An orangery was built to keep citrus trees alive through the winter: glass, light and shelter for something that would not last outside. Iris Orangerie, on the edge of Snagov Forest in Ciolpani, borrows the idea for weddings, and it comes from a family whose trade is flowers. Nicu Bocancea inaugurated it on 26 October 2022, the day the family marked 52 years in the business.
A florists’ glasshouse
The glass is the family’s idea of a stage for flowers. The Romanian business magazine Revista Biz, reporting on the opening, described a building made like an enormous greenhouse, with administrative wings clad in shingle burnt by hand in Transylvania. The family’s story began in 1970, in the years of carnations and daffodils, and grew after 1989 into ten flower shops in Bucharest, a concept workshop, an online shop and an events division. Its sons, Nicu Bocancea and Cosmin Avramiță, took it abroad and into awards, the magazine reported.
Billed as Romania’s first glasshouse built for events, the room covers 500 square metres, with a terracotta bar, a working fireplace and a 600 square metre terrace along the forest edge. Natural Mediterranean plants run through it. The team behind it runs from floral design to on-site coordination, and Irina Bocancea is the contact for wedding planning and events.
Outside is the Jewel Garden, planted with a reported 1,000 trees and 2,000 shrubs so that something is in leaf or flower in every season, with a reed-fringed micro delta and a bridge that is used for photographs. At the opening Revista Biz counted 300 different trees, along with a vegetable garden, berry hedges and a gate of woven twigs that opens towards the forest.
Garden ceremony, glass reception, terrace
Ceremonies are held in the garden at the forest edge. Receptions move into the glasshouse, which seats 260 and rises to 300 with the terrace. The kitchen is professional, and the menus are curated by a chef with extensive experience gained in Romania and abroad.
Guests can stay on the estate in seven double rooms, with a terrace over the forest and the run of the gardens and the micro delta. The accommodation building is shaped like a propeller from above, which Revista Biz said gives each family its own view. There are more than 150 parking spaces, private car transfers can be arranged, and Uber, Bolt and Blue taxis come to the venue on order.
Getting to Ciolpani
Ciolpani is a commune in the north west of Ilfov County, 36 kilometres from Bucharest on the DN1 road. The drive is 35 minutes from the north of the city, by the DN road or the A3 motorway. Henri Coandă International Airport at Otopeni lies 16.5 kilometres north of the centre, on the same side of the capital, and Lake Snagov, with its island monastery, is about 5 kilometres to the east.
What to ask at the viewing
Viewings are by appointment, Tuesday to Friday or on Saturday, and the venue is open for events all year. Prices are given on request.
Ask which capacity applies to your date and layout: Revista Biz reported up to 400 guests at the 2022 opening, against 260 seated and 300 with the terrace now. Ask how many guests the seven rooms sleep, how the glasshouse is heated in winter, whether a garden ceremony can be your legal ceremony, whether the small herb greenhouse described at the opening, built for up to 30 people, is available to couples, and how long the drive from the airport takes on your arrival day.
A wedding led by the flowers
Iris Orangerie suits a couple who want floral design to come first, 35 minutes from the north of Bucharest. Check your date with the venue, or look at more weddings in Romania.
