TUSCAN CHIC | SHELLY + PHIL

This has got to be one of my favourites! Yes, these two were in love & obviously adored each other, so the romance was there and then some, but it was actually the last minute design change that I absolutely LOVED being challenged by. It was actually the reason this wedding ended up being so God damn glorious! 

In the early stages of the design, Shelly was totally infatuated with this beautiful 'into the woods', autumn toned, whimsical affair. We swapped many emails regarding the various styling treasures we would use & each & every bloom, making sure the colour pallet was perfection! As the wedding drew closer I could tell she was getting cold feet (from the design, not her beautiful fiancé!) & after meeting with her bestie I received the email confirming my feeling. See, her bestie is Skae, of Skae & Andy's Romeo & Juliet inspired bohemian luxe ethereal love fest. Skae's wedding was to take place a few weeks after Shelly's & although having your best friend able to empathise completely with the stresses & excitement of organising a wedding, the two beauties couldn't shake that perhaps their weddings would have been a little too similar. I tried to convince both that each were completely different (I would have told them if I thought this might happen) Shelly was ready to let go of her dream design to ensure both girls knew 100% nothing would be the same. Then the magic happened.... 

Shelly started sending me through the most refreshing organic, rustic yet romantic images all of which reminded me heavily of my time in Tuscany. Layered Terracotta pots, fresh fruit recently picked, wild foliage & pops of white & apricot bloom, old chandeliers and old timber accents. It was just SO dreamy and unlike any wedding I had ever seen! I loved it!!! Sent her an email telling her that I had all the treasures to make her wedding look exactly like the images, if not, better... challenge accepted!!! 

I started collecting off cuts of herbs, Tuscan inspired pot plants & endless terracotta! Matched on the day with gold modern cold candle sticks (for a little luxe) endless candles, fresh lemons & oranges, timber top tables, wild unstructured arrangements featuring deep green foliage, white & apricot blooms and layered white fabric (whimsical addition) and finally some hand picked Italian brunch inspired treasures, it was Tuscan perfection. 

My favourite feature and may be my favourite feature to date, was the epic bridal table. Phil had made various timber objects for the day but had built this incredible big timber open top box structure to be hung above the bridal table and it just completed the look. Sitting amongst the timber arches & rattan pendants the floral/branch  installation just ties everything together & is the cherry on top of the wow factor bridal space. 

I can't not say something about the magnificence that is Meribee. As a wedding venue it is sheer perfection. Catering to lovers that want to celebrate for the whole weekend, the venue comes with not only accomodation for many but with various magical ceremony spots, tennis courts, endless gardens & of course the recently completed barn. The barn itself is made for OTT stylists such as myself, with beams rigged with power points for extravagant lighting and bountiful floral installations (literally dreamy AF). They also supply various prices of wicker furniture & the all important timber top trestle tables. And because you have the entire site for the weekend, ample time to make the magic happen! HEAVEN. 

Lastly I need to give a shout out the crazy talented Mitch Pohl, who Shelly & Phil were very clever in hiring. His work is nothing less than art. He captures the kind of beauty that makes your heart skip a beat. I count my lucky stars he was there that day as my work could not have been captured better. 

If you're interested in recreating this style for your own event or wedding, get in touch!

Bridal Table

The GORGEOUS couple

Bouquet and THAT dress

It's all in the details

BACKYARD BOHEMIA | ASHLEY + ANGUS

What I could tell about these two right from the beginning was that they were already deeply committed to each other. That this crazy, fun, epic wedding would be merely making it official. With two beautiful babies in tow at every meeting, they weren't there to muck around. Ashley being who she is - a leader, utterly determined, strong and beautiful and an absolutely brilliant mother - knew what she wanted. Angus being who he is - laid back, endearing, hilariously funny, inherently good, and again, an absolute brilliant father - was happy to go with the flow. I'm not going to lie, this was a great combination! 

As a couple, I could feel where there energy's and qualities overlapped. They knew how to have fun. This was important in designing their day. They were both socially relaxed, both incredibly sentimental, and both loved & were loved deeply by their close knit family & friends. Spending a full two days at the property setting up meant I truly got to see how close knit this community of people were. It was difficult to see where the family stopped & the friends begun. They were always around, always helping, sandwiches being made, wine being poured, flower girls helping create anything flower related. Best men hung lights, fathers drilled much needed holes & screws into walls, mothers always making me feel part of the magic. It was very special. And as they deserved, as this bohemian backyard love fest took shape, it became the couple & all that loved them.

Initially everything was to set up outside, the crazy big lounge room only being used in case of rain. And of course the rain came. But hey, I love a challenge! As do the Coopers! The whole first 24 hours was spent gutting every room in the house, making way for the ceremony set up which would become the dance floor, the luxe and boozed up bar, the pallet wall flower installed photo booth and finally, the game of thrones inspired banquet table! Two tents set up on the lawn in the backyard were made into a Persian inspired she-sha lounge & grazing table & mood setting bohemian lounges were scattered around the garden for late night chats. 

As it was a backyard wedding set in a gloriously lush & tropical backyard, I decided foliage & greenery would be unnecessary, instead spending the budget on bountiful blooms of pinks, whites & burgundy. Brass, gold & amber treasures styled every room, every surface, working together with the chandeliers, draped fabric & rattan basket pendants, ultimately setting the scene for the bohemian luxe backyard loved up extravaganza that took place. 

The next day I went back & helped create bouquets from the flowers used for all that helped. I was sent home with more styling treasures then I got there with, two rings & a silver bangle (gifts from the bride & MOTG) and an endless supply of succulents that came from MOTG's mothers garden. I felt so much that this wedding made me a richer & more positive person, and if you could believe it, made me believe in the power of love & the concept of magic even more than I already did.

Finally the photography is by the ever talented Thomas Stewart who really brings out the love in the room.

TROPICAL CHIC | CHARLIE + CHRISTIAN

Set at the iconic Rushcutter's Bay, Charlie and Christian where a dream to work with. Choosing to do most things themselves, they pulled off a chic wedding against a breathtaking backdrop for as much as some would pay for an engagement party!

If you're interested in recreating this style for your own event or wedding, get in touch!

RUSTIC ELEGANCE | MADDY + DARREN

Maddy & Darren; opposites that have fallen in love and subsequently completed one another. I don’t mean this in the tacky way that is written about in ‘Your Getting Married cards’, but in a way that through being with one another, have become the best versions of themselves. 

Maddy is unbelievably poised & intelligent yet breathtakingly down to earth. Darren is a ‘bloke’, hilarious & driven yet wears his heart on his sleeve. He has softened her, she has made him braver. 

As in every wedding I design, the couples unique love needs to shine through, inspiring the vibe, the feel, the look. Maddy & Darren as a couple are down to earth, honest, strong & hopelessly in love. Maddy is attracted to vintage treasures & rustic beauty. And Darren, well, he is attracted to anything that makes Maddy happy. Darren only desires were to ensure there was scrumptious food, epic music, fabulous booze & endless good times. Tick, tick, tick!

The venue choice always has a sway with design. Bundanoon Trust, Riversdale Property. Sleek & modern with an industrial feel. The architecture of this beauty is, in one word; EPIC. Set amongst bountiful hills of endless green, overlooking an incredible river, it would be hard to make it look bad! Design wise, it offered a clean canvas, ready to do whatever we pleased.

In the end it was a layered masterpiece consisting of rustic timber pieces, romantic lighting, white floral combined with natives & greenery, organic table runners, fresh yet whimsical unstructured floral arrangements that sat amongst a vintage & somewhat retro table-scape. It was important to keep it soft & romantic yet clean & classic!

If you're interested in recreating this style for your own event or wedding, get in touch!

BOHEMIAN LUXE | Jerin-Lei + David

My wedding took place almost two years ago now, and what I didn't know at the time was that this beautiful, sacred handful of moments would birth my baby, Bohemian Blooms.

See, I had worked on the most incredible, earth-shatteringly romantic weddings for years and after my husband, it was the thing I loved most. But when my time finally came, it was a kind ofwhirlwind of passion & creativity that left me electrified & made my soul sing.

Unlike most of the weddings I had created, ours would be achieved on a teeny tiny budget. We had enough money to splurge but had a dream of buying a home within the same year, I had the experience & honestly, I was excited about the challenge! My husband-to-be David joined me in my enthusiasm for a cheap, DIY wedding but was a stickler for simplicity & hated the craziness that accompanied the kind of gloriously bountiful wedding I adored. I assured him we would be super organised, stick to our teeny tiny budget & hold off on any unwarranted challenges.

In the end, we set our hopelessly romantic hearts on a weekend destination wedding in the Byron Bay Hinterlands which entailed trucking and vanning 'styling' treasures (a combination of at least 150+hours of my bestie's & my time trawling op shops & my very generous boss allowing me to borrow my most favourite pieces) & gloriously beautiful flowers from the Sydney markets. We begged anyone that was driving to take crates upon crates of alcohol, pick up the beer kegs on the way whilst stopping in at the seafood markets to collect the prawns, salmon and oysters. We had loved ones cooking for us, baking for us, cocktailing for us, & playing music for us. Every day more family & friends arrived, taking on jobs of all sizes, lending their talents to get everything done. My bridesmaids were ridiculously fabulous & one of my favourite memories is sitting in the barn post rehearsal BBQ at 2am the night before the wedding, drinking too much wine whilst throwing bouquets together. It was an outrageous amount of work & passion that only LOVE could make happen.    

In short, it probably wasn't what my husband had expected, we definitely took on more than we should have & in turn gave our relationship a good old test! BUT my goodness, it was worth it;  BOHEMIAN LUXE PERFECTION. It was sexy, earthy, lush, a little weird and SO romantic. It was like a set from a Baz Luhrmann movie & so very unique. The fact that everyone in attendance contributed something was the ultimate kind of special, and was the cherry on top of the feast for the senses that was our wedding day. Even my very practical husband agrees that there was a kind of magic in the air the whole weekend, like fairy dust was thrown over everything and everyone. My one wish is that I could have bottled that energy and saved it for inevitable rainy days. 

So here it is. Bohemian Blooms. My passion, my love, my energy. The one thing that brings me back to my sense of self that sometimes having a (scrumptiously amazing) baby can leave me in short of. 

Enjoy.

Jerin-lei xx

The groom, Mr malacrida

walking down the aisle

ready for the ceremony

our vows

bohemian luxe - a love story