Wedding: the flowers

This brings me to one of my favourite details of the wedding: the flowers. Unfortunately the dreams of what I wanted them to look like did not match up with my budget, so I decided to forgo the idea of a professional florist and attempt to DIY the flowers instead. But then I realised the answer was staring at me right in the face. My dear friend Robyn, who I used to put on vintage sales with and now resides in Melbourne, actually used to work at various florists for years and has a wealth of experience in the field. She agreed to help turn my dreams to a reality, and I couldn't have been more excited to have this lady not only attend the big day but create such an integral part.

With only a Pinterest board of inspiration to guide me and no firm idea of what I actually wanted, we set out the morning before the wedding to a flower wholesaler where Robyn used to work to purchase the blooms. She had called ahead to get some bunches put aside already, and we picked out plenty more as we walked through the various cool rooms. Rob also managed to score piles of peonies for a crazy price thanks to her contacts, so we walked out with armfuls upon armfuls of the stunning flower in shades of white and pink. Here are some of the other varieties we picked out:

• Carnations
• Billy buttons
• Berzillia
• Alsotroemerias
• Champagne roses
• Spray roses
• Crenulata gum
• Ibis and disbud chrysanthemums for the table arrangements
• And many more I can't remember the names of...

All in all we spent $500 on a car-full of flowers and supplies like wire etc. We got back to my parents' house and set up a makeshift work station on the living room floor, removing leaves from stems and separating blooms into piles. And that's where the real magic began. In less than 10 minutes, Robyn had already whipped up a bouquet more beautiful than any I had ever seen. My only prerequisites were that it would be a bit wild-looking, almost as if it has been randomly picked from a garden, and that it would be big. I don't know how she did it, but Robyn constructed my dream bouquet without me even knowing exactly what it is that I wanted. It was far more stunning in real life and massive, my arm got so tired from holding that weight for a chunk of the day. Rob wrapped a vintage blush velvet ribbon (bought earlier from etsy) around the stems and hey presto! It was done. She was similarly speedy with the bridesmaids bouquets, ensuring each one held pretty much the exact same flowers but they all had a slight edge of difference from one another.

Meanwhile, I just sat back in astonishment. I can honestly say that I barely helped at all, save for cleaning up the mess as we went. Boutonnieres were next and Robyn also did a great job of keeping them all similar but still unique, while I helped with wrapping the little stems in brown twine. I originally wanted the bouts to be flowerless but Marc's boutonniere ended up featuring two small peony buds which I think were just so sweet and definitely the right choice. I had been collecting tens of jars ever since we started planning the wedding, so once all the formal flowers were done Robyn got busy on separating the bounty of leftover flowers into mini arrangements. Then there was also the peony bunches that spilled out of the vintage suitcases at the ceremony, and the arrangements for the signing table. Jars were placed in bread crates ready for the reception, and I made some makeshift vases (second photo) out of plastic jugs to bring the bouquets with me to stay at Fothergills.

I know this has become very long-winded so I will pretty much leave it there, but I will say this - Robyn was absolutely amazing and I was so glad to have her on my side. I think she should start her own floristry business! Also, I learnt that attempting to DIY flowers is way easier said than done. When I actually saw all the work that goes into constructing a bouquet I knew I never could have done it any where as good myself. DIYs are great on the whole but not when you are greatly sacrificing quality in the process! So glad I had a pro do this one in the end. Over and out.

photographer: Christine Lim / second photographer: Ruby Yeo