Simply_me: Practice makes perfect.

It has been very quiet here in Pretoria lately. I don’t know if it is the rainy and cold weather or whether people are just not spending money on luxuries such as flowers. All I know is that I am in desperate need of a flower fix. It is the only thing that will make these gloomy days appear happier and more colourful!

I had my first wedding two weeks ago. The bride was looking for a loose, white arrangement with an ivy waterfall effect and she had already bought all of the glass containers. At first, it sounded easy but later it became a difficult task for me as the bride was on a tight budget and I am more at ease with stylized flower arranging. Luckily I had a back-up plan.

This plan involved my mom to make a 4 hour trip from Ladybrand to Pretoria. We (my mom and dear friend, Elonah) spent hours in my garage perfecting the loose and typical “Bruidsgids” design required for this Bushveld wedding. After much deliberation, we decided to convince the bride that Ivy waterfalls were not the way forward and Elonah came up with the idea to modify beaded candle holders rings into a ‘waterfall’ replacement. We used the remaining rings as a ‘frame’ for small posies, which was used next to the aisle in the chapel and later to be used as hanging décor in the venue.

On the day of the wedding, we packed up the cars at 6 am and drove the 40km north to the venue. We started at around 07:30 and only finished at 15:00. I still underestimate the time it takes to arrange flowers but when I look at the final results, it is all worth it.

The style of the flowers in not necessarily what I love doing but it is still great experience. I had a lot of fun with the bride’s table as I was able to use small, mirror boxes instead of the tall glass containers. I chose Lizzy’s, Irish Bells, Chinks, Delphiniums and White Roses for these arrangements. I enjoyed using different textures and shades of white and green. I would call these my type of designs (does not include compulsory butterfly).

I am still looking for work in events and/or floral design, for some reason I have not been able to convince anyone that I will be worth a try. But until I can find this perfect job, I will keep myself busy. The more I do the more I can only learn.

I would like to say thank you to my mom and Elonah (en tannie Renee) for all your help and dedication to make my dream and passion a reality. We are definitely a force to be reckoned with. Just watch this space!

Practice rounds that did not make the cut.