Spring Cocktail Wedding at MONA

November - spring flowers!  Such a great time for a wedding.  For this couples cocktail style wedding at MONA the bride asked for colour.  Music to my ears!  And there is so much colour to play with in November.  

The bride's bouquet was a combination of waratahs, banksias, proteas and pincusions.  

NSW Waratahs (Telopea Speciosissima) are readily available in Tasmania in November.  They are such a goregous showy flower in a range of rich reds.  I also used red Banksia Coccinea.  The first Pincushions (Leucospermum) of the season were just starting.  They are called Mardi Gras and have yellow styles with red ribbons, and silvery furry little tops.  I also used some Berzelia, a gorgeous spring texture plant with creamy white/green balls.

I also used a Pink Protea with black fringing called Satin Mink, which flowers in spring and autumn.  Blue Sea Holly took us to the cooler end of the colour spectrum.  Purple Isopogon or Cone Flower are a gorgeous spring flowering Australian native that I also added.  

The foliage used is a Tasmanian native rainforest plant - Myrtle Beech.  

For the groom, there were spring Leucadendrons - a female Discolour Leuco, creamy white with pinkish tips, and the yellow cones of Golden Fireworks.  

A purple Isopogon, blue Sea Holly, and a golden, shiny Dryandra/Banksia Formosa which as well as its distinctive flower has gorgeous zig zag leaves that sprout out at fun angles.

Its a joy to play with fresh spring flowers in such happy colours!  For the simple table decorations the bride decided on wooden box arrangements with candles to light for extra atmosphere.

For the boxes, the main flowers used were Banksia Coccinea, Protea Satin Mink, Mardi Gras Pincushions, and Tasmanian Waratahs (Telopea Truncata).

  Leucadendrons used were female Discolour, Safari Sunset and Golden Fireworks.  

Other flowers were blue Sea Holly,  Dryandra/Banksia Formosa, and Isopogon Formosus, with Myrtle Beech foliage.

There are some who think that "native flowers" mean "brown" .... but I think you'd agree this is far from colourless and drab.

Lastly, we did a great big bunch, using the same flowers as the bouquet to use for a vase at the reception room.  

It was such a fun wedding to work on, and a treat to be involved!

Dryandra Formosa

Dryandra Formosa is a beautiful Australian Native Flower that I've begun to grow at Swallows Nest Farm.  It is an unusual flower that is from the Proteaceae family, as are many other well known Australian Native flowers.  As recently as 2007 it has been re-classified at a Banksia, so is now known as Banksia Formosa.  Its common name is Showy Dryandra, and it is!

The flowers are golden and at once furry and bristly - a strange combination which makes sense when you see them begin to open more.  The bristles are very firm, almost plastic-like.   A fibrous golden top, when all clumped together, forms the "furry" look.  It has the appearance of velvet and catches the sunlight in a similar way.   

The colour is difficult to describe too - golden orange, or old gold would be my best words to describe it. 

Another feature of this unusual flower is that the leaves almost become part of the flower.  The leaves grow immediately below the flower and are long and deeply zig-zagged.  They are beautiful to use as a cut foliage.

Like most proteaceae plants, what we call the "flowers" are actually many small individual flowers clumped together.  The diagram above shows that each bristle is an individual flower.

With so many flowers in each flower head, there are many opportunities for seeds.  When you look at the seed heads of the Dryandra Formosa you can see why they've been re-classified as Banksias.  The seed heads are very banksia-like, as are the seeds which are very dark and attached to a papery film, just like banksia seeds.  Showy Dryandra grow well from seed.  

Dryandra or Banksia Formosa are a great flower to use for weddings.  You can see how the leaves are put to good use in the boutonnieres above.  I love the way the leaves sit haphazardly.  

The young flowers really catch the light because of the velvety texture.  They look great in corsages too. Here, the young flowers are teamed with Pimelea Nivea or Bushman's Bootlace, Lipstick Boronia, Berzelia buttons and Grevillea.

The effect is different when the flower is more mature and the velvety texture is replaced with the tips of the bristles.  Still lovely, just different.  In this boutonniere, it is teamed with a Blusing Bride Serruria flower, Berzelia buttons, and flowering gum.  

I really love the colour of this flower!  It's not a "hit you in the eye" colour but it just provides so much depth.  There are times when the colour combinations just sing!  I think the wreath above would be a bit bland without the Showy Dryandra.

Again, in a brides bouquet, the Showy Dryandra really makes the colour palette.  There's nothing else that adds the colour and texture quite like these amazing Australian Native blooms.  

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!  

Native November Wedding in Soft Blush Colours

Mid November I did a wedding with a gorgeous colour scheme.  The bride sent me a little colour board that showed the colour and feel she planned for the day.  The suits were blue (a current personal favourite!), as were the bridesmaids, and the flower girls were in shades of blush.  

My Protea White Ice were just beginning to flower well for the first season and they gave me the inspiration for the flower combination that would suit the theme.

White Ice are a white protea with a soft blush colour in the central flower mass.

Other spring flowers that I teamed up with them were Protea Compacta in a rich pink with a central mass of bronzy red.

The  Scarlet Ribbon Pincushions were early and are a lovely soft colour when they just begin to flower.  They added to the colour combination.

The brides bouquet also had a white waratah - Shady Lady White.  My plants are still very young and flowering sporadically to it was great to have a couple to sprinkle through.  Other flowers that I added were the soft golden Dryandra Formosa.  I just love these for weddings!  You can also see some Berzelia. Another secondary flower that I think worked really well in this wedding was the Leucadendron Discolour which was in its creamy white phase, with a dusting of pink blush. 

An experimental planting of Serruria Blushing Bride provided a few blooms to add to the mix.  I used one here for the grooms boutonniere.  Some fluffy white flowering gum makes an appearance too.  Dryandra are great for boutonnieres, and just imagine these on a blue suit - great colour combination!

The foliage that I used throughout was a Tasmanian eucalyptus called Cordata.  It has lovely blue green juvenile leaves with a rounded shape.  

I really enjoyed the colour combinations in this wedding!