Raspberry Wedding Bouquet

As you know I am a florist by trade and with this comes the lovely task of assisting the Bride to Be in making her wedding everything she dreamed it would be and more. For those of us who have 'walked the aisle' - oops that sounds like walked the plank..... Brides tend to have very short fuses, especially as the date draws near and emotions are running high! and it certainly doesn't help when the florist is unable to give a guarantee of colour and availability of specific flowers partially due to flowers being subjected to all of natures elements (tho - not so much these days) as a majority of flowers available in today's market are grown in highly controlled environments. Although the positives of this, is that MOST flowers are available all year round, I feel that the downside is far greater.

Firstly I use to get so excited when spring was just around the corner, knowing that all the bulbs would soon be available like, freesias, tulips, hyacinth, jonquils etc. NOW - all are basically available all year round. I honestly wouldn't recommend using say tulips for bouquets throughout the months of November to March. Mainly because they are a winter/spring flower and do not withstand the heat of the warm summer months, they tend to wilt and the blooms 'blow' almost instantly. I also love the smell of flowers, as I;m sure everyone does. IF you take note of someones reaction when they are given a flower, be it a single or large bunch the first thing they do is place it to their nose and smell...but, these days with all the intervention from commercial growers, the once longed for scent is put to the wayside in favour of colour, stem length and longevity. A rose was always deemed so lovely as their fragrance was so sweet, these days when ordering a dozen roses, you will pay according to stem length. A 'typical' bunch of a dozen long stemmed red roses will give you minimal if any change from $100...and Valentines Day well....that's a total blog on its own!!! I guarantee that only 20% of all roses sold in a florist have a smell so - if it is a fragrant rose you are after, best bet is to pick from on old rambling garden, or specifically request a perfumed rose. David Austinroses are one of the most popular and fragrant varieties.

Something that really p****s me off is the wholesale price we as florists are compelled to pay for flowers - a majority of all cut flowers used in Tasmania are imported from the flower markets and private growers in Melbourne and Sydney. We do have a few successful bulb growers here in Tasmania, that export both nationally and internationally... but get this.... you or I can walk into the flower markets or worse still a grocer in Melbourne and buy a bunch of Tassie grown flowers cheaper than what we can buy here...I know that wholesalers in these places buy huge quanties and therefore get a much less individual bunch price, but to think of the logistics to get them there (road, air etc), plus they have to be fumigated and put through quarantine - how can they possibly sell at such a lower price?? I think that Taswiegans need to band together and rally the price we all pay for locally grown produce (be that flowers, fruit, veg, meat, dairy etc)


I have had the honour of collaborating together with hundreds and hundreds of 'blushing and not so blushing' brides in designing and constructing their 'dream' bouquet, reception flowers, table centrepieces etc. From the small and intimate to the extravagant and lavish all weddings The gorgeous flowers below (if I do say so myself) I designed up in early January for a friend who coincidentally designed and configured my little 'fairy goat mumma' logo. I love the simplicity of these bouquets, yet it is filled with different colours and textures. I love natural 'posy style' wedding bouquets, simple, elegant and in neutral hues,. I love to add a slight twist to the classic with the use of kiwi fruit, limes, seedpods, berries, feathers etc.

The first photo is of the Bridesmaids Bouquets and the next photo are all the flowers that the Brides bouquet comprised of - how gorgeous are the Vanilla roses.

My darling Ava was flower girl and wore a textured head circlet of roses, blackberries, hydrangea, freesias, Brunei berry, seedpods etc. I have tried to find the photos - I'll upload when I find xx Ooh, she did look so cute!!

A little joke about a florist

A new business was opening and one of the owner''s friends wanted to send flowers for the occasion. They arrived at the new business site and the owner read the card; it said "Rest in Peace".

The owner was angry and called the florist to complain. After he had told the florist of the obvious mistake and how angry he was, the florist said:

"Sir, I''m really sorry for the mistake, but rather than getting angry you should imagine this: somewhere there is a funeral taking place today, and they have flowers with a note saying ''Congratulations on your new location''."


Well, enough of my 'random' blog tonight. This Easter Bunny was woken every half hour after midnight by a certain 7 year old wondering "can I go and look now" "is it time to get up"...I finally gave in at 3am...

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE xx