Colourful Botanical Gardens Wedding in late Spring

Spring in the Tasmanian Botanical Gardens!  That was the ceremony venue for this November wedding.  The Botanical Gardens are not just a collection of beautifully designed garden spaces but also a living collection of plants, so in order to protect the collection there are some restrictions placed on the types of plant matter that can be brought in.  With a wedding, this extends to the bouquets and boutonnieres.  Currently, there is a restriction on bringing any plants from the Myrtaceae family into the Gardens, due to the Myrtaceae Rust disease being found in parts of Tasmania.  This family of plants includes all the Eucalyptus, Myrtle and many other native Australian plants including those used for cut foliage.  

I really enjoyed the challenge though, as a grower of "natives" to make sure that I steered clear of the Myrtaceae family.  The bridesmaids were wearing navy so I went for colour!  

Spring flowering protea called Pink Cream which has warm pink bracts and a creamy central mass, were the main flower I used.  I teamed it with an early flowering Pincushion in a pinky orange.  The bride's bouquet also had a creamy white Protea.  

There were lots of little spring natives to use for extra colour.  I love the purple coneflowers or Isopogons.  And in the background, you can see the hot pink Boronia which has a wonderful fragrance.  

Both of these natives were used in the boutonnieres.  I added a creamy leucadendron Lemon Spice, some little yellow Leucadendron Fireworks, and the foliage used was pittosporum and cyprus. 

I love making boutonnieres!

Carrying on with the same colours, I made table decorations for the reception, which was held at Rydges Hobart.  More of the Pink Cream Proteas teamed with pincushions, and lots of other spring colour.  There are so many leucadendrons that are looking spectacular in spring.  One the I love to use is Pisa, which has bright yellow bracts surrounding a pearlescent silver cone.  As spring turns into summer the cones swell and the yellow fades to lime green.  

Foliage was the main issue with the Myrtaceae restrictions, so I used cyprus, and a couple of varieties of pittosporum.

More colour was added with purple Isopogons, creamy white Berzelia, and Leucadendron Lemon Spice which is cream with pink tips.  The last of the hot pink Boronia was added, as well as some green leucos - Maui Sunset and Goldstrike.  The blue is Sea Holly.  

A bridal table garland full of colour and texture was made to sit along the front of the table.

And to top off the celebration, flowers for the cake, made by Carter's Cakes.  

I really enjoyed the challenge with this Botanical Gardens wedding and had such fun playing with beautiful spring colours.  I hope the lovely couple enjoyed every minute of their day!

Late Summer Wedding at Avalon Coastal Retreat

In late February, I provided flowers for a wedding at Avalon Coastal Retreat at Swansea on Tasmania's east coast.  Its a stunning  location with views of some of Tassie's most picturesque coastline.  The bride loved flowering gum and wattle, and February delivered on both counts.  

I created a bouquet for the bride using three different shades of Corymbia Ficifolia, a popular flowering gum that blooms in late summer here in Tasmania.  A rich, hot pink, candy pink and baby pink formed the bulk of the bouquet.  Acacia Retinodes is a wattle native to the southern states of Australia that flowers periodically throughout the year.  Some long arching branches from a local tree provided the wattle blooms.  Acacia Retinodes keeps its form quite well when picked, unlike some species of wattle which last only a short time.  I also love the foliage of the Acacia Retinodes, which falls happily.

The pastel tones of the bouquet included a Protea Pink Cream, an orange Pincushion Cordifolium, and a touch of blue with a Nigella flower from the garden.  The olive-green berries are a pittosporum berry. I also used Leucadendron Pisa which at the end of summer has large silvery white cones surrounded by yellow and lime green bracts.  

Other bouquet ingredients include Brunia Albiflora, Leucadendron Silver Tree, Bronze Fennel flowers, Eucalyptus Cordata foliage, and Irish Juniper foliage.

For the groom's boutonniere, I used Corymbia Ficifolia in hot pink, with a large Corymbia leaf at the back.  A sprig of eucalyptus, some Acacia Retinodes, Leucadendron Pisa and a Nigella bud where the other flowers used.  

The bride wanted a floral crown to match her bouquet.  Local coastal tea-tree foliage dotted with Brunia balls made the circlet.  

Flowering gum, wattle, L. Pisa cones, eucalyptus and Nigella were added as a focal point.

The design of the other boutonnieres was a simpler version of the groom's, showcasing the just the wattle.  

I loved using the Acacia Retinodes.  

The bride ordered wholesale flowers for some DIY fun, to make up the bridesmaid's bouquets.  What she saved on costs, she used to order wrist corsages.

They were a lot of fun to make, using tea tree foliage, eucalyptus, different shades of flowering gum with a Leucadendron Pisa cone.  I also popped in some sprigs of wattle, and some of the olive green pittosporum berries.  

I think they were a great alternative to the traditional pin-on corsage.  This was a great wedding to be involved in.  I really loved the colours the I got to play with and was really happy with the results, particularly the brides bouquet.