Congrats, Samantha and Adrian!

We had the pleasure of looking after Samantha and Adrian's wedding flowers in October last year.

When we work with any client, whether it be for a single bunch of flowers for a friend, or their wedding day, it's so important that we have an understanding of what it is the final product needs to do... what does it need to look like? What atmosphere does it need to enhance (or create, or entirely change...)? What, or who, does it need to represent? 

It's also really important that our clients trust us to create the right product for them... that we'll listen to what they are trying to achieve, that we'll know what to use (and what to substitute that with if we need to), and that we'll know how to put it together so that what they've communicated to us through words is communicated to the next person through flowers.

 It is such a privilege to have clients place their trust in you to do this. For Samantha and Adrian, we worked to the very enticing brief of enhancing the "vintage glamour" atmosphere of the day, which was rather a lot of fun! 

Samantha supplied us with boxes of beautiful vintage vases; lots of little crystal beauties, with a few brass accents here and there, big vases and little vases, vases needing lots of flowers and vases just needing one.

Knowing the theme, the colour palette, the vase selection, and Samantha's favourite flowers, we were left with the delicious task of filling the day with flowers that would bring everything together!

I love being able to work a bit instinctively, having the client's trust that what we present with on the day is just right. Finding a couple of unexpected bunches of this, or particularly spectacular that at the market is really special when you know they are going to contribute to someone's gorgeous wedding day. Beautiful green helebores and gilderose were two of my favourites added to Samantha and Adrian's selection.

It's always particularly nice to be able to share weddings with you that have been beautifully photographed, and for these photos, we have the talented Leah Kua to thank.

Samantha and Adrian, we loved being part of your special day. Congratulations!

Charlie x.






P.S. If you'd like to see a little bit more of the gorgeousness that was this wedding, you can pop along to Style Me Pretty!

Hi Charlie, 
 

 ... thank you so much for the deliciously amazing wedding flowers you created!!!

 The bouquets were absolutley perfect and the bridesmaids and I loved them (mine lasted a week after the wedding!!!)  and the reception flowers were totally stunning. You brought to life the atmosphere that I was hoping to create. I was so glad to see guests take home the bunches at the end of the night, knowing that they would be appreciated for longer. 

 I've always described you to my family and friends as not selling flowers but creating beautiful floral sculptures and this was exactly how I felt about the arrangements when I walked into our reception. Your creativity and obvious passion for what you do, makes you exceptional to work with and above all else, you would have to be one of the nicest people ever! You're a complete supserstar. Thank you.

Cheers,

Sam 

Mothers Day...

So, we're into May... that happened quickly!

May, for florists, means Mothers Day. It's a super busy weekend for us, for all the right reasons.

There's so much to do, Amy was moving so quickly she was a blur!

Mothers Day is a really special day. We shouldn't need to wait for one specific day of the year to acknowledge all of the amazing things our Mums do for us, but sometimes life gets so chaotic that we need a bit of a reminder to let her know how awesome she is. (Note to me, note to you: DON'T WAIT UNTIL NEXT MOTHERS DAY TO TELL MUM HOW MUCH OF A SUPERWOMAN SHE IS. TELL HER AND SHOW HER OFTEN).

It is ALWAYS a good idea to take flowers home to Mum. ESPECIALLY when the bouquet is nearly as big as you!

Flowers are a bit of a luxury, which means we don't buy them for ourselves as often as we would possibly like. But having them in the house is totally awesome. You only need to have them on your table once to realise how much you miss them when they aren't there. Nothing quite like walking in to a house that smells like hyacinths, or coming home from work to see that your lilies have started to open just a little while you've been gone...

Which I guess, is why they make such a popular gift for Mums, come the second Sunday in May. We all know how much she likes having a bunch of flowers on the table, and we know she probably doesn't have them there as often as she should. It's so lovely to be able to give someone something they don't really need, that they don't often buy for themselves, that you know they're going to love.

It's a crazy couple of days for us - suddenly our little shop is choc-a-bloc full of the most beautiful flowers we can get our hands on, and the stems start flying! There's not much room left for florists, after the flowers and clients make their way in, so it's lucky we get along (and appreciate each others totally dreadful puns and dad jokes).

It was so lovely having you all in here over the weekend - the atmosphere is always lovely for Mothers Day, and we were thrilled to watch you collecting such beautiful, personal bunches for the Mums in your world.

Thanks for your support once again... See you soon!

Team Red xx

Congratulations, Sarah and Tim!

Back in December last year, we looked after flowers for Sarah and Tim's wedding...

Sarah carried a teardop bouquet, and her bridesmaid's carried posies. 

 Sarah's bouquet were made using white roses, white dendrobium orchids, baby's breath*, silver dusty miller foliage and bright green foxtails, with lovely eucalyptus leaves and a little bit of dodder vine for lots of movement and texture

Her bridesmaid's posies were made using the same flowers, excluding the eucalyptus and dodder vine, so they were a little more structured.

I love cascade bouquets - not so formal as a teardrop, but demanding flowers and foliage with movement, they give us florists a truly rewarding challenge (I promise to post a step-by-step construction of one of these babies one day, and you'll see what I mean). Not every dress calls for a cascade, but against the right dress, they are stunning.

As you can see in the photos, Sarah's bouquet was quite classic and elegant, but definitely not a standard design. So I was just delighted to receive an email and these gorgeous photos so we could see the flowers in action!

Sarah and Tim, thank you for sharing your special day with us, and allowing us to share your photos (taken by the excellent people of DC Images) with our flower loving friends.

Charlie x.

...thank you for the incredible flowers that you did for my wedding last year. They were incredible and were even more beautiful than I could have imagined. You really did perfect that "rustic" look that I was going for. I loved them. The flowers you put on the wires for my hair also worked beautifully. You don't just create flower arrangements, you create works of art. Thank you thank you thank you!


* I have to say, baby's breath is TOTALLY making a comeback! Used with care (and you know what I mean here), it's really a gorgeous flower to use. We've done alot of wedding flowers recently that have included it, and I'm a bit of a fan! As a sweet flower to disperse through other flowers, giving a little bit of movement and cheeky texture with the millions of flowers on each branch, or even as the superstar of the bouquet (and often the soloist!), it's getting quite a following. Nice, huh!

A canopy of blossom

Oh my.

Once again, the chaos that is this lovely shop has overwhelmed my excellent blogging intentions. On a positive however, this is definitely not the lengthiest hiatus we've experienced now, is it? (Please don't go checking, simply take my word for it).

What's been happening?
Ohhh a little bit of Valentines Day, a little bit of wedding loveliness, some delicious photo shoots and general floral love at the shop. Photos of all to come I should think.

But, in the mean time, it was brought to my delighted attention late last week, that one of our lovely brides has had her wedding featured in Cosmo Bride, hooray! (It makes us feel a bit grown up when this happens!).

We set up for this wedding while the sun was still up... up and down a ladder suspending the canopy, in and out of the van with mountains of blossom... And while it looked a bit lovely as we disappeared before the guests arrived, it's so exciting to see the flowers in action!

Oh to dine under a canopy of blossom...

Until I type again soon, flower lovers!

Charlie x

Congratulations, Clare and David!

We looked after the flowers for the wedding of Clare and David a little while ago now... but it's always lovely to share photos of a happy day, so here you go!

We used a selection of little jars and bottles filled with fresh flowers to decorate the tables at Dunbar House. I like the atmosphere created by using lots of mixed vases on a table - simple and welcoming, but still quite elegant. The little white flowers (below) with black centres are one of my all time favourites; "black pearl lilies".

 

Many thanks to Clare and David for sharing their photos with us and with you, and to Jeremy Byrnes from Between Us Photography, who is the talented photographer behind the lense. 

 

Congratulations, Cat and Anthony!

  In 2012, we arranged the flowers for Cat and Anthony's wedding, the reception for which was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. Cat kept most of her colour scheme quite neutral with beautiful white, ivory and beige, but introduced a pop of colour in her bridesmaid's bouquets of red tulips.

We also used red tulips to highlight the bridal table, while their guests were seated at tables decorated in white tulips and white hyacinths.

 

Instead of buttonholes made from a single rose, we opted to use a cluster of David Austin rose buds.

 

Amidst the wonderful buzz that is delivering wedding flowers, it's always lovely to see a very familiar face. It was such a joy to work with our friend Daniel on this wedding, who is responsible for the beautiful photos we're able to share with  you here.

Thank you to Cat and Anthony for having us as part of their day, and to Daniel for documenting such a special occasion.

Daniel Griffiths Photography
www.dgphotos.com.au


P.S Some of the "making of" photos... a little less glamourous than Dan's, but definitely part of the story!

A wedding in the country...

We recently had the pleasure of looking after the flowers for Kathryn and Alex's wedding in Blayney!

Most of the wedding flowers we arrange are prepared in our shop, and delivered to the venue in the hours before the event.  As you'll see in the coming photos, we used a multitude of little vases, jars and bottles, and there simply wasn't going to be enough room for them in the van if we arranged them in Sydney...

So, super early in the morning, we drove four hours out of Sydney to a beautiful property in Blayney, with a van full to the brim with fresh flowers and jars and bottles and vases and buckets and ribbons and florists...

I hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed the adventure...

Our van became the work room...

 We worked to a lovely open brief, with the mission to create a bit of a garden party feel without making it too formal. It was lovely working with a mass of seasonal flowers to bring the feel of the beautiful gardens we were surrounded by into the space.

 I just adore hanging bottles filled with flowers... Something about being caught in the rain when it's raining flowers perhaps? Or perhaps just being totally surrounded by them...

 

 

We used dahlias, hydrangeas, bouvardia, agapanthus, snow on the mountain, carnations and baby's breath (two of our brides absolute favourites!), with lotus pods and pears.

I was thrilled that my lovely little sister was in town for the weekend... a second set of hands AND a catch up!

   

Thank you to Kathryn and Alex for sharing their special day with us, and to Kira from Art Photography by Kira (www.artphotobykira.com.au) for her beautiful photos.


Charlie x.






P.S. Sometimes it's nice to see the space before we've run amok...

 

  

Hello there, it's been a little while!

Hello!

Once again, it's been quite some time since I last typed here... Being technologically challenged as I am, once things get super busy here at the shop, this poor little blog gets a bit neglected! As I was at the start of 2012, I am determined to type more regularly... we shall see how we go in 2013 - wish me luck!

For us, it's day four of the working year, and we're easing ourselves back into the delicious floral chaos that is Red Fragrance.

I was very lucky to spend a little while in Bali over the Summer break, and was continually delighted by the amazing flowers there.

 .

 This little heart is the start of a big, broad lotus leaf.

Such a simple, sleek bud holds such a mass of beautiful petals arounds a lovely green pod.

I couldn't resist including one pink bud!

Just beautiful.

Even after the flower has finished, the pod is beautiful. (We love using these in our arrangements at the shop!)

Oh, to live in a lush green forest in Ubud... Lucky monkeys!

 A mystery flower (botanical name...)

  

Is it only florists who get excited by lovely unusual foliages when on holiday?

Bromeliads from floor to ceiling, and orchids the colours of a tequila sunrise!

Heliconias

I hope you all had a happy, relaxing Summer break. I'm looking forward to sharing some more of our floral goings-on with you this year - Happy 2013 everyone!

Charlie x