Vibrant Summery Natives for a Vineyard Wedding

Vibrant Summery Natives for a Vineyard Wedding

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Photography by Looks Like This

Summer weddings call for gorgeous outdoor settings, and what could be more gorgeous than a summery vineyard?!  This January wedding was held at Frogmore Creek Winery in the beautiful Coal River Valley near Hobart.  The Coal River Valley is home to many beautiful vineyards and definitely worth a visit if you're in Tasmania.

The bride loved proteas, and the combination of red, orange and pink with green.  Colour!  What fun to play with these vibrant warm colours that sing "summer"!

Photography by Looks Like This

It was a joy to use the fresh, seasonal blooms in her chosen colours to create the bouquet.  I used a small red King Protea for the focal flower and surrounded it with different varieties of orange and red pincushions.   I also used some banksias, the intense orange Ericifolia and the rich wine coloured Praemorsa.  

Photography by Looks Like This

Pink was added using Kangaroo Paw called Bush Pearl.  Some rich burgundy Leucadendron Safari Sunsets provided contrast.  For the green,  I used some gorgeous spent Hebe flowers - the texture and colour was fresh and lively.  I also used my favourite glossy green Tasmanian Myrtle Beech.  You can also see fresh poppy pods in matte blue-green.

For the groom, a poppy pod, some myrtle and some Hebe flowers in white, and to add colour, more Bush Pearl K.Paw and some stunning rich red flowering gum - Corymbia Ficifolia.  The darker binding really set off the colours.

The bride wanted a floral crown to match the colourful theme of the wedding so more green with the Myrtle and Hebe, and a sprinkling of wax flower.  Gum blossom just bursting with colour, and more Kangaroo Paw provided the rich colour accents.  

It was a wild, fresh, summery crown.

Photography by Looks Like This

And thanks to the amazing photography of Looks Like This I got to see it in action.  

Photography by Looks Like This

Beautiful!

Photography by Looks Like This

A great photo of the couple enjoying their day - it's such a treat to see photos of the flowers in action.   

Photography by Looks Like This 

There were 3 wedding cake toppers, a great idea using a collection of cakes, rather than tiered.

Photography by Looks Like This

For the venue decoration the bride used some wooden hexagonal display shelves for which I provided some wholesale flowers.  

Photography by Looks Like This

I love the rich colour teamed with the dark stained wood in the rustic style venue.  It really works.

Photography by Looks Like This

Large arrangements in ceramic pots sat on wine barrels to decorate the focal point of the ceremony.  

Smaller versions of the same pots bursting with an explosion of colour were used to decorate the reception tables.

I love creating these little pots of colour!

Two different varieties of pincushions teamed with pink Kangaroo Paw, Poppy Pods, Flowering Gum buds, Myrtle, Agonis Flexuosa in flower, Hebe, and Safari Sunset Leucadendron.  

Summery colour and texture.

Photography by Looks Like This

I think the photos speak for themselves!  A beautiful day.

Photography by Looks Like This

December Bush Wedding

December Bush Wedding

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A simple native bush theme was the brief for this December wedding.  

My first few blooms from Banksia Praemorsa bushes planted only a couple of years ago were the inspiration for the colour scheme.  What a beautiful wine-coloured flower!  I teamed a single Banksia bloom with some Protea Pink Ice as the focal flowers.

Creamy Leucadendron Discolour look great with their pink blushed tips.  I also used some late Berzelia, Pink Kangaroo Paw called Bush Pearl, and some leucadendron cones -  Jubilee Crown are the ruby red ones and Purple Haze are the silvery ones.  There's some wax flower peeping out in places too.   I also used some Hebe that were flowering profusely at the time.  I like the colour and structure they add. Some eucalyptus foliage provides a fresh background for a simple bush bouquet.

The groomsmen's boutonnieres were a simple combination of Berzelia, Wax Flower and Leucadendron Jubilee Crown, with eucalyptus and cyprus in the background.  

The groom's button hole adds a single creamy Leucadendron Discolour.

Table decorations for the reception held at Stewarts Bay Lodge, a fabulous local Tasman Peninsula wedding venue, used vintage preserving jars as the vases.

Leucospermum Scarlet Ribbons teamed with more Hebe, Leucadendron Jubilee Crown Cones, and fresh eucalyptus foliage fill the jars.  

Twisted willow branches create a sculptural effect against the white table cloths for a fresh, pretty bush themed wedding.   

"Rustic Vintage" Native Wedding

"Rustic Vintage" Native Wedding

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Natives are a great choice for a spring wedding because there are so many gorgeous colours and textures available to use.  I was excited to be able to provide flowers for a lovely bride for her November wedding.  Her idea was for a "rustic vintage" look.

A beautiful vintage lace dress with red lipstick and green shoes was the starting point for these bouquets - not too big, and in a simple hand-tied style.  

That gave me the perfect opportunity to use some lovely vintage lace that I've been keeping in my stash.  

All the bouquets and boutonnieres were bound with the lace.  Its so nice when you find the perfect use for that special something you've been keeping!

For the brides bouquet, I used a white waratah surrounded by some Satin Mink Proteas.  You can also see some Safari Sunset leucadendrons providing the darker tones.  Some pink kangaroo paw called Bush Pearl also adds to the pinky red tones.  The creamy leucadendrons are Lemon Spice, a female Discolour leucadendron that is green most of the year but in late spring changes to a this gorgeous cream with pink tips. 

 For the greens, there are eucalyptus buds, peppermint gum, and some thryptomene foliage.  The silver balls are a Leucadendron called Purple Haze.  The foliage has a purple tinge, but these cones produced after flowering are a pretty silvery addition to a bouquet.

Wax flower was also sprinkled throughout the design, seen here in the boutonnieres.  I was also able to use Berzelia.  It is a spring flowering plant that is often used at its green stage, but in late spring the little green balls "flower" and become a gorgeous fluffy white.  They are just perfect for weddings.  

So the "rustic vintage" look came together with a pink, green and cream colour scheme.  

A February Wedding

A February Wedding

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We were thrilled to be able to provide flowers for this beautiful February wedding.  The bride wore a gorgeous vintage dress and the colours for the bridesmaids were apricot, peach and orange.  

Pink Ice Protea and Fountain Pincushions were the main flowers.  The Fountain are a later flowering pincushion and are at their height in January and early February.  They have a soft purplish tinge when they first begin to flower so they really went well with the apricot and peach colours.  I added some bright pink Kangaroo Paw, Brunia Albiflora, some gorgeous purplish silver eucalyptus foliage and some blue green conifer foliage.  As a highlight, I added some gorgeous summer grass seed heads.  The bouquet was bound with jute ribbon and I added a bow which was removable.  The bride opted for removing the bow and I think it really worked.  The colours worked so well with her stunning ivory coloured vintage dress.

Photo by KS Photography

For the bridesmaids, I used Pink Ice Protea, Brunia Albiflora, Pink Kangaroo Paw, Geraldton Wax and  more of the native foliage.  Each of the bridesmaids dresses were different - all variations on the vintage theme so keeping their bouquets all the same was important.

Grevillea foliage, and the same blue green conifer foliage also tie the bouquets together, with the summer grass highlights also added.  Again, the bows were removable.  

In keeping with the idea of the different bridesmaids dresses, the bride decided that the boutonniere should all be different.  What fun!  Using different combinations of the flowers and foliage from the bouquets, I created the button holes to be all different, but "matching".  

The groom's boutonniere stood out by being slightly larger.  You can see a dried leucadendron cone, single Brunia Albiflora, Kangaroo Paw, Banksia, conifer foliage and summer grass.

And lastly, the corsage for the Mother of the Bride - a combination of Kangaraoo Paw, Grevillea, Wax flower, foliage and summer grass.  

Photo by KS Photographers

The photographers for the wedding took this beautiful photo of the brides bouquet.  KS Photographers have won the Tasmanian Wedding Photographer of the Year for 2014 and their website is well worth a look.  They are so creative and their catalogue is stunning.  

Photo by KS Photographers

It was such a treat to work on this wedding!  And so nice to see some photos of the day taken by such a great photographer!  

Reflecting and Dreaming - New Years Activities

Reflecting and Dreaming - New Years Activities

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The New Year is here, and with it the sense of needing to reflect, take stock and make plans for the coming 12 months.  With hardly time to take a breath over the festive season, I'm feeling like a good holiday is in order.  But in snatched moments of quiet here and there, I'm thinking about what 2013 brought us and of course, what's to be done next ... dreaming of possibilities and new ideas.

This time last year, we were returning home after a major bushfire event in our community in southern Tasmania.  Things were blackened, charred, smokey and dry.  What a difference a year makes!  This summer has been much cooler and wetter than last year.  We have green grass, and the plants are flourishing.  In the bushfire affected areas new growth and new buildings are beginning to be the norm.  Time heals.  2013 was a busy, eventful year full of extremes.  It was also a productive year in so many ways.  I wonder what 2014 will bring!

One of my dreams for the year is to try this planting some varieties of Kangaroo Paw.  I just love them at the moment!  I have some beautiful maroon ones, a really special pink one and a white one that I'm enjoying in the garden outside my kitchen window.  On the list of "things I'd like to do" in 2014 is give some serious thought to what varieties I might try, and then finding the perfect spot for them on the farm.  Here's hoping the local wildlife don't fancy them for dinner!  

We've had house guests for a month over the Christmas and New Year period.  My mum and dad, both in their 80s, came to spend the festive season with us.  My dad is keen on anything to do with wood, so he's been in the thick of things as we've been working on the the flower shed we started in July.  

We're close to completing the shed, and I'm really excited about the possibilities that having a lovely flower space is going to provide.  It's so exciting to be able to have a dream and then see it become a reality!  It may just be a simple wooden shed but it's so special to us.  I'll do a post of the shed build when we're finished it, but in the meantime this picture is a really special one of my 86 year old dad helping out with the build. 

There are some other exciting things happening around the farm too.  We're busy clearing and tidying and making the place look its best in readiness for an article featuring us in a national magazine!  In two weeks the photographer is coming, and there's so much to be done.  Mowing, pruning, cleaning, tidying ....  its all very exciting!  After the rush of Christmas, its good to have the motivation to really give the place a tidy-up.  I've been cleaning the cool room, washing buckets, and making the current flower shed a little more organised.  Great things to do at the start of a new year.

My mum has always been a keen gardener.  And my dad tells me that his mum was also a cut flower grower.  She grew flowers for sale in Sydney in the 1930's and 40's.  She had a little plot where she grew chrysanthemums in time for mothers day.  It's amazing how things tend to run in families - I only found out about my grandmother's flowers recently.  The females in both sides of my family have contributed to my passion for growing flowers!  My mum can't walk well anymore, but she was wanted to see how the flowers were growing - we took her up the hill to the farm in the ute and showed her the sites.  Showing someone around the farm really helps you to see it through another's eyes.  It's a special place!

I have really enjoyed the weddings we've done recently, and one of my dreams for 2014 is to document the weddings better, and feature them here on the blog.  

And of course, there will be more planting!  With so many varieties of fabulous proteas and natives, its not possible to stop at just a few.  

I have some baby Brunia Albiflora ready to plant out when the wet weather comes. (My 2 year old  loves to help give them a drink!)   And I'm on the lookout for more varieties of protea.  I'd love some Coronata - gorgeous apple green with fringing.  Then theres the Magnifica or the Queen Protea - really large and with ridiculous amounts of fringing!  I'd also love to plant some more foliage plants.  Foliage is such an important part of arranging flowers - its not just a few green leafy stems as you might suppose.  Colour, texture, shape and pattern are all things that foliage can add, and the right foliage can really make the difference between an average arrangement and a spectacular one.  So many ideas!

You never really know what a year will bring, and often the plans we make for a year don't come to pass for many reasons.  But its still good to make plans.  Its good to dream, to have ideas and work to make them a reality - its what life's all about.  We're looking forward to 2014 and all that it brings - hope you are too!