You’re engaged! Yay! You’re fizzing with excitement….and now, the planning begins!

Your wedding day is your day and should reflect your personalities, style and be a memorable experience for all your guests. I want to give you my insider tips so that you can make your wedding unique and an unforgettable experience for your guests.

In my last blog post, Ruby and James shared that including an experience or a surprise entertainment element for your guests, will make the day unforgettable. If you want amazing memories and nostalgic conversations for years to come, incorporate elements that make your guests brim with emotion, be it; surprise, happiness, joy, awe, wonder, or curiosity.

There are many ways to weave your personalities into your wedding day and evoke emotion (happy tears are guaranteed!) but florals are the most expressive, impactful, and fun way to engage your guests at the ceremony and reception. Florals add colour and intrigue to table settings and are great conversation starters no matter if your style is avant-garde, maximalist or minimalist.

My good friend and florist Graham of Tweed Twigs approaches florals as an experience of beauty. I hope you enjoy my Q&A where we unpack his creative inspiration and Graham shared his top three floral trends for the upcoming wedding season.

TWEED TWIGS FLORIST and creative

If ever philosophy, architecture, florals, sensory experience and romance were to intersect, it would be under the mastery of Graham Ho of Tweed Twigs.

Tweed Twigs is a multidisciplinary creative, drawing inspiration from his professional career as an architect to design floral installations and commissions to engage both event spaces and your guests. Marrying an understanding of space, texture, and ‘wow’ factor, his work will inspire conversation among guests and leave a memorable impression on your guests (hello Aunty Gladys!).

I’m so happy when I know I’m shooting weddings where my couples have trusted true creatives to bring their best work to your wedding day or event.

Tell us a bit about how you became the creative that you are today.

I want to say that I have always been reliant on the creative side of my brain since young and with everything I have embarked in. And with architecture which has been the backbone of my professional career, has allowed me to approach floristry less as a product but as a medium for me to explore and express ideas.

I've been told by a few people (mostly my mom) that my work is different and creative, and more often than not I don't set out to do that. For me, it is an ongoing study of shape and form - and the medium is flowers and natural ingredients.

Where do you get your inspiration for your styling? Is it lead by you or your couples?

I love botanical installations and I think one of the reasons is how it interacts with the space that it sits in. The inspiration always comes from a personal interaction from a client - a personal memory or a fragment in time that stands out. Likewise with an installation, it is ephemeral and an intervention that is not permanent. The key is impact and taking up visual and physical space for a short moment of time - which aligns with a wedding or celebration or an event. The architecture is permanent and immovable while the florals and memory becomes a print in the venue's history.

This is where I have the most fun because each couple or person is different - and the inspiration comes from them and because of that, no two installations are ever the same!

My inspiration could come from the colour of the jacket they first wore that sparked off a conversation, or it could be a family recipe that they love making together. These ingredients (pun intended) become fodder of the floral pieces that makes the day a little more special. How it comes into fruition is not a set method but I would like to say that I love to romance the ordinary, and change the perspective of how everyday ingredients are seen.

What are three styling trends do you see coming up for next season?  

1. FLORALS THAT CHALLENGE NORMS & PUSH BOUNDARIES

   I think we need to acknowledge that the Australian event season has seen the most spectacular floral work it has ever seen. All of my florist friends are pushing boundaries and challenging the norm. We are seeing a celebration of individuality together with the celebration of identity - whether it is of gender, personality, or culture. This in turn informs the styling and florals of an event. It is intentional, engaging, and full of empathy.
   

2. mix seasonal fruit & flowers

   The flowers have never been more personal and more original - cue to styling to the heavens of seasonal produce. So much for advice to never mix fruit and flowers together because the ethylene gas from ripening fruit will cause shorten the lifespan of flowers!

   I have enjoyed incorporating a couple's story into styling with fruits and flowers - for example using galangal to tie in a groom's heritage against waterlilies which echoes their first few dates in Thailand. The more personal the connection with produce, the more special the wedding.

3. PURPLE RENAISSANCE

   So I am not entirely sure but I feel like we will see lots of lilac and deep purples this season!

   Think French lavender with a European vibe paired with butter yellows to juicy deep purples of vanda orchids provide depth against tangerines and corals.

   The renaissance of purple is a broad world and we are only just starting! We saw it a lot on the runway this season with Prabal Gurung and who can forget Florence Pugh's monochromatic outfit in Venice while promoting 'Don't Worry Darling'. Or maybe Sandra Oh in that sequinned purple jumpsuit at the Emmys - either way, we are in for a purple summer!

What’s your top tip for couples when planning florals for an event space/wedding day?

I think my top tip for any event is to trust your vendors - especially when you have taken the time to get to know them and picked them for their expertise.

It can often be daunting to be planning the biggest day of your life but if you can pick a moment that you will absolutely not budge with - it is a great start to managing your budget and stylistic outcome. That ties in with communication and keeping an open mind to possible changes. We are facing an unprecedented shortage in terms of supply and manpower - and flowers have never been more expensive and heavy in demand. So by being open to options and communicate with your vendors!

I like to tell my couples that if you are short on budget, choose to invest in a statement floral piece rather than spread it thinly - it will be all Aunt Gladys can talk about for days.

Thanks Graham!

I hope you enjoyed this Q&A as much as I did,

Lei x

TWEED TWIGS

IG:@tweedtwigs

www.tweedtwigs.com