Here are answers to common FAQs about what to give.
From the 'Questions you might be too afraid to ask' blog series.
]]>This a our 'questions you might be too afraid to ask with answers from your friendly neighbourhood florist' blog series. We want to take the mystery out of floristry. We all have lots of questions about life, and sometimes you might think they might sound silly. They’re not! No question is too simple or basic for us to answer. And if you can’t see your question answered here please call me, Kate, on +61 478 050 678 and I will be very pleased to discuss it with you.
Why are roses so expensive on Valentine’s Day?
Like petrol prices, the wholesale cost of flowers rises and falls with supply and demand. And globally, Valentine’s Day is celebrated on only one date, February 14, so demand is at its highest then. So, as most flowers in Australia are imported, Aussie florists then have to charge a lot for roses and still make very little on them.
So that’s why we still provide the classic rose bouquet but with a slightly more expensive price tag. As another option, if for you Valentine’s has to be about roses, we can happily make you a bouquet featuring roses with other complementary blooms — and it will knock your socks off. Or another option—there’s never a better day to ask us to use as many Aussie flowers as possible so our local flowers are supported. We're working as much as we can with local growers in the hills, and our market bunches will be made from gorgeous locally grown flowers.
Do I have to send red roses?
Absolutely not! These are the cliché flowers for Valentine’s for a good reason. They do spell romance. But if your partner likes yellow then by all means send yellow roses. Or send other flowers. If you order specific flowers you know your partner likes then you are showing your partner you know them as well as love them.
How can I get more bang for my buck as flowers can be expensive?
The market bunch is the best way to go. If you're not fussy about the flowers you get, we have the opportunity to get what's nicest and freshest from the market, and send you out a spectacular bouquet.
Do I have to send flowers on Valentine’s? I'm not sure if flowers are what my partner wants?
No, you don’t! Your partner will feel appreciated and cherished if you instead choose a personal gift that shows you have thought about what they would like.
In our gift range, we have pamper hampers, pot plants, mugs, cushions, framed prints, coffee travel mugs, candles, face masks and more. Please browse here and see what might feature in your partner’s life and show them how much you care about them.
Do you have plants? I think my partner likes them?
We sure do! Check out the plants we're selling here,
When do you deliver for Valentine's Day?
We'll have three delivery cars on the road all day and the day before. So when you order you choose the delivery day that suits you best.
When should I order for Valentine’s?
Now, we know it’s a last-minute decision and we take that into account but really the sooner the better. Then you can relax because we’ve got the flowers you want and the delivery day that suits you best all booked in
Galentine’s Day? What’s that all about?
This is a super cute concept from overseas gaining traction here in Australia. The idea is that Valentine’s is a special day to treat and honour your partner, and Galentine’s does the same for your all-important best friends, your gal pals of all genders. Gal’s is held on February 13. The most important thing is to celebrate your friendship with gals. If you want to mark the day with flowers or a gift from our range by all means go ahead. But all you need is you and your pals on the day.
Got any further questions? Contact us here and one of our friendly neighbourhood florists will be happy to help you out!
Click here to see what we've got in stock!
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A staircase adorned with the colours of nature, bringing in the outdoors in a formal setting — what an entrance that makes! Every wedding is different and Kate and Vee of The Wild Flower Company love the fresh challenges each bride brings them. Here's what they did wth the staircase at the Ellington Function Centre in Adelaide.
]]>This fabulous entrance gives you a moment in time you've never dreamt of. You can see yourself and your darling new husband or wife, sweeping down slowly..
Think Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind!
Every wedding is different and Kate and Vee love the fresh challenges each bride brings them.
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See also our blog Bridal Table Decorations That Stun and Won't Cost A Cent Extra.
]]>We work with you to look for several ways to use the same piece, and discuss with you how it could look. We also give you ideas for how to style a particular area of your celebration.
To get the maximum out of your bridal and bridesmaids’ bouquets, brides often use them at the reception. Your bridal bouquet is the perfect feature if you have a bridal table or a prominent area. We can style it as a central feature or an eye-catching display to the side.
We've talked in another blog about placing the trailing bridal bouquet above and behind the bridal couple’s heads at the bridal table. See our blog Bridal Table Decorations That Stun and Won't Cost A Cent Extra.
We place vases with water at the ready, to keep all the bouquets fresh at the reception. These can all go on one table but a better use for them, depending on the venue, is to scatter them as table decorations. They look great and you get the most out of them. They'll still be in good condition to take home at the end of the day.
Similarly, the ceremony flowers can usually be brought to the reception to be featured again, up-cycling their gorgeousness.
Look at the next two pics, how we did this:
We used the ceramic urns at the Botanic Gardens, and then at the reception. Yes, the huge flower urns not only did double duty, they framed the arrival of the bridal couple twice.
Ask us any time about your wedding.
Have a fab day!
Kate
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The bride chose a clever set-up for the bridal table.
The pic below shows the flower urns used at the ceremony. We brought them from the church, two huge urns featuring the flame flower palette chosen by the bride. We repurposed them on plinths above and behind the bride and groom.
We then featured the bride's 2-metre long cascading rose bouquet to become the centrepiece on and in front of the bridal table.
Finally, we re-purposed the bridesmaids' bouquets in matte ceramic vases on the table.
Using water sources for the flowers during the day where possible creates a bonus — if the bride and bridesmaids want to preserve their bouquets in the future the water sources will help the process.
We ended with a stunning set-up that used the bridal flowers to their fullest extent, and saved money as well, a win-win...
(See our guest table decorations above left)
]]>I'm Kate, owner of The Wild Flower Company, and I talk here about how much imported product is used in the Australian florist industry.
I prefer buying local if at all possible and source locally from increasing small regional suppliers.
This might be my preference, but it doesn't mean I don't work with imported flowers when necessary running a commercial business.
]]>I prefer buying local if at all possible, and I see more and more local suppliers appearing in the Adelaide region.They're usually small flower farms, and some hobby farms.
People are growing flowers and foliage as alternative sources of income, and because they enjoy doing it. I think COVID in our lives has resulted in people choosing another sort of life.
As a florist this has meant diversity and freshness in my buying. Fro example, I've bought cosmos flowers from a farm in the hills, a gorgeous old-style flower rarely available because of its fragility and short shelf life. I'm always looking for local suppliers but some are still very small, meaning a 50km trip each way for a couple of bunches. This has it's own implications in terms of time spent, fuel burnt and sustainability.
An interesting site is Grown not Flown based in NSW where small local suppliers advertise their products. I'm looking forward to seeing it grow in the smaller states.
This might be my preference, but it doesn't mean I don't work with imported flowers when necessary running a commercial business. I need a stable supply, at reasonable prices. As well, clients for my weddings, daily deliveries and corporate events often order flowers that aren't available in South Australia or Australia, or not in season.
We're quite lucky in Adelaide with brilliant wholesale flower markets where you can source a mix of local and imported blooms.
I respond to demand but I'm also on the lookout to lessen my reliance on imports by using Adelaide regional suppliers. Please get in touch if you're a local supplier and we'll talk flowers.
Have a fab day,
Kate
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The 'High' Cost of Flowers for Weddings
I would love to talk about the ‘wedding tax’ and a common belief that as soon as the client mentions the word ‘wedding’ the price goes up three times.
However, the truth is that if you mention the word ‘wedding’ the workload for me as a florist goes up by about six times. I'll tell you how, here.
]]>There’s a common belief that as soon as the client mentions the word ‘wedding’ the price goes up three times.
However, the truth is that if you mention the word ‘wedding’ then the workload for me as a florist goes up by about six times.
The expense starts with our initial long wedding consultation, often hours spent face to face, on the phone or back and forth emails.
Every wedding is bespoke, there’s no cheap package I take off the shelf and sell instantly with no effort.
No matter the budget, every one of my brides gets every question answered, every worry or potential problem sorted out on the spot, and all the guidance they need.
Most people planning a wedding have never done it before, and very few people know the ins and outs of flowers, so it’s my job to guide each couple through the process.
It’s a necessary cost of the wedding business but small business owners are always short of time, and this does add a lot to my working day.
Brides send me an average of 60-90 emails in the years and months leading up to their wedding. A few brides have sent me over 150 emails!
I’m here to calm their fears, or keep making changes. I may start again from scratch with a change in themes or types of flowers, or a change in budget, or to accommodate additional bridesmaids, flower girls and pages needing to be included for family harmony, or smoothly add a corsage for a mother-in-law. You name it, I do it — and I’m happy to!
That’s just the planning phase, then there’s the construction phase. Flowers for weddings usually take our team four days of intensive preparation. Flowers and foliage are prepped, pinned, buttonholed, wired, etc. Bouquets are created, vases filled and intricate floral arrangements built. Cake flowers are delivered to the bakery.
On the wedding day, bouquets, buttonholes and corsages are delivered.
We’re up at 5am transporting flowers and installing arrangements at the wedding ceremony venue and then going on to the reception venue. I nearly always need at least one to four staff members to build the arbour flowers on the spot, and they need strength to work above their heads, up ladders, and kneeling on the ground for an hour or more.
Half of our venues are outdoors: forest, beaches, vineyards, wherever the bride wants to marry. The challenges we need to overcome include rain, high winds, and extreme heat. It often comes down to improvising on the day, and then being prepared to improvise again.
We’re often staying till the ceremony is over, and me and my staff are the ones reinforcing the arbour and holding umbrellas over the floral pillars.
I’m the one whizzing over to fix the flower girl’s bouquet because she destroyed it doing a cartwheel and now she’s very upset. Or going back to the groom’s house because someone sat on a buttonhole and we need to construct a new one.
Brides need a perfect wedding day and I want to work very hard to give them this — no matter what’s required to get the job done.
This is all very different from putting together a $60 ‘happy birthday’ bouquet in 10 minutes.
So the cost needs to reflect this effort — otherwise I can’t afford to stay in business.
I get it right on the day, and I spend the countless hours before that setting it up to be right — and to be perfect. So I, and other suppliers, do our very best for you.
That’s why weddings flowers do cost more — you’re paying for the work and for the worth. And it’s worth it!
Thanks for taking the time to read this, hope you have a fab day!
Kate
]]>I hear it often: “Don’t buy flowers because flowers don’t last.”
Yes, fresh natural flowers have a short life, from days to perhaps a week, two if you’re lucky. We’re blessed in Australia that our natives will often last for a few weeks.
But —
The fact that flowers don’t last contributes to their beauty.
It adds to their effervescence.
It gives a special glow of pleasure to the viewer each time they are looked at and admired.
These moments in time are to be treasured.
It’s not a reason for sadness that they will die.
It’s a reason for gladness that they lived.
And a reason for gratitude that Nature gave them to us, to celebrate the special moments in our lives.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, hope you have a fab day!
Kate
]]>Full disclosure, you are asking a florist so my short answer would be — flowers go well on everything! But it’s not my wedding, it’s yours, so you can have your flowers exactly how you have dreamt about them! While the usual starting point is bouquets and buttonholes, however your wedding is set up, you want to make sure it feels like you as a couple.
Below is a list of the most common floral pieces we do, to give you some inspiration of what could be possible for your wedding. And if there’s something you’re dreaming of that isn’t on the list get in touch — I wasn’t kidding that I love to put flowers on everything!
Bouquets
Buttonholes
Corsages
Hair Flowers
Ceremony Flowers
Reception Flowers
Furry Friends
If you're looking for a doggy floral collar or something similar, we’d love to do one.
If you’re wanting a pet sitter on the day we recommend you check out Veils and Tails. They can take you and your four-legged family member through the steps to see what they’re comfortable with and we’ll make a floral piece accordingly.
Extras
Extra corsages and buttonholes are also available for distinguished guests who are close family members, chosen family or who may have travelled a long way to get to the wedding. These are always greatly appreciated.
If you’ve got an idea I haven’t covered here please ask me, I’d love to make it work for you.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, hope you have a fab perfect day on your day of days!
Kate
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Light
We know all too well how important a bit of sunlight can be to your mood in the middle of winter, and your plants are no different. Make sure you shuffle them about, ideally closer to the windows to make sure they’re getting as much winter sun as possible. Also, give them a little dust at the same time. This will help them properly absorb all that light.
It’s pretty hard to sunbathe when you’re clothed head to toe!
Water
As tempting as it can be, try not to overwater your little babies. Most plants will need half as much water as usual at this time of year, even less for those succulents. Don’t just test the top soil, go a bit of a way down to see if it’s still holding moisture before you water them again. Drainage is more important than ever at this time of year, and make sure they aren’t left sitting in water for too long.
Changes
Now is not the ideal time to repot. As temping as it is, try to hold off until spring when root growth isn’t as slow and the soil isn’t staying as wet. If you still feel the need to play with your plants (and believe me- we know that feeling!) feel free to go nuts with the pruning. Cut back any yellow/brown leaves or any vines that look ‘leggy’.
We're coming into winter, so good luck with your little babies — we believe in you!
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