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Weddings are, for the most part, days you wish to remember for a lifetime- moments like clinks of champagne glasses, nervous giggles between bridesmaids and rustles of the bouquet as it’s thrown over the bride’s shoulder. This is why we love dried florals, they last forever and serve as a heartwarming reminder of the best day of your life! Our adoration for them, however, surpasses their longevity and beauty… read on to learn why we, and our happy couples have opted for dried over fresh wedding arrangements. 

Minimal Wastage 

Any floral arrangement comes with an element of excess, where stems or leaves are leftover after your beautiful bouquets have been built. The unfortunate consequence of fresh flowers is that, unless another arrangement can be immediately created and sold, these excess stems tend to go to waste. 

Thankfully, dried flowers don’t have an expiration date, so any remaining pieces can be saved and put to good use when the time is right. This means your wedding florals are essentially waste free, and a far more environmentally friendly alternative! An additional benefit of minimal waste lends to affordability; a couple’s floral budget can go far further with dried flowers and they are a far more cost-effective option. 

Set and Forget 

Any bride or groom could do with a little less stress when organising a wedding, which is another reason why we love dried florals. Unlike dried and preserved arrangements, there are many factors to consider when ordering fresh - the season, availability and refrigeration all affecting whether your dream bouquet can be achieved. 

With dried flowers, everything (in 2022) can be ordered well in advance and it’s far easier to predict availability so you can set and forget. Imagine your wedding flowers being the easiest part of the day to organise… what a dream! They’re also easily transported to and from your wedding venue as they don’t require refrigeration; in fact, they can even be dropped off in advance so you can tick off at least one thing from the “on the day to-do list”. 

Locally Grown 

At Gather, we are proud to use predominantly local flowers and greenery, which is so important in today’s floral industry. The majority of fresh flowers are sourced from overseas with completely different regulations, leading to inexplicable amounts of pesticides and chemicals used in their production. By choosing to adorn your wedding with dried florals, you are supporting Australian businesses and opting for a more natural wedding accessory. 

Re-use, Re-gift, Recycle! 

Now, our favourite thing of all about dried flowers - the endless uses! If you’d like to keep your arrangements together to preserve your memory of the day, they’ll last for many years over. Better yet, if placed in a beautiful vase they can be used as centrepieces for special events or around the house to compliment your decor. The arbour pieces can even be attached to the wall or suspended from ceilings. They really are the flowers that keep on giving!

 

 

If you feel like getting creative, you could even pull them apart and re-create arrangements to better suit your home. Think of it as giving your flowers a new life, or celebrating this exciting, new post-wedding chapter. 

If you’re beginning to put the pieces of your wedding day together and have taken an interest in dried flowers, visit us in store or browse our selection of wedding bouquets at gatheraustralia.com.au

To our 2021 wedding gallery>>

To our old wedding gallery>>

 

   

    Kayla Malss

    Product photographer & copywriter

Today, no corporate styling service can afford not to draw their clients’ attention to the main benefits of dried flowers. Here’s why.

The ins and outs of corporate flower styling

Offering flowers as a corporate styling solution is always a great idea, but over the last few years, cut flowers in vases have become a more of an anti-eco-conscious statement than ever before. And this is not a message companies and corporations want to send.

There are so many reasons why fresh flowers are capable of sending the wrong message to people. Too many air miles, too big of a carbon footprint, lack of seasonality, and let’s not forget the need to change the water in the vase every day or else you run the risk of stinking out a room with stagnant water funk!

If those don’t sound like good enough reasons to change your corporate styling to dried flowers, then maybe these will.

 

 

IN: Dried flowers can be styled to look oh-so-modern

The natural hues and tones are back in a really big way. Once it was all about endless platforms of blonde wood and millennial pinks, but now corporate styling is set to reflect a more thoughtful tone; think natural wood tones and earthen hues.

Dried flowers are the ideal way to segue your corporate style back into neutral territory. With their organic structures and shapes, delicately muted colours, and feel-me textures, dried flowers like soft pampas grass and spikey proteas simply scream a new modern approach to decoration.

Add to that the fact dried flowers are low maintenance, on-trend, and also happen to last pretty much forever, and you’ll see why corporate events and lobbies are investing in dried flower arrangements in a big way.

Corporate dried flower tips:

• Remember to keep containers and vases modern and minimal. Avoid the fussy look like rustic art glass or crystal cut: think clean, long lines and curves to emphasize the beauty of dried flowers
• If the dried flowers you need are for a once-off corporate event, encourage attendees to interact with the dried flowers – they won’t bruise or fade, nor do they have any pesky pollen making people sneeze or stain their clothes
• Experiment with different Australian varieties: leucadendrons; anthiriums; peonies; dahlias. The choice is yours. You can kiss seasonality goodbye when you use dried flowers because they are harvested, dried, and stored all year round.

 

OUT: Garish day-glow dyed dried flowers

Fresh or dried, those multi-coloured, rainbow dyed flowers are corporate styling roadkill. Sure, they might have been a fun way to spark a conversation around the table once, but now they just look entirely inappropriate an any corporate event, and certainly don’t belong in a boardroom.

If you want to add a specific tone or colour to the dried flower arrangement at your next corporate event (companies have been known to request custom flower colours in keeping with their logo or connected to the season), it is possible to contact your nearest dried flower provider. They will discuss the dried flower colours they have available, and might even be able to source a specific shade for you.

The main benefits of knowing why the pros of dried flowers outweigh the cons of fresh ones

If your client wants to understand why you are pushing the benefits of using dried flowers for corporate styling, it’s easy to list the reasons – because there are so many! For special corporate events or an eye-catching display in a waiting room or lobby, dried flowers are storming company’s board rooms all over Australia.

1. We are all beginning to care about living sustainably, and never is this more so than the shift away from fresh cut flowers. By choosing dried flowers that have been locally grown and have zero air miles attached to them (transporting dried flowers is super-easy because they are so light), it shows the customer that the company cares. It’s also great to have the chance to support your local flower growers, and dried flower suppliers and distributors!
2. After a while, when people see a fresh flower arrangement comprising of imported, out of season blooms, it will shout out to them ‘conspicuous consumption,’ and no one wants to hop on that band wagon.
3. Sustainability is more than a buzz word, it’s become a way of life. And this, more than anything else, had tolled the death bell for imported, out of season, fresh flowers.
4. When did you last see a display of faux luxe flowers? You know the ones we’re talking about – the silk flowers or plastic flowers that are always ever so slightly dusty or ragged round the edges. They have been consigned to the corporate styling solutions from hell box forever, and with good reason. Why have a fake flower arrangement in your company showroom, when you can have an ikebana-inspired dried flower arrangement that lasts for an extremely long time, but also somehow manages to look effortlessly organic and natural. Dried flowers haven’t only eliminated the need for fresh flowers, they pushed faux flowers out of the spotlight too.
5. Ikebana enthusiasts embrace this art form’s aesthetic of including the flower’s imperfections and natural curves. And what better way to do this than with dried flowers? This style works very well with the nature-driven undercurrent in corporate interiors right now.

Not all corporate flowers tick the styling boxes these days. There’s been a real change over the last few years, and it’s up to you to tell your clients about it. Yes, even today, with water increasingly becoming a precious commodity and pollution growing at such an alarming rate, there are still those companies out there – hotels, banks, and global brands – that insist on presenting their customers with flowers to greet them.

As corporate styling solutions lean more toward dried flowers to express their clients’ individuality and eco-consciousness, and consign fresh and faux flowers to the waste bin of history, the local dried flower producers out there will not only thank them, they will rise to meet any corporate styling challenge that comes to their attention.

An elegant bunch of seasonal dried flowers can bring a flair of vintage refinement or classic cottagey cosiness to any space. It all depends on which colours you choose and how you arrange them. Welcome spring/summer vibes into your home or business store front with a specially selected bunch of preserved native flower, fern, and grass species.

Creating your own dried flower bouquets and arrangements at home means you can say goodbye to fresh flowers that wilt after a few days in a vase. Dried flowers will bring a gorgeous, Instagram post-worthy feature to any room. If you are lucky enough to have a dried flower bar in a city near you (Perth, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney) or a friendly dried flower supplier who is willing to ship these seasonal beauties directly to you, you can have a go at making your own DIY dried flower bouquets at home – it’s easier than you think.

Why do dried flower last for so long?

You may not believe it, but dried flowers, fern, and grasses are very different from dead or wilted ones. They are handpicked fresh from indigenous Australian flower farms while at their peak and preserved so that their natural beauty lasts indefinitely. Any fresh flower bouquet can be turned into memorable vintage dried flower art, but if you don’t want to dedicate a room in your house to drying fresh flowers or prefer to choose from a wider choice of colours, textures, and varieties, then stick to buying from dried flower bars.

Flowers are dried out in a way that removes all the moisture from the stems, while still retaining the original shape and unique beauty of the flower. Flower drying is an art, long used to preserve flowers with sentimental value. Most flowers, grasses, and ferns can be dried, but some adapt more easily to the process.

Artisanal dried flower experts know which flowers to choose and when is the best time to pick them. They seek out fresh flowers just shy of being full bloom, and with buds changing from tight to open. Flowers that have past their peak and with petals already starting to fall are no longer viable dried flower contenders. Also, look for flowers with thick, straight, long stems – they are ideal for making bigger bunches and are easier to tie together, if you are going for a bouquet.

Flowers with low moisture content:

• Hydrangeas
• Celosia
• Gypsophylia
• Fynbos (native South African flowers)
• Roses

Various ways to dry out the flowers:

• Air-dry – hanging flowers upside down in bunches in a cool, darkened, low-humidity room.
• Silica gel – place silica gel with the flowers into a microwaveable container. Microwave on defrost setting for 2 – 5 minutes, depending on microwave and flower amounts. Brush off silica and allow to rest in a dark, dry room for one day.
• Try microwaving flowers directly in the microwave without the silica gel. You might need a few trial runs before you find the right time = number of flowers ratio.
• Use hairspray to stop the dry petals and leaves from breaking.

Getting started with dried flower arranging

Have a look at the space where you want to place your dried flower arrangement, and select colours and textures that will enhance it. If your decor is minimalistic, stay away from large, circular designs and stick to vertical, linear angles such as the ones you will get from grasses or tall, long stemmed flowers. Suit the vase to the room as well if you plan on making a dried flower arrangement or think about the paper in which you will be presenting the bouquet.

Choose large, long stemmed flowers first. These provide the foundation or base of your bouquet. Think hydrangeas, sunflowers, and large varieties of roses – the bigger, the better. This foundation of large flowers is going to be the focal point of your dried flower arrangement. Remember that texture is also an important factor. Grasses like barley or wheat, raw cotton balls still on the cotton plant, and pussy willow are wonderful textural contrasts to flowers.

Next, choose smaller dried flowers to complement the base structure, like gypsophila (baby’s breath), cornflowers, and fern leaves. You can build around a colour or theme, construct a particular shape or height, or gather the blooms tightly or loosely – it’s all in your hands!

If you’ve managed to get hold of some striking-looking dried wheat or barley stalks, but haven’t gotten around to drying out sunflowers to go with it, no need to worry because there’s no law saying that you can’t mix dried flowers with fresh ones! Just place the two types of flowers together in your bouquet and present them with a smile.

Once you have put your dried flowers altogether in a way that pleases you, use string or twine to secure the position of the flowers. You can wrap the bouquet in coloured or transparent cellophane, tissue paper, wrapping paper, or use all three. Make sure the string is tied around the stems thoughtfully and artistically, because if you or the lucky recipient put the bouquet into a glass vase, it will be on show alongside the stems.

What else can you do with dried flower arrangements and bouquets?

Fresh flowers don’t own the rights to wonderful scent anymore. Just a few drops of your favourite floral essential oils – jasmine, lily of the valley, rose, even lemon or orange – can perfume an entire vintage dried flower bouquet.

After you have secured your flowers with string or ribbon, gently drop a few beads of essential oils onto the flowers, leaves, and stems. Now, your dried flowers don’t just look good, but they smell amazing too. You can refresh them at any time with more essential oil drops.

There you have it – everything you need to know about using dried flowers to beautify your home or office, or even to give to someone you think is very special. Decorating with stunning vintage-looking dried flowers as a hobby can even be turned into a viable business if you realize you have a flair for doing it. It’s a beautiful way of bringing the seasons into your home on a budget.

 

 

Dried flowers have spent the last decade kicking their old fashioned reputation to the kerb. This sensational floral revival ticks all the right boxes: they are eco-friendly, practical, beautiful, and last for ages. What more could a wedding planner or bride want?

Dried flowers are replacing fresh and imported blooms as the go-to bridal bouquet for a reason. It’s hard to not fall in love with their sun bleached beauty, subtle hues, and variety of textures. From Perth to the Gold Coast and everywhere in between, the year’s biggest floristry trend has got to be dried flowers grown right here in Australia.

The appeal of dried flowers doesn’t just stop at bouquets. Boutonnières, table setting decor, backdrops, centrepieces, and picturesque arches for photo ops are all getting the dried flower makeover treatment. Beach wedding? Think dried palm leaves, baskets of grasses and rushes, and earthenware pots of seeds. Formal black tie do? How gorgeous would dried ornamental branches with touches of bamboo and fronds of dried ferns be? The possibilities are endless.

Because dried flowers lend themselves to versatility so effortlessly, you can pick a colour scheme, thematic flower, or mix elements until you find the ideal combination for what you have in mind.

And believe us when we say the wedding cake will be eaten and the gifts unwrapped, and your beautiful dried flower wedding bouquet will still be as picture-perfect as the day you got married!

 

 

The corporate & hospitality industry image is set to become all about dried flowers

 

For the last one hundred years, visitors walking into hotels and corporate entrance halls and lobbies could be assured of one thing - there was always going to be a big bowl of fresh flowers positioned somewhere within eyesight.

That ostentatious display of nature’s bounty was seen to represent many things; success, luxury, and a warm welcome.

With the rapidly changing business and hospitality landscape, fresh flowers are kind of seen as so last century. The workforce stays at home and so do most of the visitors. Banks have apps, brokers use Zoom, and businesses have websites.

A clean, modern approach to decor has permeated the hospitality industry as well. Air B&Bs leave little notes saying how to use the entertainment system, self-catering accommodation place a tin of bikkies next to the kettle, and hotels are leaning more toward trimming the non-essentials and passing those savings onto the customer.

And then they discovered dried flower bouquets. Corporate entrances and hotel lobbies will never be the same again! Visitors still get a floral arrangement greeting them when they walk through the door, but it’s no longer seen as wasteful because a corporate or hospitality dried flower arrangement lasts forever.

It’s possible to dry almost any flower and foliage. Once they are dry, there’s no shedding, no pollen, no water spillage, and no expensive florist accounts are needed to replace the arrangements every few days. As far as the corporate and hospitality industries are concerned, making the move to dried flower arrangements is a win-win.

Dried floral bouquets don’t limit a colour scheme or image. There is a wide choice of themes and textures available: bold stems in pastels or dark earthy colours, seed pods, and ethereal grasses.

• Grasses – barley, wheat, pampas, fern, and catkins
• Leaves – eucalyptus, bay, laurel
• Fronds – palm, foxtail, bulrush
• Branches - Silver dollar lunaria, cotton bolls, pussy willow
• Plants - Thistles, artichokes, craspedia
• Flowers – Proteas, hydrangeas, roses,
• Pods – physalis, lotus, poppy

But what about the beautiful scent a big fresh flower arrangement brings to a lobby, some of you may be asking? The hospitality industry uses diffusers filled with luxury scents (linked to the seasons) for their lobbies, communal areas, and guest’s rooms now.

Dried flowers bring elegance, beauty, and an eco-conscious ethos to corporations and accommodation suppliers. And the best thing is: there will be no more angry guests asking how they are going to get stamen pollen out of their clothing!

We’ve all been there. December is fast approaching and you still haven’t found interesting, original, unique Xmas gifts for your nearest and dearest. Every time you set your mind to solving the problem, you get stuck in a Wine of the Month subscription/iTunes gift card/perfume rut, and can’t seem to be able to dig your way out of it.

Next thing you know, you’re in the store at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, acting like a rugby scrum half and buying any old thing you can lay your hands on. Hey – it’s either that or purchasing something from the shop in the gas station forecourt, right?

This list is here to help. Want to know the top ten most original gifts you can get for someone this Xmas? Look no further than the simply scintillating gift ideas on this list. Even if you like to get your Christmas presents out of the way early in October, you can still buy these unique gift ideas for your loved ones. And of course, don't forget to browse our wonderful gift boxes collection. 

1. Best Xmas gift for that special man in your life

Like they say on their website, Aussie Brewery Tours (ten years old and going stronger than ever) want people from all over the world to celebrate – and it can be a wedding, birthday, holiday, or sports team you’re celebrating – just so long as it’s done with old friends and even gives you a chance to meet new ones!

There’s not a single man in Australia and New Zealand – they tour there too – who would turn down the chance to visit the best breweries, cideries, distilleries, wineries, and food makers and creators in the world. So, consider getting a gift card or booking a tour for your beer-loving partner here. If your male partner is on a cleanse or avoiding alcohol in preparation for a New Year resolution, Solid State original colognes and grooming products will put a smile (and a nice smell too!) on his face.

2. Best Xmas gift for grandparents

Xmas shopping for grandparents is a nightmare. They already have an attic full of everything, yet the smile on their faces when you hand them another pair of socks is as happy as if it were the key to the city.

If your grandparents love to potter around with their indoor pot plants (and we’re betting yours definitely do) they will love, love, love a bottle of indoor plant food from The Plant Runner. This wonder-food for indoor plants is not called the magic pot plant elixir for nothing. And if outdoor pot plants are more your grandparents’ thing, fear not! Take a decko at their fully amazing range of (deep breath) cacti/ aroid potting mixes, neem oil, and everything plant care, homeware, coffee/tea, planters/pots/hangers oriented.

If you hand gran or gramps a Plant Runner gift card, they will want one every year – guaranteed.

3. Best Xmas gift for friends

The most outstanding gift for a best friend, boss, work colleague, or next door neighbour has to be something interesting from Degoey Planet. Be warned, some of the pieces are really edgy/leftfield – but this is actually what makes them ideal for those really hard-to-buy-for people who have everything or who you just don’t want to underwhelm with a tin of bikkies.

Anything you buy on this intriguing site is guaranteed to be more than a most welcome gift – it’s sure to be the ultimate conversation starter for the rest of their life. Don’t take our word for it, follow the link and see for yourself – you won’t be disappointed.

4. Best Xmas gift for teens

The aim of every parent this Christmas should be to get their teen out of the bedroom and away from their tech. The solution? Lure them into the great outdoors and protect their skin at the same time with a we are feel good inc sunscreen product gift pack. These non-greasy/high protection/water resistant for 4 hours/Made in Oz little lovelies will have your teen cavorting under the sun and in the water with zero short, mid, and long term sun damage.

5. Best Xmas gift for kids

We can’t get enough of the utterly unique Slow Down Studio website where you are sure to find something for every child under the sun. From adorable inflatable pools to soft rugs for your kid’s bedroom, you will be spoilt for choice finding a pressie for the children here.

6. Best Xmas gift for singles

It’s very tempting to buy something with a “Made Somewhere on the Asian Continent” sticker on it at Christmas, but if there is one time to try and think outside the box, it has to be at Christmas.

One of the most outstanding sites for singles and young people who have made it clear they are anti-mass production, is Milk & Moss. Believe us when we say, you will find the ideal Xmas gift for the single-minded single person in your family here!

7. Best Xmas gift for parents (dads)

See dad’s eyes light up when you hand him one of the amazing products from the Land & Sand Essentials site. Made from 100% recycled materials and very handy for all those outside barbies dad has planned over the festive season.

8. Best Xmas gift for parents (mums)

Mum’s deserve an extra special spoiling on Xmas day. What could be a better way to do it them to gift her something from cleanse & co. ? The company promises to get the wonderful lady in your life feeling whole and healed in record time and if that isn’t the perfect Christmas gift for a mother, we don’t know what is.

9. Best Xmas gift for dogs

Your fur baby might not know it’s Christmas, but that won’t stop them from picking up on the whole excitement of it all. Get your hairier companions something to let them know you appreciate their unfailing love and friendship. Try lining their basket or special spot with a blanket from the eclectic and desirable Wandering folk picnic rug collection. It’s the canine equivalent of the gift that keeps on giving.

And if your furry pal is a bit naughty with textiles, by all means keep these gorgeous handmade blankets for yourself. Watch other picnic enthusiasts rubber neck when you walk past them with one of these woven gems over your shoulder!

10. Best Xmas gift for women aged 18 – 80...in fact anyone and everyone who appreciates and loves beauty and originality!

If you haven’t heard about the vibey-est dried flower bar in Queensland yet, you will now! GATHER is the brain child of two clever Kiwis who originated the brilliant concept of capturing the essence of each Australian season in dried flower form. Their Everyday Bouquets last as long as you want them to, and even get better with age.

Imagine being able to write on this year’s Christmas present tag: “Because you’re special, not just on this day, but on every day and the years to come.” Because that’s how long a GATHER bouquet lasts. No need to chuck these beauts out with the Xmas tree.

Even folks in the UK can order an Everyday Bouquet to be delivered to someone they love in Australia for Christmas. Did we mention GATHER dried flower arrangements come in a variety of themes and colour schemes? And every single one of them will make a perfect Christmas gift for any woman (or man) aged 18 to 80 years old.

Hope you find this helpful : )

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone out there.