"Birds Nest" Bouquets for a Cradle Mountain Wedding in February

In February I provided flowers for a wedding held at Lemonthyme Wilderness Retreat in the Cradle Mountain - Lake St Claire National Park.  

Cradle Mountain

The Cradle Moutain area is World Heritage listed with stunning scenery and pristine wilderness that draws tourists from all around the globe.  What a beautiful place for a wedding!

Lemonthyme WIlderness Retreat

 The bride had chosen a rich strong purple for the bridesmaid's dresses and had the idea of adding some yellow as a contrasting colour to really make the colours pop.  

Its called a complimentary colour scheme, using colours which are opposite each other on the colour wheel.  It works to accentuate colours and make them stand out.  The bride also wanted natives to go with that beautiful backdrop of the Tasmanian wilderness that the venue offered.

 

Banksias were the focal flowers in this wedding with each bouquet having a Banksia Baxterii as the main flower.  Baxterii are a beautiful late summer banksia here in Tassie, and are often called Birds-nest Banksia because of their unique shape and the way the styles open from the bottom upwards.

I continued the Bird's Nest theme using posy holders made from natural fibrous material in a great chocolate brown.  I love the textural quality they created and the addition of the deep brown which enhances the colours in the flowers.  I also loved the bird's nest feel they added, with the flowers nestled into the "nest" and the foliage spilling over the edges.  

Other flowers used were the beautiful rich red Banksia Occidentalis, Leucadendron Safari Sunset, a deep burgundy in late summer, and Brunia Albiflora.  Little pops of purple to tie in the bridesmaids dresses were added with Hebe.  

Vibrant yellow was added with Kangaroo Paw, Bronze Fennel flowers, and Leucadendron Pisa.  Foliages used include the gorgeous native coral fern called Gleichenia Dicarpa, Myrtle Beech,  a beautiful burgundy tea tree foliage, and some Smoke Bush leaves.   

The bride requested all the boutonnieres be different designs, all with the same theme.  Music to my ears!  Its such fun to play with the colours and textures and find different ways of putting them all together.  Banksia Baxterii leaves, deeply zig zagged and fabulous, form the backing for each Boutonniere.  

In front, different mixtures of the foliages including the burgundy tea tree and myrtle, and then more of the other flowers featured in the bouquets.  

The grooms boutonniere had some of the coral fern added.  I really love working with the coral fern.  It can be very difficult to store and work with as it tangles very easily, but the lovely angles that it sits at make it a wonderful, whimsical addition to a bouquet or boutonniere.  

The colours and textures of this wedding were wonderfully satisfying to work with.  I hope the bride and groom enjoyed the results!