Concept to Completion

Occasionally i am approached by a bride in regards to coming up with a custom concept for her wedding, however it can be difficult to understand from a brides perspective how i will interpret all of the ideas and how the bouquet will come together.  Last year i had an opportunity to work with a lovely Aussie bride on this unique concept.  The idea was to take inspiration from a fresh flower and peacock feather bouquet she had found images of on the internet and turn it into a super bright and colourful display that could be kept as a forever keepsake from her wedding.

I loved the end result and hope you will to. This is the notes of how this particular bouquet came to fruition.

In the beginning……

Some time ago (many month in fact) a  bride came to me with some inspiration images to discuss the idea of creating her a bouquet for her wedding.  She had been recommended to me by a friend, however at the time i didn’t quite have a style that fit in with her ideas of how her bouquet may look.  That aside we chatted, exchanged notes and concepts and came up with a brief that the bride was happy with.

Brides inspiration……

The bride had saved a few images as inspiration to give an idea of the “look” of the bouquet she was looking for.  She also provided an image of the dress she was planning to purchase.  I make a point of creating unique styles, but inspiration images can help understand colour concepts, shapes, textures etc.  Its also a visual way of explaining what you are after and a good designer will be able to interpret those images with your notes and come up with a beautiful and unique concept for you.

The following are some of the inspiration images provided to me from the Bride.  I am not 100% sure of the original sources and have had no luck with google image searches, but if you know them please let me know so that i can give these people credit for their work.

The design brief……

The main parts of this brief from the bride were for the bouquet to be super bright colours inspired by peacock feathers.  (Think the bright blues, greens and pops of purple, she also wanted to have an almost purple/fucshia in there)  The bride wanted the bouquet to have a lumpy bumpy look and incorporate lots of textures such as feathers, wooden roses, silk flowers, fern fronds, beads, crystals and brooches.

Having a think about this i came up with the idea of also including some flax flowers from Sema @ Artiflax NZ, brightly coloured wire spirals, and custom colouring the silk flowers to ensure vibrancy and to mix up the colour and add sparkle.

When i was hunting for supplies i actually came across these peacock swords and after chatting with the bride we decided these were perfect for her bouquet.  The stems of the feathers are dyed (Teal and purple) which adds further colour to the bouquet.  Curling them over fits in with the wire curls and fern fronds.  The swords really shimmer in the sunlight and are a mix of bright blue, teal and greens, just perfect for this bouquet.

When it came to the handle and collar finish the bride had spotted some of my work from an earlier bouquet where she loved the handle and collar.  So for hers we simply replicated the same finish.  It was meant to be as i even had a perfect amount of the same two tone silk duiponi in my stash (a colour i can no longer buy)  The silk actually changes from purple to shades of green, depending on the way its reflecting the light.  The beautiful peacock sequin embellishment adds a striking finish, that helps to tie in the trimmed peacock feathers that adorn the collar.

The End Result…..

Loads of progress pictures go to the bride during the completion of a bouquet, but never more than when its a brand new concept.  Its particularly important with a new design that the bride is able to have confidence in me that i have understood the brief and that the bouquet is coming together the way she was hoping.

Its always going to be a risk going with a new idea, but for a bride that’s willing to step outside of her comfort zone, you can really get something truly fabulous.  Importantly in the case of my work the bride was already able to verify the finish and styles of other bouquets through my large online photo portfolio’s, so its a matter of trusting me (or your designer) to interpret the requirements right.

If you have an idea you would love to come to life, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.  I have a huge array of ideas just simmering in the background and am always ope to working with a bride on custom designs.