My bridal faux pas

Back in autumn 2018 I got married. I was a very low key bride, perhaps a bit nonchalant, but where I did spend my time was in the minutiae of the details. We had an autumn wedding so the theming was obvious, the colours pretty standout too! And so my brief to the decor supplier, supervised by my legendary friend Josie, was autumnal themes, the colours as the leaves turn.

My great friend Hannah was roped in for her flower flair - she foraged around the garden (and the neighbour's) and popped together a stunning bouquet using purchased blooms and foraged accents and trailing foliage. The flowers I outsourced were orange and burgundy chrysanthemums, red yellow and orange gerberas, red tulips, burgundy and orange callas and some red berries.

I looked back on this order recently with fresh eyes...knowing what I know now about the flower industry. Tulips in autumn!! Buying red berries when I could have foraged myself! And yes, although the chrysanthemums, gerberas and callas were in season - just - they were flown in from Christchurch.

Back then it did not occur to me that the flowers would have had to accrue air miles to get down to Queenstown. It therefore didn’t resonate with me that flying flowers in from somewhere else would impact the planet negatively but probably also see me end up with flowers that had been sprayed with a preservative to keep them fresh. Who knows how tulips were available...I have since found out they are forced out of season using Dutch bulbs! Quelle horreur!

But why did I even have to go out of region? Because back then, florists imported (for want of a better term) all their flowers from around our country into the Whakatipu Basin through wholesalers. Back then I daresay there may not have been many options in our backyard in the form of flower farms. Especially not in autumn. I get it...but I don't want that ethos to persist.

Our growing philosophy is underpinned by growing and supplying flowers that are nurtured here on site, literally in my backyard. The flowers will follow the seasons, embrace the world with colours and textures and give back to the land by how they are grown. I want to add value, not take it away.