WEDDING FLOWERS: corymbia ficifolia

Fresh Summer Natives for a December Wedding

A December wedding, held at Steeles Island Retreat in Southern Tasmania called for fresh summery natives. The brides dress was a deep blue and the rough colour scheme of the wedding was blue and yellow. In terms of colours for the flowers, the bride loved vibrant reds, yellows and deep greens, pincushions and gum nuts.

Perfect colours for summer natives!

The larger flowers I used for the bouquets were pincusions in red and orange teamed with orange Banksia Ericifolia. The dark rich burgundy of summer Safari Sunset Leucadendrons provided contrasting tone. The lime yellow leucadendrons with the silvery central cones are Leucadendron Pisa and I used gum nuts from Corymbia Ficifolia.

Bright sunshine yellow Kangaroo Paw really brightened up the bouquets. I also used the last of the Berzelia Button Bush, in its fluffy white flowering stage and, just seen peeping out are some orangey-green cones of Leucadendron Goldstrike with the outer bracts removed. For the foliage, I used Tasmanian myrtle beech - a gorgeous rich green. Some flowering Agonis Flexuosa provided beautifully draping foliage as well as little white highlights. And a lovely last minute find of some acacia in bud really added something special in the way of texture.

All together, the bouquets made real statement of colour. I love this fresh summery look.

The profusion of foliage had a draping effect I really loved, but its difficult to capture in the pictures. I think these colours would have really popped with the navy blue dress!

For the boutonnieres I used more gum nuts, teamed with the yellow Kangaroo Paw, L. Safari Sunset and L. Pisa, all backed by some of the myrtle and acacia foliages. The grooms boutonniere stood out with the addition of some Berzelia.

I love that little touch of texture that the acacia buds provide! It's the little details that really make wedding flowers special.

The fresh, vibrant, summery colours of seasonal natives really make an impact. I hope the bride and groom had a wonderful, memorable day.

DIY Bush Wedding in March

Comment

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.