April Wedding

April Wedding

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In April 2015 I had the privilege of providing flowers for a beautiful wedding held here on the Tasman Peninsula.  I had such a great time doing these flowers and have been lucky enough to receive some professional photographs to share.  

In my flower shed, the colours came together, using fresh native foliage and silvery greens, with shades of pink.

There were three bridesmaids and a bride's bouquet to do and I was excited to be able to use the first ever picking of my red mini-king proteas in the bouquets.  

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You can see Brunia Albiflora starting to actually flower.  Pink Ice Protea were accompanied by the red King Protea, and some rich pink Kangaroo Paw called Bush Pearl.  I also used a Silver Tree Cone in each bouquet.  Their velvety silver look was complimented by silvery silken foliage from Leucadenron Pisa.  

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This close up shows the colours and textures so well!

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The wedding was held at a local venue called Stuarts Bay Lodge which has cabins dotted throughout a beautiful bayside bush setting.  The bridal party stayed there over the weekend, and the ceremony was held on the lawn overlooking the bay. 

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Such beautiful details!  

I made quite a few corsages for this wedding and had a lot of fun with them.  

The Kangaroo Paw teamed with Pisa foliage and Risdon Peppermint was softened with Wax Flower.

There were quite a few boutonnieres and corsages to be done!

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With so many boutonnieres and corsages, they need to be labelled.  I like this professional photographer's shot of the grooms boutonniere.

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The grooms boutonniere used the silky Leucadenron Pisa foliage, teamed with Risdon Peppermint foliage covered in tiny buds.  

A gum nut from the spectacular flowering gum called Corymbia Ficifolia was the centrepiece of each boutonniere.

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Such a beautiful wedding!

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This box of goodies was packed up ready for decorating the wedding reception tables.  I had a friend from interstate visiting that week who came with me for the set-up. We had fun!

The reception was held at Gabrielles Restaurant, on site at Stewarts Bay Lodge.  Each table was decorated with a group of bottles and jars sitting on top of a sliced log round.

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Little pegs held up cute little table numbers above the flowers.

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In keeping with the theme, there were masses of bud-covered peppermint foliage, proteas and silver tree cones, and to add a sculptural element, some twisted willow branches.  It such a beautiful venue for a wedding!

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I was so happy to be able to provide flowers for this gorgeous wedding.  Thanks to the bride for being so great to work with.  It's such a treat to be able to share some of the professional photos.

DIY Bush Wedding in March

DIY Bush Wedding in March

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In March this year, I supplied flowers for a wedding held on a local property here on the beautiful Tasman Peninsula.  When I delivered the flowers on the morning of the wedding, I could see why the couple were keen to have their wedding here.  A gorgeous bush property right next to the water on Norfolk Bay - a great place for a memorable wedding.  

The colour scheme was pink and pretty, with native blooms, and the idea was for the bride and groom to do their own decorating and possibly the bouquets.  

In the end, I supplied the brides bouquet, and what fun it was to play with such gorgeous colours and textures.  Corymbia Ficifolia is the name of the gum that produces those spectacular pick blossoms.  The same tree also produces the silvery grey gum nuts.  Protea Pink Ice were perfect in the mix, with pink Kangaroo Paw called Bush Pearl.  A locally occurring grey-leafed tea tree which was in flower, and the gorgeous pink tinged silvery jade of the Eucalyptus Crenulata were the main foliage used.  

I also used Brunia Albiflora, at its peak in March in Tasmania.  Silver Tree cones were used too, and a sprinkling of various leucadendrons including Jester a variegated pinky one.  

To save time,  I made the boutonnieres too.  The E. Crenulata was the main foliage again, with added wax flower.

The grooms boutonniere also had a Corymbia Ficiolia nut, and some blossom from the same tree - this years and last years blooms.  Pink Kangaroo Paw, and a silvery cone from the Leucadendron Galpinii which has lovely purple foliage throughout the year and makes these silvery cones in late summer and autumn.

The smaller boutonniere had a little touch of the feathery foliage from the Brunia Albiflora.  I also love the little pink buds from the gum blossom that hasn't yet flowered.  So pretty!

A floral crown for the bride was a late addition.  It was to be quite large, with a loose fit and a spray of flowers of the left side of the face.  

The body of the crown was made with the blue-grey tea tree.  E. Crenulata softened the addition of more pink Kangaroo Paw, Corymbia Ficifolia blossom and nuts, and more of those buds that were yet to flower.  

Such a pretty combination of colours and textures!

The DIY element of the wedding required a fair bit of planning.  The unstructured look of multiple vases looks effortless but really requires some thought.

Bunching up the extra gum nuts for the table decorations created this gorgeous sculptural bunch.

And more gum blossom in that stunning pink looked great en masse too.

Bundles of foliage and lots of Brunia and Silver Tree cones filled up the box quickly.  

And it was left for the wedding party to make the extra bouquets and the wedding decorations from this box of goodness.

I had made some "mock-up" decorations to check that the overall look would work.  

I think the combinations worked well.  

It was such a pleasure to be involved in this DIY bush wedding! 

Native Spring Wedding Flowers

Native Spring Wedding Flowers

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October is a brilliant month for native flowers.  A bride is spoilt for choice!  Last October I was privileged to be able to provide flowers for a wedding at MONA in Hobart.  The bride and groom were from Sydney so NSW Waratah's were a perfect choice.  My Telopea Speciosissima hybrids were just bursting with colour.  

The bride was wearing gold, so the red was really a standout colour.  I added Dryandra Formosa flowers to tie in the gold.  They are at their height in early to mid spring.  

The Dryandra leaves also add a  lovely textural quality to the bouquet.  They have a fine, zig-zag shape and fall at nice angles.

For the flower girl's bouquet, I chose some smaller waratahs to keep the size and weight manageable.   The bright pink is added by Boronia which not only creates a burst of colour, but smells divine, making it a pleasure to handle.  I used Leucadendron Lemon Spice, a selection of the female Leucadendron Discolour.  In spring its colour is spectacular, changing from a sage green to a gorgeous creamy ivory with a pink blush.  

Another ingredient I loved using for this wedding was some fresh green eucalyptus pods, immature and not ready to flower until summer.  In their immature state, they are bright green, and the textural quality adds another layer of interest to a bouquet bursting with spring goodness.  

In early October, the Berzelia or Button Bush is just ready to begin picking.  The "buttons" are green and they add another fresh textural layer to the spring native bouquet.  

One of the things I loved about this wedding was that the bride was particular about the boutonnieres.  The groom wanted white.  For the Fathers, I was given pictures of the suits and ties they were wearing, so I could create something that worked well.  It was a great way to work.  

White was a little tricky with so much colour available!  I used both wax flower and thryptomene (another duo that are fabulously perfumed) teamed with Berzelia and an immature Leucadendron Silver Tree cone.

The Silver Tree cone really glows. 

For the Fathers' boutonnieres, I used small waratahs.  I usually cull these smaller flowers, pruning them off the bushes and leaving them.  They are pretty but too small and often at odd angles so no good for selling wholesale.   I decided that they were perfect button holes for this spring wedding though - like a scaled down version of the main bouquet flowers. I like the way the red bracts surrounding the flower sit at interesting angles.

For the other boutonnieres, I used Dryandra.   These Australian Natives have a strong almost citrusy smell that can be a bit overpowering when they are first picked so I pick them a week early and sit them in the cold room till it fades a little.  They are teamed up with Lipstick Boronia and wax flower.  

Such a joyous combination of spring goodness! 

Natives are a vibrant and memorable choice for a spring wedding.