January Wedding at Bangor Wine and Oyster Shed

January Wedding at Bangor Wine and Oyster Shed

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Early January, and the first wedding of the new year was at Bangor Wine and Oyster Shed at the northern tip of the Tasman Peninsula area in Dunalley.  Bangor is is a stunning spot, on a hill surrounded by vineyards with water views in seemingly every direction.

Bangor Wine and Oyster Shed

Bangor is known for exceptional quality local produce, so any wedding celebration would be sure to please the guests! Its location is really special too - another reason many people choose to travel to Tasmania to tie the knot.  

The bride was going for a vintage/bohemian look with the colours of sage green, champagne and ivory.   Such a gorgeous, subtle palette.  Protea White Ice flower throughout the year here in Tasmania and in summer they tend to be more champagne coloured, with are darker central mass.  I built the design around these proteas.  

The Brunia Albiflora were ready picking earlier than usual this year, so I was able to use them with their soft grey-green tones.  Each bouquet also had a hydrangea variety called Paniculata in a white and green colouring.  Maui Sunset Leucadendron are a gorgeous mix of olive and grass green tones with pink tips in summer. They were scattered through.  I also used some old-gold Banksia Formosa (formally Dryandra Formosa)   They added a warmth and richness to the mix.

Soft and beautiful flowering gum in an off-white were used, as well as gum nuts, still green,  from a Corymbia.  I also used some Leucadendron Discolour and their cones.  The last few remaining Berzelia can be seen peeping out from each bouquet too.  They are usually all gone before January so it was a treat to be able to add them.

Foliages were really important for these bouquets.  I used some silvery grey-green Eucalyptus Crenulata, as well as some Risdon Peppermint.  

Branches covered in little lime green seed pods were foraged from a native plant growing at my local beach.  They were prolific in producing seeds this season and the colour and texture was so beautiful!  Also foraged were some local ferns.  Fishbone Water Fern are at their best after the new leaves have hardened off.  

I also used native Coral Fern which I love using in bouquets.  It sits so well around the edges of the bouquet.  

The groom had a combination of foliages - the Crenulata, Coral Fern and foraged seed pods (I haven't been able to find a name for them yet!) along with some of the last Berzelia, a Leucadendron Discolour and a green Corymbia gum nut.  

The rest of the boutonnieres followed the theme!

  

For decorating the venue, I did some large urns with lots of texture.  I used white hydrangeas, tea tree, fluffy white flowering gum, and some Berzelia.

Leucadendron Discolour, green with a pink blush, Pink Ice Protea, and Brunia Albiflora were the larger flowers.  The cones are the beautiful dried cones from the Leucadendron Silver Tree.  They are such beautiful things!

I also added more Hydrangea Paniculata too.  The greens included the native Fishbone Fern, Eucalyptus Crenulata, the foraged seed pods, and the gorgeous draping Coral Fern.  

I really enjoyed the colour scheme of this wedding - pared back and subtle and packed with interesting textures and shapes.  As always, a pleasure to be involved!

Christmastime Wedding in Hobart

Christmastime Wedding in Hobart

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Photograph by Nina Hamilton Photography

I really enjoyed providing flowers for a December wedding in Hobart, just days before Christmas.

I was excited to be able to use some beautiful flowers that I don't often have available all at once, and I loved the romantic tones of cream, rose gold and burgundy that I was able to play with.

Berzelia is a spring flowering plant which, due to the mild start to summer, had lingered and was still looking fabulous in December.  It's fluffy white clusters of flowers are so pretty in bridal bouquets.  The green-grey clusters of Brunia are usually an after-Christmas flower but there were some early heads ready for picking.  Its the first time I've ever used both Berzelia and Brunia in the one bouquet.  A rarity!

Protea White Ice and Pink Ice were teamed up with a gorgeous wine coloured Banksia Praemorsa.  Leucadendron Safari Sunset, a dark burgundy colour in summer, added to the mix.  Foliages of Risdon Peppermint Gum, Irish Juniper and Pittosporum were used.  

Leucadendron Lemon Spice is a green leucadenron which changes to a creamy white in spring, with a dusting of pink.  Its such a treat to use in bouquets.  Beautiful rich berry red Leucadendron Jubilee Crown cones added more burgundy tones.

For the groom, a Lemon Spice Leuco, some Berzelia, Irish Juniper, Pittosporum, L. Jubilee Crown and a L. Pisa silvery cone.  

Photograph by Nina Hamilton Photography

It was such a treat to find such gorgeous photographs by Nina Hamilton Photography - great photographers capture such beautiful memories!  

Late March Wedding

Late March Wedding

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March is a great month for a wedding in Tasmania.  The days are still warm but the autumn rains have usually begun meaning that the tired summer grass is refreshed and the landscape starts to green up again.  In March 2016, I provided flowers for a wedding in Northern Tasmania.  March is great for native flowers too.  The flowers that are blooming have a fresh, autumn glow the combinations of colours and textures can be so beautiful.

Wanting soft pinks, greens and creams, I was able to use one of my favourite late summer flowers, the Banksia Baxterii.  It is a creamy white banksia also called the Birdsnest Banksia because of its shape. I teamed it with a Protea White Ice, a gorgeous creamy white protea that in autumn has a purplish tinge to its centre. 

Flowering Brunia Albiflora, with the "berries" completely covered by their flowers was also one of the focal flowers, with 2 Protea Compacta in clear pink either side.   I love the leaves of the Banksia Baxterii which you can see in this photo.  They are a striking zig zag shape which add to the structure of the the design.

Flowering lemon-scented tea tree foliage, blue Eucalyptus Risdonii foliage and the purplish silver swirls of Leucadendron Galpinii were some of the foliages used.  A few early green leucadendrons and some silvery grey gum nuts were the final ingredients. 

For the groom, I used a Banksia Baxterii leaf with its strong zig zag shape.  It was softened with more blue eucalyptus foliage, some flowering tea tree and a fine, yellow-green leucadendron.  A gum nut and  some Brunia Albiflora 'berries' in flower were also used.  

Boutonnieres look great all lined up!  I loved using these special little gum nuts. 

I really enjoyed using the super-fresh autumn natives to create this bouquet - its a pleasure to work with blooms that are looking their best.  

Winter Activity

Winter Activity

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Apart from picking, the main winter activity on the protea farm for us is planting.  Proteas are characterised by a special root system.  They have deep roots that anchor them, like other plants, but they also have a "proteoid" root system that is shallow and renews itself every year.  Proteas are very cyclical plants.  Winter is their root growing season, and this makes winter a good time for planting.  

Last year, we planted around 200 plants.  I'm very excited about the varieties - White Ice - a beautiful white protea with icy white "fur".  Another variety we put in is White King.  It is a type of Protea Cynaroides, the largest flowering protea with a flower the size of a dinner plate!  The white variety we planted should be a stunning flower!  It will be 3 or 4 years before we see the results though - King Proteas are slow to mature.  But it will be worth the wait!

This morning I rang a supplier about ordering some more plants for planting this winter.  I hope I am able to get the variety I'm after!  This time next year, they'll be established, and growing, and I'll hopefully be blogging about them!  I love winter!