Wedding flowers, you’re not just buying flowers

photography by Shosh Kruger

Did you know that when you buy your wedding flowers, you’re not just buying flowers?…

Sure, flowers are a product, but what you’re also buying, is a SERVICE (a special one, at that) And what goes into that special service, may surprise you…

We love the joy our job brings, and the most important thing for us is recreating your vision for your perfect day!

So, what happens behind the scenes to produce such a beautiful outcome?

Apart from the continuous open communications with our couples and our wholesalers from the beginning of the enquiry phase, the week leading up to the big day is where we pull all the bits together.

We often have multiple runs to the wholesalers to pick the best or find substitutes and collect your blooms. Then the next process begins where we clean, trim, hydrate and refrigerate them, so they look perfect on the day. We spend hours creating beautiful arrangements that can be pre-made in the studio. Then we travel to deliver personal and ceremony flowers, and jump in the van and head to the venue to spend even more hours setting up arbours, centrepieces, installations and other arrangements. It takes  time and a team

But wait, there’s more! After the ceremony and all the festivities, we come back to pack everything up, haul it away and clean, clean, clean!

So, no, it’s not just flowers you’re buying; it’s absolutely everything that goes into making your dream floral vision, for your dream wedding, come true.  It takes time and a great team to make your venue beautiful.

Repurposing your Wedding Flowers..marvellous idea or plain old myth?

You may have heard of people using their ceremony flowers again in their reception. Perhaps you’ve even seen this happen - enter visual of a florist madly running across the grass from the outdoor ceremony to the indoor reception (likely dripping with sweat), to quickly set up additional florals before the bridal party enters.

Perhaps you've even had a wedding florist suggest this to you, in order to help you cut down your budget.

While you may now be expecting us to do the same, we actually don’t believe in doing this as it doesn't always work.

Keep scrolling to discover why we don't recommend the two most common re-uses around… 👇

Let’s talk about bouquets, many suggest using them as arrangements for your head table, but our experience will suggest otherwise. Bouquets aren’t designed to be seen sitting in a vase in a straight-up fashion. They were designed to be held forward, and low, so this our friends, is all wrong for your head table. They’ve likely been out of water for hours too, and the last thing you want is some sad-looking, tired flowers staring at you throughout your reception.

Instead, we suggest adding a few vases to your reception area, perhaps on a gift table or bar, so you and your maids can place the flowers in the room for a little extra something.

This goes with arbour pieces too. As much as moving your ceremony arbour piece to your reception - either behind your bridal table or in a cute little spot to use as a photo backdrop, is a great idea, it isn’t always practical. Think heat, wind, lack of water, and the many other things that can impact florals on your wedding day.

Depending on where and when your wedding is, this is possible, but can’t always be relied on!

So, what can you do?…

Have us remain on site for your ceremony, reserve some flowers to refresh, rejuvenate and relocate your blooms safely to their reception position. We will work with you to work out the best relocation schedule and location for your ceremony blooms to make the most impact and get the most use out of your stunning arrangements.

If you’re still undecided or would like more help with this hit the button below and let’s get you sorted! x

WHY does it all cost so much?

Prep, set up, install, party 🥂

When you’re faced with that question that haunts your thoughts “but is it worth it?” “Why does it cost so much?”

Let’s demystify the cost that you see when you receive a proposal from us:

1. The cost of flowers: Well, we can and will write a whole blog on this topic! Some flowers (most of the premium wedding blooms), post covid, have skyrocketed by up to 300%! Yup!! The cost to us is massive! And most of us are taking huge hits to make sure we get you the absolute best. We set our minimum spends so you know we have you covered, and that there won’t be any low quality substitutions made for one of the most important days!

2. Time. Time. Time!!!
Time to custom quote,
Time to go through all the details with you to make sure you and your love are 💯 happy and relaxed,
Time to plan your arrangements,
Time to do site visits,
Time to have multiple conversations with the wholesalers to make sure we are getting the best product possible,
Time to order your blooms and track their journey
Time spend at the market picking out the perfect blooms and textures
Time to prep and hydrate your blooms
Time to make your arrangements
Time to set up on your day
Time to pack down after you’ve enjoyed the best day yet!
Time to run a business through ALL of the above

3. Expenses - this isn’t a hobby for us; we are in this, we live and breathe our couples’ wedding days.. and with that comes cost - air conditioning to keep your flowers happy; storage to make sure there isn’t any damage to items; systems to keep the backend running, … and thelist goes on.

The is WHY the perfect blooms come with a price tag. Wedding florists provide an epic service, one that is not only a huge logistically creative process it’s one that absolutely is worth every minute of that precious thing called time.xx

FEATURE FLOWERS - Where to spend your flower budget

It is an unfortunate fact that the cost of flowers right now, and it is likely going long into the future, is a little frightening. Now, more than ever, you need to choose wisely when it comes to how you spend your budget.

We are massive advocates for focusing your budget on one or two statement pieces that will make all your guests say WOW without needing to spend too much on decorating the whole room. A great way to do this is to create a statement at your reception and, weather and location permitting, move your ceremony flowers to your reception to act as accent flowers to increase the drama of your reception piece.

This is especially true for those who plan on having many guest tables and don't have the budget to go big on every table. Focusing your budget on one or two statement pieces will create a much more dramatic impact than spreading your budget thinly over your many guest tables.

Think wisely about where you place your flower budget, or best yet, utilise our knowledge and experience to help guide you into where to best spend your hard-earned dollar and create the most impact.

As a case study, let’s look at Natasha and Jamie’s wedding.

Tash and Jamie were very clever when it came to their floral styling, they chose on two grand statement pieces where most of their guest’s attention would be focused. They had one at their ceremony and one at their reception then had us relocate their ceremony blooms to their reception to supplement their up their reception arrangement. Other than bouquets and button-hole arrangements, this was all they focused their floral budget on.

Their ceremony featured a statement stage and accent arrangements at the front of the aisle and in front of their signing table:

Their reception featured two floral towers to create a focal point around their amazing cake and where they would hold speeches.

We waited for the ceremony to conclude and then relocated their ceremony blooms to around their reception arrangement (to make it even more dramatic) and placed additional arrangements in other key areas of the room.

We can’t forget those beautiful personal blooms which of course always deserve a good chunk of our budget as these are usually the most photographed.

A massive thank you to the beautiful vendors we worked with on this one:

Photography Keeper Creative

Videographer Auburn Hour Films
Celebrant: Kiss Me You Fool
MC: Belinda Clinton
Ceremony Music: @reillycraigmusic
Furniture Phenomenon Events
Venue: Crown Mansions
Bride’s Dress: Loui Col Designs

Why pick a team of two over a single florist?

Why pick two 👯‍♀️over just one?
👯‍♀️ Limitless creativity

👯‍♀️Double the time for short bump-is / we rarely need to rush a set-up so ample time means peace of mind over the details

👯‍♀️We support each other so our stress is practically non-existent on a day that can be extremely stressful for our clients

👯‍♀️There ain't no understudy here - we are both elbows deep in each wedding - should one be unwell, we aren't passing you off to another contractor who doesn't know you/ our relationship.

👯‍♀️4 eyes are better than 2 (or if we are being technical, 8 eyes are better than 4 🤓) - every detail get a thorough examination before we pour a gin and call it a day.

👯‍♀️ We have been working together for over 5 years now - any weekness in one is covered through the strength of the other. We run like a well oiled machine!

Our Top Tips for Planning your Wedding Flowers

1. Take time to look at Pinterest and Instagram to get some inspiration but don’t feel like you need to know everything. Rely on our years of experience and passion for the industry to help you make some crucial decisions.

2. Start a Pinterest board and start pinning - you can share your Pinterest board with us and add to it as we progress in the design process. Even if you like a whole mix of images - we can usually see commonalities that you may not be able to, we can narrow it down from there.

3. Remember that weddings are a celebration of your love. It is about the two of you most of all. Follow your heart and don’t be afraid to simplify things if it's all getting a bit overwhelming.

4. No one likes to talk about money but it is imperative that you are open with us about where you would like to see your flower budget falling and if there is any wiggle room in it. We can work to any budget and provide guidance on where to best focus your efforts.

5. Focus on key pieces in your floral design. You can never have too many flowers, but if you are concerned about your budget, we like to focus our efforts on a few statement pieces rather than spreading everything thin.

6. Don’t be afraid to not follow the latest trend in flowers…trends come and go in floristry as they do in fashion and all other industries - go with a colour palette and style that makes your heart sing rather than doing what everyone else is doing, in 5 years from now you’ll want to look back and love every aspect of your day!

7. Don’t feel you must have every traditional floral piece - talk to your family, many mothers these days don’t want a corsage! If your ceremony space has a stunning view, why not focus your budget into a drop dead gorgeous bouquet and an aerial piece for your reception?

8. Be open to flower choices. We would say that about 95% of inspiration photos that are sent our way have peonies and other very niche flowers in them. Peonies for example are only available for the shortest period of time in Spring/Summer and are pricey when they are here. Try not to be too prescriptive with your flower choices, that way we may be able to get you something unexpected but amazing!

9. Trust us. Yes, Trust is a big word! But we hope that you pick us because you have seen our work and you like our style. We are more than happy to follow your guide if you have a specific vision in mind but you really will get the best out of us if we are free to create based on a few inspiration notes.