BLOOMING BEAUTY
Expert advice on the best places for stunning floral arrangements at your wedding and top tips on how to stay on budget, writes Tessa Hayward
When it comes to choosing flowers for your wedding there are a lot of things to take into account.
First off, a budget is very important to have. Secondly, do your research and decide what sort of colour scheme you want. And thirdly, where do you actually want flowers placed.
Florette’s Erin Cusack is an expert when it comes to wedding flowers, with the seasoned florist providing the flowers for 78 weddings this past wedding season.
With Covid having postponed many weddings, it is now catch-up time and Erin says she has been averaging four to five a week, with many being held on weekdays.
“It has been so busy this wedding season. Before Covid I had never done a wedding on a Wednesday but now people take whatever date the venue has available,” she says.
However, she says the winter season is still very quiet, with not many weddings being booked during that period yet.
Covid has had a flow on effect with wedding flowers, with prices now through the roof, something engaged couples should take note of when planning their budget.
Erin says the cost of importing flowers from overseas had increased dramatically due to freight and a lack of growers in Australia.
“I think we lost a lot of growers over time as the imports were coming in and the imports were cheaper. But now we don’t have many growers and the imports are expensive,” she explains. “Once a flight of flowers lands in Australia there is no guarantee customs is going to let them through. You’re relying on imports that are extremely unreliable.”
Erin says this makes things hard and wants couples to understand the reasoning behind the price. That being said, she is a pro at helping couple’s decide with a certain budget.
“I always tell people to invest their money where their photos are going to be taken,” she says. “If you think about what photos you are going to hang on the wall, is it going to be of people sitting at a reception table or of your first kiss at the ceremony?”
Erin says a lot of emphasis is on the ceremony flower display and holding back or paring down the reception flowers.
“The flowers at the reception aren’t as important as the ceremony,” she says.
While the ceremony flowers are repurposed for the reception, Erin says having bud vases or foliage down the table can free up the budget a lot.
Meanwhile blush pinks and whites are still the go-to colour for wedding flowers.
The muted tones and large headed blooms are popular, along with pampas grass, with Erin encouraging brides to do lots of research, but to also be flexible in regards to availability.
“I never promise anything to a bride as I don’t know what I’m going to get until I’ve physically got it,” she explains.
“If you have one flower in mind and that’s the only flower you want, I guarantee it will be unavailable the week of the wedding.”
Erin encourages couples to be flexible and to gather images from Instagram and Pinterest that are of similar colour schemes.
“At the end of the day you want everything to be cohesive. And be guided by your florist, they know what’s in season and what they can get at what time of year,” she says.
While the muted tones remain popular, when a request comes in for bright colours, Erin is thrilled, adding pops of colour look so good on the day.
With so many wedding postponements during the past two years due to the global pandemic, inquiries for upcoming dates are high. Erin already has people booked in for 2024 and has 18 quotes sitting in her inbox just from the past week.
Erin’s biggest piece of advice is to concentrate on the big ticket items. She recommends not having little ceremony aisle flowers, instead going big on the display behind the couple getting married as that’s where everyone is looking.
“And trust your florist, they know what they’re talking about,” she smiles.