Vibrant Summery Natives for a Vineyard Wedding

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

Eclectic Summer Natives for a New Years Wedding

Photography by Rosie Hastie

The first wedding of the New Year called for seasonal natives, with a colour scheme of navy blue for the bridesmaids and grey suits with navy ties for the men.  I love navy!  Its a stunning, flattering colour that provides a great backdrop for a great variety of colours in the floral design.

And there are plenty of seasonal summer natives to use around the New Year.  It made designing the bouquets for this lovely wedding a real pleasure.  The focal flowers used were some mini Red King Proteas.  Other proteas used were Protea Compacta in Red and Protea Pink Mink.  I also used Pincushions called Leucospermum Fountain, in apricot/orange.

Pink Kangaroo Paw called Bush Pearl was sprinkled through adding a unifying splash of rich pink.  I also used the first pick of Brunia Albiflora for the season.  There are some fresh poppy pods in the mix too.  I really love them!

Plenty of textural foliage added to the eclectic feel of the bouquets.  There's some Tasmanian Myrtle Beech, with its new seasons growth looking fresh and lush, some Grevillea foliage, and some flowering Agonis Flexuosa.  There's also a sprinkling of Risdon Peppermint Gum foliage giving silvery blue highlights.  

Photography by Rosie Hastie

I just love navy!  It really makes those colours sing.  Thanks so much to the bride for allowing me to use some of the stunning photographs by Photographer, Rosie Hastie.  It is such a thrill to see the flowers on the big day!

You can also see some Corymbia Ficifolia buds.  Corymbia Ficifolia is commonly known as Red Gum or Flowering Gum and flowers in a range of intense colours in big showy gum blossoms.  It also produces brilliant Gum Nuts which I love to use in floral design as well.  But the buds are equally lovely.  They colour up quite a bit and the texture they provide is beautiful.  The cream Leucadendrons are some L. Discolour which in late spring and early summer changes from green to this lovely clear cream with pink tinges.  

With such bright and breezy bouquets, the men needed something to match.  

I used Myrtle Beech and Grevillea foliages teamed with more Pink Kangaroo Paw and a Leucadendron Discolour.

  

The grooms boutonniere had Agonis flowers for extra highlights, and the addition of some Corymbia Ficifolia buds for added interest.  

Photography by Rosie Hastie

Again, I was just blown away by these stunning photos by Rosie Hastie which really show the boutonnieres in a great light.   Thrilled!

Photography by Rosie Hasite

Photography by Rosie Hastie

Photography by Rosie Hastie

It was a pleasure to be able to work on the flowers for this wedding!

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.

Red and Gold Summer Natives for a December Wedding

Photography by Rosie Hastie

An intimate wedding in December at Stewarts Bay Lodge on the Tasman Peninsula called for red and gold, and seasonal natives.   "I just want something colourful and simple to hold", said the bride.  

 Banksia Coccinea were my inspiration for the "red".  For the "gold",  I used Dryandra Formosa.  I teamed it with some Leucospermum Scarlet Ribbons, fully flowering with their rich red ribbons exposed, and Protea Compacta in pink with a rich red centre.  I also used some rich orange Banksia Ericifolia.   

Photography by Rosie Hastie

Such beautiful photos by Tasmanian Photographer Rosie Hastie!  I love the glow of the red Banksia against that gorgeous wedding dress!

Other flowers I used were Leucadendron Safari Sunset which are deep maroon in summer, before they start their growth phase.  I also used some Leucadendron Jubilee Crown with their ruby cones.   Some grevilea foliage, and gum foliage gave some texture.  I also added some smoke bush foliage with some of the wispy feathery red flowers.  Such vibrant warm summer colours!

For the groom, who was wearing a burgundy red and gold tie, I used myrtle and grevillea foliage, Leucadendron Safari Sunset, Leucadendron Jubilee Crown, and for the gold, the Dryandra Formosa.  

Aisle decorations for the ceremony were hung and then brought inside for the reception.  

Photography by Rosie Hastie

Leucospermum Scarlet Ribbons, Kangaroo Paw in burnt orange, Leucadendrons Safari Sunset, Pisa and Jubilee Crown, and Agonis Flexuosa foliage,  all combined to create a vibrant splash of colour for both outside and inside.

Photography by Rosie Hastie

I think it was a great idea that worked really well to provide decoration for both the ceremony and reception whilst keeping costs down.  

A simple arch framed the spot for the ceremony.

Photography by Rosie Hastie

Perfect for a summer bush wedding.

Photography by Rosie Hastie

Gorgeous!

Photography by Rosie Hastie

The red and gold theme really added an intense splash of colour.  

Photography by Rosie Hastie

The cake topper used a Banksia Coccinea too, with some Leucadendron Safari Sunset and Dryandra again.  I think it was a beautiful fresh look for a small, intimate wedding. 

The bride's bouquet was paired with a little bouquet for the flower girl, using the same combination of flowers on a smaller scale.

Photography by Rosie Hastie

So sweet!

Photography by Rosie Hastie

I really enjoyed creating the flowers for this gorgeous wedding, so it was lovely to see some photos of the day.  A good photographer just captures the details so brilliantly!

Photography by Rosie Hastie

I love this shot of the bride and groom with Tasman Island in the background.  The gorgeous blue of the sea and sky really make the flower colours sing!