Els & Shaun

Wedding flowers in season in March, written six months ahead

Els and Shaun had chosen a Friday in March and Rickety Bridge in Franschhoek. On 11 September 2024, six months before the day, Josie sent Els a list of what March usually brings: roses, lilies, delphinium, alstroemeria, snapdragons, kalanchoe, lisianthus, scabiosa, zinnias and cosmos.

Els loved the list. We were glad, because a seasonal list is one of the most honest things a florist can give a bride. A photograph from the internet might have been taken in another country, in another month. A list like this says: these are the flowers that will be at their best on your day, here.

March in the Western Cape is late summer turning to autumn, and in the Winelands it is harvest time. The garden flowers are still going strong, zinnias and cosmos and scabiosa, and roses come in from the growers in every colour. It is a generous month to marry in, if you let it lead.

Proteas were the one flower Josie would not promise. She wrote the next day that she was hopeful, and explained why she could not be certain. South Africa's proteas are grown for the world as much as for us, and the weather and export demand decide how many reach the local market in any given week. A good florist says so early, and plans a version of the flowers that would still be beautiful without them. Our page on proteas says more about these flowers and their seasons.

A protea wedding bouquet with red roses and deep red dahlias

Els's first idea for her bouquet was beautifully simple: one protea and some fynbos. A bouquet that looked as if it had been picked on the walk to the ceremony.

In February she sent a new photograph. She wanted something smaller and seasonal, "with some nice colours". The month before a wedding is often when a bride sees her bouquet clearly for the first time, and we always welcome the new picture. It tells us she is thinking about the day as it will really feel.

The bouquet Els carried has a king protea at its heart, its pale pink crown open and wide. Around it sit deep red roses, red dahlias, orange crocosmia and thin spires of blue veronica, with greenery loosely through it all. If you are choosing your own, our notes on finding your perfect bouquet may help. The colours here are warm and late-summer, and the veronica runs cool lines through them like a breath of air.

The king protea is South Africa's national flower and has the largest flower head of any protea. It is a flower with presence. It does not need much around it, and it holds its shape for hours out of water, which matters on a warm March afternoon.

Afterwards Els wrote that it was better than she had imagined. Few sentences mean more to a florist.

Rickety Bridge wedding arch flowers, with proteas and blue hydrangea

At the end of January Els sent us a photograph of the arch. It belongs to the venue, and that is always useful to know early. We plan the flowers around the real structure, its height and its shape, and nothing has to be built or brought in.

The arch flowers were planned with proteas, and blue hydrangeas at Els's request. It is a combination we would choose ourselves: the warm, dusky tones of protea against the clear, cool blue of hydrangea. For more ways to use hydrangeas, see our hydrangea arrangement ideas.

Petals for the confetti were planned in a large glass bowl, so that guests could reach in and take a handful. We like this more than paper cones. It is generous, it saves fiddling, and there is something nice about a bowl of petals being dipped into by many hands on the way out.

On 17 February Josie wrote to Els: "Please enjoy this time before your wedding, the day flies by so quickly." It is advice we give often, because those last weeks so easily disappear into lists.

Late in February Josie and Els met on a WhatsApp video call. The next day Josie wrote that it had been "lovely to meet you yesterday". Some couples we meet in the studio. Some we meet on a phone screen. The flowers turn out just as well either way, as long as we have talked.

Setting up at a Franschhoek wedding venue before the guests arrive

Els and Shaun stayed in the Manor House at Rickety Bridge, so the bride's flowers did not have far to go on the day. Josie's plan was to hand Els her bouquet in person.

It is a small gesture, and it matters. The bouquet is the one piece of a wedding that is made for a single person, and giving it into her hands is different from leaving it in a box.

Guests were due at half past three for a four o'clock ceremony. Our team finished the set-up by a quarter to three, so the photographer could photograph the tables, the arch and the details while the space was still quiet and empty. Those pictures are worth the early start. Once guests arrive, nobody sees a table from end to end again.

On Saturday morning, before noon, we came back for the vases and candles. There is a particular stillness to a venue the morning after a wedding. The chairs are stacked, the bottles are empty, and the place is quietly itself again.

Franschhoek wedding flowers, seen through friends' eyes

The day after the wedding Els wrote to us. "Thank you so much for the fabulous flowers! They looked extremely beautiful!" And then: "You really made our wedding look stunning! The guests still can't stop talking about how beautiful the flowers were."

Josie wrote back the next day to say it had been a pleasure working with her and doing her flowers.

Towards the end of March Els sent four photographs taken by friends. We love these as much as any professional set. Pictures taken by friends show a wedding the way guests saw it, from their seats and between conversations. The flowers in them are the flowers people actually noticed.

Single stems, a bowl of petals, one king protea in a bride's hands: none of it was large, and all of it was seen.