Category: Flowers

Green Garlands

by gaby

Credit: Esther Gallarday/Fleurishly Inc via Hey Wedding Lady

It’s time to showcase a new trend, folks, and I have to say, I have been looking forward to bringing this one your way for a few months now. Of course, wreaths themselves are nothing new in wedding decor (see our archive post on them here) and hair garlands are a huge and lasting trend among stylish, free-spirited brides. But with the move towards greenery like eucalyptus, fern (HUGE right now) and olive branch, the kind of garlands I am talking about are those made of simple twines of greenery or even herbs, hanging simply from a ceiling or against a wall, or worked into something more intricate like a chandelier or fun like an escort card display. In fact, we’ve already featured a few pretty laurels and wreaths in our own recent weddings and every time I see this detail I admit I love it more. From stationery motifs to full-scale backdrops, there are many ways to make this work for you, and here are some of my favourites!Read More

Protea Bouquet Recipe #1: Protea & Bougainvillea

by gaby

This is such an awesome week on SBB, with lots of exclusive content, created just for you! Today we’re debuting a brand new series, which I am super excited about. With a big bow to Wedding Chicks, who pretty much pioneered the whole idea of bouquet recipes, I wanted to focus on proteas – not just our national flower here in South Africa, but a current wedding trend that we have been rocking for quite some time. Because we South Africans love us our proteas, just like we love butternut, and avocado, and braais, right? Even after seeing literally hundreds of protea bouquets, I still get a thrill when I see a new one, especially when it uses an unusual variety or combines it in a different way. So I decided to throw out the challenge to South African floral designers, and we’ll regularly be bringing you gorgeous protea bouquets in all their glory, as well as broken down into their components. Kicking things off is the very lovely Lizl Pieterse of Flamboijant, one of our very special sponsors. Lizl’s bouquet is perfect for a summer wedding, and I loved that it not only used proteas and other fynbos, but incorporated Bougainvillea. I have such a summer flower crush on this plant, and I would LOVE to see it in more bouquets! As well as showing off the bouquet thanks to Lulia Photography & Design, we asked Lizl a few questions about her ideas and inspiration. Huge thanks to both these talented ladies for sharing this with us today!Read More

SouthBound’s Best 2013: Bouquets

by gaby

Hello friends! Today marks the start of our Christmas and New Year schedule – while I’ll be taking a little well-deserved break with my family, we’ll be looking back at all the highlights of a beautiful year here on SBB. For the rest of this week, I’ll be breaking down our top bouquets, bride and bridesmaid looks, groom style, cakes, reception and ceremony details, and after that we’re showcasing the Top 10 weddings for 2013, based on views, comments, Facebook likes, Pinterest pins, and so on. Whether you’ve seen them before or have only just started the planning journey, it’s a snapshot of 2013’s bridal style as well as a look at trends that have only just started developing. Be sure to click through to see the full weddings for more! Today we’re starting off with bouquets – one of my bestest things. We had some absolutely BEAUTIFUL flowers on the blog this year, and I can safely call it the Year of the Protea – be they blushing bride, king, pincushion or even carved! So you’ll see plenty of our national bloom in this roundup, as well as some other gorgeous and inspiring pieces. Congrats to all the talented floral designers who pulled these off – we have such a talented bunch of people in this industry!

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Table Garlands

by gaby

It’s an exciting day at SBB HQ, and I have some lovely news to share with you this afternoon. When I do, you’ll see why I have garlands and continuous floral runner arrangements on the brain! This is one trend that I have absolutely loved seeing in 2013, and I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of it next season. Garlands are such a pleasing visual element to add to your decor – they look so lush and plentiful, and they really make long tables pop. Of course, a magic carpet of blooms is stunning, but you can also make this work with greenery, succulents, or even (as you’ll see below), photos! You can work with a single colour, a mix, or an ombre effect (love!), and incorporate tall candles or little votives along the way. The garlands can go straight or have a little twist to them, and they can come off the ends of your table or just work along its length. This probably isn’t a trend for budget brides, in that a floral garland tends to use a lot of blooms multiplied by all your tables, but if you’re madly in love with the idea and watching the pennies, why not just have a garland for the head table? Or, as one couple did in the pics below, for a central table that works as a real showstopper and centrepoint visually? That way, you’ll get some of the effect, without all of the expense.Read More

Cascade Bouquets

by gaby

WAIT until you see the beautiful bouquets I have to share with you today. At the risk of sounding like a total kugel, you are going to daaah. Now, you may associate cascade (or waterfall or trailing, whatever you want to call them) bouquets with the ’80s and early ’90s, Princess Diana style. But in fact, they are this year’s hottest flower trend. And if you had any doubts before, the pics in this post will convince you that the new wave of these bouquets are absolutely, beyond, incredible, gorgeous. And so romantic! Most cascade bouquets use a variety of flowers from large to smaller and hanging foliage, creating that pretty trail at the bottom. You can stick with a single type of bloom, but my favourites are those that use a variety, the next step from the loose handtied look that has been so popular and so inspiring this last while. Pinning fingers at the ready! You’re definitely going to want to keep some of these on file ;)Read More

Farm to Table

by gaby

Credits: see below

It’s Wednesday Trendsday, lovelies, and to follow up on the post a few weeks ago with fruit and vegetable bouquets (how much did we LOVE them?), today I’m focusing on ten tables, centrepieces and place settings that look like they came straight from a farmer’s market. This little wedding theme is a fun translation of the growing farm to table movement as well as part of the beautiful botanicals trend, and floral designers and savvy brides around the world have come up with the most beautiful ways of presenting unexpected additions to the table, including edible ones. Putting one of these tables together is a little like arranging a still life for a painter – it’s certainly no haphazard dumping of produce on a table, and neither should it look so organised that it reminds guests of a supermarket veggie aisle. Shape, texture and colour are all there to be played with, and I for one love the results!Read More

Fruit & Vegetable Bouquets

by gaby

Hello lovelies! You know, when I first did posts on fruit and vegetables in wedding design three years ago, I had no idea how much they would become part of the floral landscape, but I have to say, I absolutely LOVE them. It’s the texture that’s added by the unusual shapes or colours, as well as the pop of something unexpected. Not to mention, of course, that many brides and grooms now choose to include them because of the green credentials of working with something that can be eaten and not wasted. I’m amazed by the creativity of wedding floral designers (or should that be floral, fruit & veg designers nowadays?). So today I thought I would round up 25 of my absolute favourite bouquets that include a combination of flowers, fruit, vegetables and herbs. They’re all so deliciously beautiful! Keep an eye out for veg patch favourites like kale (very much of the moment), cabbage, artichokes and then fruity berries and citrus, although the possibilities are really endless.Read More

New Ways with Proteas {Centrepieces}

by gaby

Source: Adam Barnes/Petal via Wedding Chicks

A few weeks ago, we looked at some of the gorgeousness and variety that has been floating around the web in the form of protea bouquets, from pincushions to kings to Blushing Brides. Today I’m showcasing ten gorgeous centrepieces, also containing proteas, from weddings around the world. I love every one of them, and although proteas work beautifully on their own, I’m amazed how striking they can be with other flowers and interesting containers. So much lovely inspiration for South African brides! And remember, you can always find the latest protea looks on the SBB ♥ Proteas Pinterest board.Read More

New Ways with Proteas {Bouquets}

by gaby

Hello lovelies! As you’ll remember from last week, I am currently taking a fresh look at some of SBB’s most popular trend roundups, and this I know is going to be hands down my favourite. Seriously, putting this post together I have a goofy smile on my face, like I’ve ODed on sugar. Except that this is a protea rush. Totally a real thing. After all, why else would so many South African brides choose to use our national flower in their wedding bouquets? Because they’re AWESOME, that’s why. And it’s not even just a South African thing anymore – proteas have taken the wedding world by storm. I have mixed feelings about this, because sometimes when I see gorgeous proteas at an American wedding, for example, I feel like I’m seeing one of my friends in the photos from someone else’s party. But I am trying to be cool, because after all, there is plenty of protea-inspired love and goodness to go around. Plus, even though I hate to admit it, some of those overseas floral designers are applying their fresh eyes and coming up with some astonishingly gorgeous arrangements. Especially when it comes to bouquets. Rustic textures, bright pops of colour, interesting shapes and structures… there’s a lot of ooh factor  going on here. I’ve been collecting it on the SBB ♥ Proteas Pinterest board for a while, and today I thought it was high time for a roundup. Here are 25 striking protea-filled bouquets. Get ready for that rush.Read More

Wedding Flowers: Blushing Bride Protea

by gaby

Blushing Bride Proteas

Move over, kings and pincushions – there’s a new bridal protea in town! Okay, not new exactly, but this season blushing bride proteas (maybe the most perfectly named wedding flower ever) have really come into their own. This recent SBB wedding featured a ton of them, and I had quite a few queries about what the pretty blush blooms with the lacey edges were, so I thought it was time for a dedicated roundup. One of the things I love best about blushing bride protea flowers is that they’re native to SA and, while you can find them all over the world now, they are one of our very own. The story has it that they’re nicknamed blushing brides because men on their way to propose to their beloveds would wear one in their buttonhole, and everyone in town would know (hence the bride’s blushes) – true or not, it’s such a sweet story! I absolutely love them on their own, but combined with other flowers, fillers and even berries, they add a special something in terms of texture to any arrangement. With a combination of romantic folklore, South African pride and sheer gorgeousness, they are perfect for your wedding day. Here are some of my favourites from around the web. *This post contains affiliate links. The cost to you remains the same, but SBB may receive a commission for any sales made.

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