Summer Daze

With a beautiful warm weather weekend heading our way, i thought it was fitting to blog about a particular flower that has me dreaming of sunny afternoons all year round... yes, i am talking about the understated daisy.

I love them dearly. Whether it be in a simple posy or a dreamy bohemian chain, or even in the form of a more recent trend 'dehydrated', a bunch of daisies can remain elegant yet youthful all in the same breath.  They are versatile and look great in both a country and or beach setting, and another great fact...they are considerably affordable compared to some other flowers that I adore. 

Perfect for summer garden weddings...

Or rustic beach settings.... 

Via: The Natural Wedding Company 

Via: Mathar Stewart Weddings

The fun loving, dreamy bohemian bride....

Via:spottencowcreations.co.uk

Equally adorable and a little unusual, i also love the use of camomile flowers, a much smaller version of the daisy. 

via:w-weddingflower.com

Sunshine on a rainy day..

This winter weather has us daydreaming of sunshine and colour... so what better time than now to share one of our recent weddings from when the sun was still shining... and the bride loved colour.

On a most glorious sunny April day, we had the pleasure of styling the wedding of Kalarie and Jeremy at the National Wine Centre.

Kalarie came to us knowing she wanted a rustic feel and she had already planned many aspects of her day using our favourite tool, pinterest!! But like many of our brides, she wanted some help pulling all of her ideas together.. and while she was very in touch with the planning process, she needed someone to make sure it would all look the way she wanted on the day. 

Here are some of the details from their wedding.

The centre-pieces featured an assortment of glass jars and bottles, with wood slabs and candles on hessian bases. The flowers were a mixture of bright sunny colours, which Kalarie helped pick from a garden in the Adelaide Hills. To help fit within her budget, we donned our floristry hats and arranged these for her.  

The place settings were juicy green pears tied with personalised rustic paper tags.

For Kalarie and Jeremy, it was incredibly important to honour and include their loved ones in their day. The couple wrote letters to each guest and placed them on their napkins at the dinner table - and they also asked that we feature some of their special guests in the styling.
Along the corridor to their venue, there was a series of glass display cabinets. We used each of these to feature one of the special groups of guests: Grandparents, Parents, Bridesmaids, Groomsmen and the couple themselves.

It such a lovely thought. And Kalarie told us later that as she approached the reception room her eyes filled with tears at the sight of them.Good tears!

The other way that the couple decided to include their guests was via a photobooth to capture the fun of the night! This is a great way make sure you get some snaps of guests on the night. 

And finally.. the most important detail in any wedding: the happy smiling,  in-love couple:

Thank you Kalarie and Jeremy for letting us be part of your day.
All photography is courtesy of Adelaide Photographer, Ben McMahon.

Smitten with succulents

Lately, we have been smitten with succulents.

They have such great texture, and come in so many shades -  from grey to blue, green to purple, even orange.

Pastels,   Orange,   Purple,   Multi

They are so versatile in their appeal. Somehow they manage to work for weddings of all seasons. And somehow, they manage to look as casual, formal, rustic or elegant as you want. 

Here's just a few of the many ways to incorporate succulents into your day. 

• Bouquets. 
• Centrepieces. 
• Tiny potted ones for guests to take home as favours. 
• Boutonniere. 
• Cake decoration. 
• Place settings. 

It was so hard to choose just a few photos.. there is so much gorgeous inspiration out there!

TOP: Succulent Favours; Place-settings; Boutonniere; Centrepiece
BOTTOM: Succulent Cake; Silver Centrepiece; Wood Centrepiece; Bouquet  

Given that we live in one of the driest and most water-conscious states in world, these plants are also very practical. They retain water so require very little watering to flourish. And they also last forever - unlike cut flowers.
Come to think of it, this would have been a great option for our last post on 'alternatives to bouquets'. A fabulous choice for the eco bride. 

We really want to plant some of these in the garden now!

Bouquet Alternatives

Pod & Pea is not just about hiring and styling. We're also about inspiring.. giving you ideas to help personalise your wedding and make it pretty too. Which leads us to today's post.

Recently I was talking to a 'bride-to-be' friend who doesn't know if she wants flowers at her wedding. She was wondering what else she could hold on to, if not a bouquet. After all, it's nice to have something to do with your hands.. especially if you're nervous!
This is the kind of non-traditional quandry that I enjoy! I love an alternative bride, a non-traditional wedding, and coming up with different solutions!

I'm not sure why said Bride-to-Be doesn't want flowers (we just launched straight into a discussion of alternatives!). I adore flowers, but imagine people might be adverse to bouquets for budget reasons or allergy reasons or maybe environmental reasons? and of course just plain taste!
Regardless, I'm not here to judge - I'm here to inspire! Erica, this one is for you!

There's lots of unique ideas, so I wont feature the usual parasols or corsages or button bouquets that you have seen before as alternatives to bouquets (check out the links if you like though!). Here's some more alternative ideas.

Clutches are perfect and practical. They are ladylike and pretty, don't look out of place (seeing as though we always carry handbags!) and they would also be so handy on the day for holding lipstick, speechnotes, phone, etc. The thing I like about this idea is that they would also double as a gift for your bridesmaids.. you could get them all slightly different ones.

Oncewed

 The ones below from Adelaide-based Kitty Came Home are handmade from vintage fabric and come in gorgeous colours and patterns.
                         

Pinwheels are bright, fun and unique. Imagine them spinning in the breeze as you walk down the aisle!

Pinwheels from Etsy

Paper Flowers - How simply GORGEOUS are these giant paper flowers that were featured on Green Wedding Shoes yesterday?? Yes, they are made of PAPER... and the clever little bride made them herself!! Take that, allergies!

Pom-Poms - We hadn't thought about this ourselves, but we recently discovered Pom Pom Princess and she had this sweet idea. She made these little babies for some bridesmaids to carry down the aisle. They look cute and whimsical.

Books - If you're religious, a bible could be your thing.Or maybe you and your partner are the literary kind and have a favourite book or poet. That could work too.

The Dainty Woods on esty

Lanterns - if you happen to be getting married at dusk, lanterns (or sparklers or candles) would be  a lovely way to light your way down the aisle.

The Knot

 Fans - OK, so this sounds typical and you may have seen it before.. but fans come in all sorts of designs, and can be really pretty! Like clutches, these serve a purpose if you're getting married on a hot day!

Intimate Weddings

Ruffled

Balloons - They're often the 'forgotten' decoration. So over-used at kid's parties and back in the 80s that we disregard them now. But there is something very pretty about balloons. Particularly giant ones! And they're cost effective too. We can imagine seeing these appear over a hill as the bride makes her way to her groom!

Wedding Bee

We know there are more ideas out there.. so feel free to share any that we've missed . I'm sure my bride-to-be friend would appreciate your suggestions!