Sisters engagement party..

So my sister assigned me a new project - engagement party flowers & cake! Mission accepted. Colour scheme purple and white. 

I visited the flower markets on Friday and picked up some Statice, Chrysanthemums, Geraldton Wax flowers in purple and ranunculus in white. She wanted the flowers in jars and didn't know that I was going to put fresh flowers on the cake. 

Here is the finished products: 

I used a lilac purple as the feature colour. This matched some pom poms she had already made. 

Using the white ranunculus gave a really nice white pop in the sea of purple. 

The Chrysanthemums are always a safe bet when wanting to create some bulk. They are naturally bunched together for you. 

I also added some purple & white string to some of the jars and twine to others to create a rustic feel. 

The cake! Using the same flowers I created a flower tear drop. The Geraldton Wax flowers gave the piece space and added a little bit of colour with the green centres. This was my first cake I had done and I am pretty proud of the final product. 

I made the cake also by the way - coconut cake with a raspberry white chocolate cream centre & white chocolate butter cream! YUM!

Finished it off with a scalloped cake stand which mum had. The perfect touch. 

Leave some comments and let me know what you think! My next big project is a friends wedding in October which I am really looking forward to creating. She is after a bright and colourful theme! 

Enjoy xx

Wedding done and dusted..

Well it has been a while since I have written but it has been just crazy busy in my world!! The wedding went by like a blur and then we honeymooned for 2 weeks and have only just gotten back into the swing of Sydney life.. 

My wedding flowers were a success! I am not going to lie it was a stressful experience but I was so happy with the outcome and the flowers I managed to pick up at the markets. 

I made 2 x bouquets once for myself and one for my bridesmaid. I also made a small toss bouquet. I put together 13 button holes, about 60 jars/vases and one bridal table centre piece. 

See the photos below! The theme was pale pink/peach/green. I used a mix of roses (managed to get David Austins :), babies breath, dahlias, carnations and greens. 

Bridal bouquet - david austins, white roses, dahlias, peach carnations, white carnations, babies breath and gum 

Bridesmaid's bouquet - a little more rustic looking with david austins, dahlias, hot pink carnations, babies breath, gum and roses

Bridal table centrepiece - king protea, dahlias, peach roses, babies breath, peach carnations and gum

I will send more photos through once I get them back from the photographers. By the way if you are getting married in Sydney Studio Something are amazing photographers! I would highly recommend them. We are so happy with our photos so far! 

Thanks for reading! #kohaflowers xx

3 week wedding countdown!

Things are getting a little crazy these days with today marking the 3 week countdown till our wedding! I just can't believe how fast time is just flying by! 

I did some wedding practice on the weekend. My sister and I got up bright and early (although not as early as some I imagine) and headed over to the flower markets. 

Since we have moved we WALKED for the first time which was such a treat! How lucky am I live 5 minute walk from the flower markets. 

So we spent a lot of time searching for peach flowers as that is what I am hoping to have for the wedding day. They were a little hard to come buy but the markets did pull through with tulips, carnations and roses. I also got some babies breath for texture. 

I really like this bouquet as it looks light and feathery. I also found these amazing daisy like flowers that had such a vintage look about them so I threw some of them in! 

Enjoy! 

Bridal bouquet - white Lisianthus, tulips, coral roses, peach carnations, white roses, the daisies and a trim of babies breath. 

I also practiced with jars. using the same flowers and making different bunches. Along the tables they will be in groups of threes. I used twine on some of the jars for an added texture. 

Top view! The tulips really do make a statement within the bundles and the babies breath gives the bundles a lightness. 

I have a feeling a lot of practice will be going on since the wedding is so close. I will of course keep you posted! 

P.s. also have my first job lined up! So excited! 

Thanks for reading!

Paulie #kohaflowers

Flower Crowns...

Well I didn't make it to the flower markets on the weekend.. I may have mentioned previously but we are moving into our new apartment on Monday so we have been super busy trying to finalise everything for that. 

However the good news is that we will be living across the road from the flower markets so I will be in flower heaven every weekend I can!! 

I also got some more exciting news! My first flower job! Well apart from my own wedding of course but a friend from work has asked me to do her flowers. She is having a small intimate wedding in April so it will be good practice for me. Hopefully I might get some exposure as well! 

On a different topic...

I have been tossing up whether to have a flower crown at my wedding. I have been trawling through YouTube looking at different lessons and thought I would share one that I liked. 

I thought this flower crown was really bohemian and SO simple! 

I also found web tutorials which was a little harder but would allow you to make a one sided flower crown instead of it having to go around your whole head. 

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/beauty/how-to/a6412/how-to-make-a-flower-crown/ 

And this one too! 

http://www.handmadeandhitched.com/2014/07/01/fresh-flower-crown-diy/

And this one!! OMG i love them all! 

http://greenweddingshoes.com/diy-spring-flower-crown/

P.s. if you are wanting to use fresh flowers for the crown it would be a good idea to try and prepare it the day of the event. If you won't have time then do it the night before and keep it in the fridge. The cold fridge will keep your flowers fresh! 

See ya!

Paulie #kohaflowers

Saturday's Bouquet Practice

I had an early morning dash to Sydney Flower Markets http://www.sydneymarkets.com.au/markets/flowers-market/flowers-market-overview.html on Saturday morning. 

I managed to get a bunch of different roses, a small bunch of gerberas and a bunch of dusty miller.  

The bunches I started with - p.s. I also got some wattle leaves from a tree down the road (hehe)

The brides bouquet

The bridesmaid bouquet or the bridal toss bouquet

Both bunches together

I want to make another dash out to the flower markets this weekend. It will be my last chance for a while since we have been finally told we can move into our new apartment! The best thing about our new place will be that we will be living right across the road from the flower markets so there will be a lot more blogs to come! 

Anyway I want to steer away from using the dusty miller leaves. I am going to try working with babies breath for a different, more traditional look. 

See ya!

Paulie. #kohaflowers

Flash Back

Good morning! 

Each year I organise the flowers for our end of year events at work. I don't have too much to work with as we only have fishbowl vases at the office however I am pretty proud of my results. 

I thought I would share the flowers I designed back in 2013. This was one of the fist times I had properly played around with flowers other than just for my own living room. 

The venue was Bondi Icebergs with the back drop being Bondi Beach. I wanted to have a bright fun bouquet so I used hot pink peonies, gerberas, carnations and roses as well as gum leaves.

Finished result at the venue.

                                       

 

 

The peonies were exquisite and bold. They spoke for themselves really. David Austin roses or dahlias could also be used if peonies are out of season.  The venue was set up very simply with white cocktail tables so the arrangement really made a statement as the guests started arriving. 

See ya! 

Paulie. #kohaflowers

Inspiration for the wedding

Quick post today about floral designs and inspiration. 

Floral designs change vastly depending on the theme, colour scheme and venue for a wedding. 

Our wedding has a vintage/rustic in the park feel so I am concentrating a lot on jars and small vases clustered together. I am envisaging a mint, grey, dusty pink and white flowers and leaves in the vases. I think it will be the small things that will bring everything together. 

If you're planning a similar themed wedding or event you need to follow Hello May magazine on Instagram or by their blog on the website http://hellomay.com.au. 

I find they post are really relevant, real life weddings where flowers pay a key role. 

See ya! 

Paulie. #kohaflowers

The imminent start of Koha Flowers.

I am under taking the big task of designing and making all things flower for the wedding!

Jars of flowers, bridal table flowers, bouquets, button holes and corsages! Wow!  A lot of people have asked if I am stressing myself out with such a task.. but i'm not it will be fine.

I have included some pictures from before and afters of my practice so far. Nearly not as much as I should have done but I am getting there.

What i started with: 

Bouquet I created - my first one ever! Traditional colours: white roses, green orchids and dark purple berries. 

  Bright and colourful corsage. Hot pink spray roses and green chrysanthemums.

Second try with winter flowers.. 

The finished product.. Red roses, coral roses, freesias and bouvardia

I am dreaming out the flowers in my sleep. Going to get some more practice soon so I will keep posting. 

See ya!

Paulie. #kohaflowers

P.s. Koha means 'gift' in Maori. I am not Maori but have a special connection to New Zealand, a country that I love, Flowers are mother natures gift to us... so why not.