other.

"Can I get you ladies anything to eat or drink?" Niamh asked, hovering in front of her own seat opposite them.

"We're all good, thanks," Emma confirmed smiling up at her.

Niamh took her own seat, before pulling some paper towards her and setting her laptop up to one side. "So, do you have a colour scheme or any idea of anything you'd like to work into the arrangements?" Niamh began.

"Yes, actually," Emma replied, shocking her mother - if the look on Mary's face was anything to judge by.

"That's good," Niamh encouraged, picking up a pencil to begin making notes.

"I want to involve my favourite colour in some way, so each arrangement would have to be predominantly red and white." Niamh nodded her head as her pencil flew across the page. "I also quite like the idea of working in the national flowers for our countries of birth," Emma continued. "So, roses for England, and can you make shamrocks work in there for Ireland too?"

Niamh's head shot up at that request, but Ailene was the one to put a voice to what everyone else seemed to be thinking.

"You don't need to do that," she assured Emma. Shamrocks were not a traditional inclusion in bridal bouquets, even in Ireland.

"I want to. Killian's nationality is a huge part of the person he is. I know that he's sacrificing a lot to be with me. But I don't want anyone to forget who he is or where he's come from."

Ailene reached over to take Emma's hand into her own and gave it a gentle squeeze.

She really had won the daughter-in-law lottery.

"Okay, anything else?" Niamh asked, breaking the silence that had settled in the room.

"One more thing," Emma added. "I'll need to include a sprig of myrtle from Queen Victoria's garden. It's royal tradition."

Niamh made another quick note of that request before she pulled her laptop in closer and began tapping away. The women gave her a moment to work before Niamh spoke.

"Okay, so obviously, red and white roses seem like a no-brainer. The red roses have your classic meaning of love and romance, while your white roses are for marriage and new beginnings. Then I would recommend orchids. The red represents passion and desire, but also strength and courage. Something you, and your husband-to-be, seem to have a lot of. While the white represents elegance and beauty. May I also recommend ivy? It is often symbolic for marriage, friendship, fidelity and affection?"

Emma nodded her head as she watched Niamh stand and begin to gather some supplies. "Do you know what kind of shapes you'd like?" she asked, as she worked.

"No. I'm gonna leave that one to the expert," Emma chuckled.

Niamh vanished for a few moments and returned with flowers draped across her arms. Emma vaguely recognised the different blooms she'd recommended for the arrangements.

"These are all I have at the moment," she explained, gently sitting them down before the bride-to-be. "I don't have shamrocks, ivy or myrtle here, but it's not going to be difficult to get hold of any for you. Just take a good look at each bloom and let me know if you're happy with them. Then we can start work on shaping and groupings."


The women spent a total of three hours in the small shop that morning, looking at different suggestions for shaping and arrangements and debating which would look most elegant for what they had deemed the wedding of the century. By the time they left the store, Ruby's nose was tingling from all of the pollen and Emma had, with the help of Killian and a few instant messages, chosen the arrangements for the Abbey and the reception.

She hadn't yet made a choice for her bouquet, much to the disappointment of her mother and Ailene, but she had promised to message Niamh when she came to a decision.


The national flowers of England and Ireland are indeed roses and shamrocks, respectively. I left out the ones for Scotland (thistle) and Wales (daffodil) here because of the meaning behind Emma's wishes, but she will make sure the other 2 home nations are not forgotten on her day.

It is indeed royal tradition for a bride to carry a sprig of myrtle from Queen Victoria's own garden in her bouquet. Every royal bride since Queen Victoria has stuck with this tradition, no matter what the design of their own bouquet has been.

For comparison, Catherine Middleton's bridal bouquet was made up of lily of the valley, sweet William, hyacinth, myrtle and ivy.

The Tumblr account is readallaboutitcs but I'll also start reblogging everything to my personal account too which is kymbersmith-90 (I know many of you already tracked me down there!)

Thanks for reading.