Interviews With Florists: A Wedding Flower Guide

Deciding which flowers to use for your wedding day can be a surprisingly difficult task, as without the expertise of a florist you might end up settling on buds that are out of season or unsuited to your wedding venue. To help out, I asked some of the top florists in Melbourne five different questions about how to plan wedding floristry!

Here are their answers:

Prunella

Designated ‘One of Australia’s most creative floral designers’ by Belle Magazine, Prunella pride themselves on delivering original and memorable installations with a combination of contemporary and classical aesthetics. I asked co-founder, Caris Haughan:

What are some creative ideas for where I can use flowers in my ceremony?

A: We love responding to the setting, to have flowers embellish what already exists, or where it makes sense for there to be flowers. In a garden setting this might be lush and abundant floral urns, or trailing floral climbing up a trunk and branches of an existing tree, or a trellis-like structure. Sometimes this might be wild, unstructured, rambling roses, and other times more clustered, elegant and refined hydrangeas en masse.

A ceremonial floral backdrop where you are complimenting the space will have an impact – a WOW factor. A light and pretty floral wreath in a whitewashed old Sunday school hall, for example. Lots of whimsical Springtime scented florals and trailing green ivy. Or big fat roses with olive, bay and lemon branches for a mediterranean vibe.

North St. Botanical

Specialising in all things big and small, North St. Botanical is as much at home creating a thoughtful bouquet for a loved one as they are embellishing full-scale floral designs and installations for weddings and functions. With a focus on unique and natural styling, North St. love working with seasonal elements and natural materials to create their innovative designs. I asked North Street:

How do I choose a colour pallet for my flowers?

A: Choosing a colour palate can be one of the hardest parts of your wedding. I guess it’s best to start by knowing what you and your party will be wearing. Then you will need to consider what will work in your venue. Is it dark or light? Does it already have a colour that would lend itself to your wedding? Ask your event coordinator what works in their space, as they’ve probably seen it all before!

Definitely go online and see what is happening in the wedding world. Try not to get sucked down into the rabbit hole of Pinterest for too long, though!

When coming up with a colour palate, also consider looking back in 10 years time… will you still love that crazy wacky trend or would you prefer to stick to the classics?

Once you’ve chosen your colour pallet, it’s time to talk to your florist! Unless you are dead set on specific flowers, ask what’s in season within your colour range. You will generally get the best work out of a creative person with less red tape and restraints. Let them/us choose what is most amazing at market that week. Ask to see previous work or go on their social media pages. Make sure you have the same style. You have to trust the team of florists that you book. It is a must.

I Heart Flowers

‘Do What You Love, Love What You Do’ is the I Heart Flowers motto, which reflects this group of dedicated Olinda-based florists to tee. Personalisation is paramount at IHF; the team like to develop close relationships with all their clients to ensure they always deliver a fully-realised floral fantasy. I asked Creative Director, Zoe Webb:

What are some creative ideas for flowers at my reception?

A: I will try to keep this as brief as possible and in easy-to-remember dot points, as there will be so many other things that you’re trying to organise at the same time!

Find yourself a great, creative florist and let them run a bit wild! We work with flowers everyday, we have come up with countless colour pallets, flower combinations and sourced the most interesting of vessels. We never like doing the same thing twice so let us take your brief and turn it into something memorable.
Choose colour!!! White and green is a classic combination but no matter my client’s budget, I’m always a little underwhelmed when my bench is devoid of colour. If you want to blow your guests away, this is the simplest answer that can be worked into any budget.
Look for inspiration in unexpected places. Architecture and fashion/interior design are all places I draw inspiration from for colour combinations but also shape and scale.
Always go bang for buck! No matter your budget, if it’s $2k or $20k, spend it where it counts. Don’t water down the impact of arrangements by having too many small things all over the room, spend more on single items to let them truly shine and give the wow factor.
Be creative with your vessel choice, we have been known to use crockery, old jugs, vintage tins, pots and anything you can find in a thrift shop to decorate tables. Spray-paint can be a very affordable way to transform found items and bring in unusual colours.
Avoid continuous garlands on reception tables, they are quite expensive and lack dimension in most spaces. Vases will give you height and clustered together can create an elongated arrangement suitable for long tables.
Trust your florist’s advice on all the above points. They really are the experts, and it’s in their best creative interest to come up with fabulous solutions for your wedding day.

Raven And The Rose

Macedon-based Botanical stylists Raven And The Rose specialise in weddings, events & all things requiring a floral touch. They’re happy to travel and even happier to be your florist of choice! I asked chief florist, Ame Gaschk:

How do you choose the right flowers for your wedding?

A: My first recommendation on choosing the right flowers would be to go with the seasonal best!! You can’t go wrong when you opt to utilise what’s in season at the time of your wedding. This means that not only will you get to enjoy something that’s extra beautiful, you will also be reminded of your special day when you start seeing those flowers begin to bloom each year! Can’t go wrong with that!

My second tip would be to stay unique to you. I find a lot of couples choose colours and styles based on the venue or what they have seen done there before; while we always take into account your venue space, it’s so refreshing when couples want to think outside the box and go for something that’s reflective or unique to them. If you can’t imagine how your favourite things would work together, we will help you to visualise and refine until it’s perfect!

When choosing your wedding flowers my last recommendation would be to go with your gut! What makes you both happy? Or what’s something you might have 30 saved photos of in your iPhone? Haha. We can work from there on creating the perfect brief for you!

Also, be sure to check out this full interview with Ame, on my blog

Butterland

What once functioned as a successful dairy from 1904-1975, the heritage-listed Butterland estate has been transformed by furniture-maker Greg Hatton and florist Katie Marx into a unique and multi-purpose venue that serves as a popular destination for country weddings. Aside from offering her floristry services to Butterland clients, Katie also runs a flower workshop from the estate grounds. I asked Katie:

How far in advance should I consider booking my favourite florist?

A: Once you’ve confirmed things like venue, stylist (if you’re having one) and caterer, and have a few ideas of what you like in terms of style then it’s time to start looking at booking in a florist. This should happen around six months prior to your wedding. I generally like meeting with couples and getting a feel for their style and personality, working out a very rough guide of what they like and their budget. Because flower varieties are so seasonal I don’t generally advise couples on what I’ll be using until a few weeks from the wedding; that way I’ll know which flowers will be at their best and available.

I hope you found these answers helpful and now have a better understanding of the best ways to approach choosing flowers for your wedding day. A big thank you to all the talented florists who took the time to answer my questions!