Jules in action

What do you get when you team a photographer, a fitness model and a florist with bouquets and amazing architecture?  Great pics that encompass all the elements each of these professionals requires to showcase their talent!  The architecture and colours of Sydney's Town Hall are the perfect backdrop to capture the beauty of a bride on her big day, and the flowers she chooses to carry.

A big thanks must go to Sonia from 'Get Fit - Fitness Training' and Sophie from Sophie B Photography for their contribution to this little collaboration.  Despite the cold and the rain, we managed to get some beautiful shots of the flowers, the dresses and the location with of course Sonia being the main attraction!!!

Maroochydore wedding

Wired cymbidiums are a treat in any arrangement, but I do love them in bouquets the most.  They add such a touch of elegance and their retro appearance, when paired with sweet pea and akito roses, makes for an eyecatching piece.  The bride wore white, the maids green.  Maroon ranunculus in the maids bouquets complimented the throat of the cymbidiums and added a striking contrast to an otherwise neutral palette.






Lily of the Valley (or L.O.V.) was a treat to find in the markets that Friday morning, so of course was added to the mother's corsages.  The sweet scent was delightful and was worth the trouble taken to get them to QLD without them drying out!!  Thankyou to QANTAS baggage handlers for reading the hundreds of 'fragile' stickers plastered to the boxes!

First day of spring...best time to get married!

It was the first day of spring, and two head over heels in love people decided to share their special union with a handful of friends in Sydney before the bride's first ever figure competition!  Sonia was a vision in soft pink chiffon with a floral detail ruffle on her one shoulder greek inspired gown.  What better fashion choice than one that truly shows off the hard work put in over the last three months?!  The flowers were the perfect compliment to the subtle shade of pink Sonia chose.  Miniature peach roses, antique tea roses, blushing bride, white ranunculus, white freesias (including grandmas freesias from an obliging field), fresh Jasmine (from an overgrown fence...) and flowering vibernum were the perfect flowers to create the gypsy style posy bouquet which was wrapped with peach, yellow and cream striped grosgrain ribbon and pearl pins to boot.

It was the most romantic ceremony I think I've ever been privileged to witness, and although the bride was beset with a fit of giggles, the mood never wavered.  Fun, romantic and colourful.
GLR would like to thank Kezandi Photography http://kezandiphotography.com.au/ for their beautiful photos.  You can see more of Sonia and Glenn's wedding, visit facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.272063866157008.82089.175873782442684

St Andrews Cathedral Sneak Peak

Wednesday 17th August may have been overcast, drizzly and cold, but our delightful team braved the weather and produced a collection of photos that would rival anything Fashion Week will bring to the table!  The talented Ms Sophie B and myself came together with our lovely model (Ms S) to create some breathtaking shots that will impress and inspire.
Goddess Lilies, Forget-Me-Nots, Ranunculas, Freesias, Jonquils, Pearl Wax, Roses, Carnations and Cymbidium orchids (could it get any better? Ok, yes, Peonies would have topped it off nicely, but sadly they are not in season yet!!!)

St Andrews Cathedral provided the perfect backdrop, while the light drizzle added soft light and glistening foliage to the compositions.  A big thankyou to Sophie B for her divine photographic eye, and of course my lovely Ms S...you are beautiful, you are brave and you are an inspiration!!

More photos to come, check out our facebook page for more detail, including the limited edition Liberty of London fabric and broderie anglaise ruffle detail!

http://ilovepoppyandrose.com.au

Weddings are always a beautiful affair.  Bridesmaids, page boys and flower girls...flowers, flowers, flowers..."I Love Poppy and Rose" have discovered the secret to breathtaking flower girl attire...tutus!  In beautiful colour combinations, eccentric and quirky patterns (try black polka dots or mint green for a different spin on traditional...).  The tutus and exquisite matching tops from Poppy and Rose will give your special day that girly, carefree and intoxicatingly sweet aroma of happy, bygone days; where summer mornings were filled with watermelon and pink lemonade (for the pink tutu enthusiast) or mums Chanel perfume and iridescent opals (for the polka dot lover).
Give your little flower girls a day to remember, and present them with a Poppy and Rose tutu for your big day...they'll probably float down the aisle in sweet rapture with blissful happy smiles!!

Keith Wallace Cymbidium Nursery - NSW

I will NEVER get sick of Cymbidium Orchids.  I know that I tend to ramble on about these majestic, long lasting and colourful beauties; but really, can you blame me???  The other week I had the immense pleasure of travelling out to Keith Wallace's Cymbidium Nursery, and was met with more than just a couple of handsome men!  Keith and his mentor Gordon have been at the helm of cymbidium propagation for over 50 years.  The lengthy process was explained in such detail that I now have even more appreciation for the stems that miraculously appear every winter in the flower markets.  While you may be able to buy a cymbidium stem for your vase from a florist for say - $36 or thereabouts, the actual cost and time taken to produce that one stem is surely justified.
The flowers are actually 'artificially inseminated' (pardon the lack of verbal expression...) and are then painstakingly removed and nurtured until they form a seed pod (1 year).  From this, the seed is taken to a lab where it is grown in liquid agar (another year) until it is a small seedling.  It is then transplanted into a pot and nurtured until maturity (2 - 3 years) when it will produce a single stem (or two if you're lucky).  For those of you who have had the pleasure of seeing a MASSIVE, multi-stemmed cymbidium orchid at a lush hotel or gala event, please, bow in appreciation...it is at least 15 years old!!  The hard part is accepting that once it has stopped flowering, it is most likely 'disposed of'...sad.
This is just one lengthy process of propagation.  The hardest part is combining two plants in the hope of having a certain trait expressed in the offspring, only to find that there is a 1 in 250,000 chance of a single trait being acknowledged by the gene pool selection of the cymbidium orchid.
Hats off to Keith and Gordon...wowzers is all I can say!  A labour of love, and dedication to a true art.

Our Logo is ready!

After much anticipation and many alterations, additions and subtractions...our logo has finally emerged, and we couldn't be happier!  Designed by James at Red Rag Media, the logo is fresh, elegant and timeless.  Tell us what you think!

The second half of the year is proving to be quite busy, with a couple of exciting ventures coming up...including set design at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). Fefu and Her Friends opens 6th August and promises to be a thought provoking production which explores gender roles, sexuality, love between women, and insanity - it revels in the theatre of the absurd, slap stick and surrealism.  Come along and enjoy the set design (as well as the acting!!).

Weddings also abound, with two interstate adventures coming my way, and a wedding that promises to deliver some very intriguing photos due to its rather bizarre and very cool reception venue (sorry, can't say anymore than that on pain of death!!).  Stay tuned for some great photos.

Sophie B Photography and GLR are teaming up for a bridal/wedding photo shoot at St Andrews Cathedral in Sydney.  It will be a fun day full of coffee, beautiful flowers and stunning photography from one of Sydney's newest talents.  Models required, so feel free to recommend or submit yourselves!!!