Babiana Botanic makes incredible, unique floral designs, thanks to the fine-art background of it’s founder, Anna. We worked together on the wedding of Pepe and Sam at The Line (officiated by Nat Sproal), and we chat a little about her incredibly unique approach to Melbourne florals.

To see more of her impossibly innovative work, check out the wedding of Pepe and Sam featured here (Hello May Wedding Photographer), available on news stands today.

So who are you, what do your friends think you do, and what do you actually do?

I’m Anna of Babiana Botanic. Most people think working with flowers “must be so lovely and relaxing!”

And yeah, sure – I love what I do and it is at times, lovely and relaxing – but its also 3am wake-ups to get the best flowers at market, long days creating arrangements, carrying buckets up and down stairs of beautiful old venues that don’t have lift access, hands covered in cuts, 1am pack-downs – it can be a brutal job – which just shows you’ve got to really love it – and I do!

I have a Bachelor of Fine Art and have always loved flowers and nature.

My love of Art Nouveau inspired me into the floristry industry where I can create works of art with nature, for people on their wedding days or for other amazing events.

What excites you most about the culture of weddings in Melbourne?

I love doing weddings in Melbourne because it is such a melting pot of people. It means you get such a wide range of clients with a diverse set of needs. There are also so many creative people in Melbourne who want a wedding that stands out and is unique to them.

It means that I get to create amazing colourful weddings, weddings with nods to the couples cultures (Indian, Macedonian, etc), and contemporary weddings that are a little different.

What do you feel separates Babiana Botanic from those around you in your line of work?

What makes Babiana Botanic special is that we are not afraid to use colour and create something unique. We like to think about flowers as an art form and creating works of art specific to each couple.

How have you kept your business healthy during Covid, and how might couples now benefit from it?

We’ve been offering flower delivery to people’s homes during this time off so that we are still working with flowers and offering something to brighten people’s days. We’ve also been in contact and working with all of our couples who have had to postpone their weddings and events to ensure we can go ahead when all these restrictions ease.

How do you see the future of celebrations in our city and what mark do you want to leave on it?

I think post-covid, there will be a move towards more intimate weddings with just your closest family and friends, and a move away from feeling the need for a big wedding where you have to invite your third-cousin-twice-removed and that friend you haven’t seen since high-school.

I love colour and doing things differently – and that’s the mark I would like to leave. I want couples to come to me wanting beautiful, quirky, colourful and different designs.

Find Babiana Botanic

Babiana Botanic website: https://www.babianabotanic.com/

Head to this post for more incredible unique florists in Melbourne.

More unique Melbourne wedding flowers: 10 awesome florists

Hunting for a wedding florist Melbourne or beyond? There are so many incredible florists in our home state, but these maestros really stand out from the crowd and produce some of the best wedding flowers Melbourne has on offer.

It can be a challenge finding a florist to collaborate on your vision (or share their own), and there are so many moving parts, such as logistics, seasonality, and more.

So I thought I’d compile a list of 10 of the most unique florists in Melbourne: scientists, wizards, aliens of the floral game, making things you’d never expect to see at weddings. But this is what we’ve come to expect from Melbourne – innovation, and wedding floristry was never going to be exempt!

Get around these floral masterminds, whether you’re planning a Melbourne City Elopement during Covid 19, a wedding at one of these brilliant small wedding venues or something bigger down the line, these florists Melbourne and beyond have done it all.

Top 10 wedding florists in Melbourne

1. Hollingsworth Studio
2. Babiana Botanic
3. Raven and the Rose
4. Good Grace and Humour
5. Katie Marx Flowers
6. The Flower District
7. Bloom Boy
8. Sassafras Flower design
9. Georgie Boy
10. North St Botanical
11. Flowers St Germain

Flowers are a significant part of the style and feel of a wedding and in how they shape a space. The bouquets, table settings and accents to the decor all set the tone of a space and have more of an impact on the day than you might imagine.

The incredible photo and ceremony backdrops (especially this slice of genius by Hollingsworth Studio) will be the talk of the town (or at least your mob of mates) for years to come. If you’re going to spend cash you need to spend it with the right people, which means a small crew who are personally invested and creative masterminds in their own right.

The wedding florist you want on your team isn’t just one who can take and enhance your ideas, but throw their own in the ring. With a wealth of experience under their belt, they’ve seen everything under the sun, and if you can lean into fully trusting the wedding florist you hire, you’ll be left with the brilliance that can only come from a professional taking a little insight into your venue and who you are as a couple, and then running with it.

Melbourne wedding florists: a comparison chart

Best wedding flowers Melbourne: their impact on your wedding photos

For me as a photographer, it’s bloody great when you get a top-notch wedding florist. It can make the photos really come alive and gives me something to play around with. A stunning venue all dressed up with flowers creates such a vibe. The bridal party’s pinholes and the bride’s bouquet transform photos. Adding that floral dash of coordinating colour helps tie it all together, creating that one shot that you can’t stop looking at after the big day.

Where to find a wedding florist in Victoria

I want to let you in to Victoria’s exceptionally exciting floristry scene. We have some of the world’s best wedding floral designers right on our doorstep. These scallywags are the most forward-thinking and talented group of wedding florists I’ve found, and push the boundaries of what’s possible with wedding flowers, mostly using locally sourced and native species, and operating on the edge of the movement towards maximum sustainability.

1. Melbourne wedding flowers: Hollingsworth Studio

Vivien and her team, formerly Flos Botanical, are just the most amazing, colourful, bombastic geniuses around. They are always looking for ways to be more eco-friendly and work sustainably – which is no longer an option, but a responsibility (and as a wedding couple, something you should consider using in your vetting process). Their relationship with their flowers is built on fun and creativity, and forward-thinking synergy with the venues they work in.

I’ve always been really inspired by them. Her gallery is full of life and colour. I can just see the smiles they bring to people from the pictures. If you are dreaming of fun, stylish and vibrant creations give Vivien a call.

Working out of their studio in Melbourne with her husband running around doing deliveries, Vivien runs a truly personal experience.

Hollingsworth Studio website:

https://hollingsworth.studio/

2. Florists in Melbourne: Babiana Botanic

I haven’t included this just because the name is fun to say: Anna is a fantastic new kid on the block and one of the most incredibly innovative florists Melbourne has on offer.

You can tell from her incredible pieces that she has a fine art background. Each meticulously designed arrangement is its own piece of art. You and your guests are going to be ogling at them and talking about them way after the party is over, and you can check out her incredible work for Pepe and Sam in the pages of Hello May.

See also: my interview with Babiana Botanic.

Known as a more bombastic Melbourne wedding florist, Anna likes working with colour and really pushing the boundaries of what the flowers can actually do. She has purple palm fans, yellow flower garlands and lush green ferns in her armoury ready to wow anyone that lays eyes on them. If you want a double serve of magic, pair this brilliant wedding florist in Melbourne with these amazing wedding arbours.

Florist Melbourne: Babiana Botanic website:

https://www.babianabotanic.com/

3. Macedon Ranges florist: Raven and the Rose

I first worked with Amy and her Raven and the Rose team at Castle Montsalvat, and she blew me away (or at least into the next stone-walled room). See the Montsalvat Wedding of Kate and Matt.

Amy creates these beautiful, majestic dark moody pieces of art that are on trend, on season and eco friendly. If dark and moody isn’t your thing, she will create your perfect scene out of seasonal flowers whatever the colour scheme.

Amy loves catching up with her clients over a cuppa to get a feel for the day and the person, rather than just giving a generic quote, and the Macedon Ranges is lucky to have her. Call up and then drop in to her shop directly.

Florist Mt Macedon: Raven and the Rose website:

https://www.ravenandtherose.com.au/

4. Wedding florist in Melbourne: Good Grace and Humour

Meg and her team are pushing the boundaries of floral artistry. There’s no ‘floral fluff’ to be seen here, just free flowing, seemingly impossible, pure natural yet futuristic creations. And every single petal is sourced locally from Melbourne flower market.

I personally think she is the Elon Musk of floristry (minus offering flamethrowers for sale on the side… yet). She gets to know you, your themes and colour ideas and she’s curious about every detail, and how that might then fit into some impossibly devised creation.

Good Grace and Humour are located in a warehouse in the inner west of the city (sharing space with the inimitable Good Day Club) but they go out foraging for their special twists on the genre all the time. There’s always a little accent you wouldn’t have thought of that just lifts the whole visual dynamic and transcends everything you thought you knew about floral design.

Wedding florist in Melbourne: Good Grace and Humour website:

https://www.goodgraceandhumour.com/

5. Castlemaine wedding flowers: Katie Marx Flowers

Based well north of Melbourne in Newstead, Katie Marx has her floristry studio and runs ‘Butterland’ venue with her husband Greg. Previously a candle factory, Butterand is also ground zero for this brilliant Castlemaine florists artistry.

The venue runs floristry workshops and hosts gorgeous events year round. Katie is the queen of foraging, and keen to teach you all her tricks. She has an enormously earthy and natural feel to her displays and focuses on native species using interesting pieces her friends at the flower market secretly save for her. Katie also works as a Melbourne wedding florist, sprinkling her genius all over Victoria.

Check out the incredible work of Katie Marx florist below at the wedding of Iro and Alex, held at Butterland.

Katie’s passion for au naturale drives her unique designs. If you’re after a homegrown Australian dream wedding, then take a look at Katie Marx’s work, and check out this Butterland wedding in Newstead.

Florist Victoria: Katie Marx Flowers Website:

https://www.instagram.com/katiemarxflowers

6. Wedding flowers Melbourne: The Flower District

A mother and daughter team working hard to stay sustainable and have minimal waste. They love beautiful things and “extra AF” parties! They are incomprehensibly talented, whilst remaining flexible, and create some of the most unique wedding flowers Melbourne has on offer.

They use flowers to set the mood. If you want romance, you can have the whole room oozing with love. If you want colour, Caroline will make the room explode with excitement. Taking her creative flare from her mother, the two make the perfect team. She has been known to slip a tiny pineapple or disco ball into a bouquet, so watch out!

Florist Melbourne: The Flower District Website:

https://www.theflowerdistrict.com.au/contact

7. Unique wedding flowers Melbourne: Bloom Boy

Previously working in fashion in London, Ross is now a Melbourne-based flower lord: he creates flower arrangements that don’t even look like floristry as you know it, and is a front-runner on wedding floristry innovation.

Bloom Boy has chains, ribbons, spray paint, disco balls and naked men covered in flowers all over the shop: all the things you think of when you think of wedding floristry (naturally – or was that, au naturale).

Check out some of his brilliant work below that was set up at iconic small wedding venue in Melbourne, the Altar Electric.

If you want something with a bit of spice and flare he’s your man. If you had a ‘silly’ idea of hanging flowers across the ceiling, Ross will create the craziest, lushest, most fashion conscious installation you could have dreamed of and that ‘silly’ idea might just be the best one you had.

All photos above taken at Altar Electric – check them out along with some of the other incredible small wedding venues Melbourne has to offer.

Unique wedding flowers Melbourne: Bloom Boy website:

http://bloomboy.com.au/

8. Yarra Valley Wedding Florist: Sassafrass Flower Design

Sassafras flower design merges a delicate, sensitive flair for design, with considered selection of florals. Check out these incredible arrangements for the Burnham Beeches wedding of Kate and Alex.

Yarra Valley Florists: Sassafras Flower Design website:

https://www.sassafraswedding.com.au/

9. Melbourne Florist: Georgie Boy

Georgie Boy is Gina Lasker. You know you’re dealing with one of the most unique wedding florists in town when they have their own feature on Melbourne’s leading design blog, The Design Files.

Check out Ginas spectacular work below, creating a jaw dropping installation at Geelong wedding venue, the Fyansford Paper Mill, the patina of which bears a little resemblance to this Higher Ground wedding: https://briarsatlas.com/higher-ground-wedding/

Melbourne Florists: Georgie Boy website:

https://georgieboy.co/

10. Melbourne Florist: North St Botanical

North St Botanical have been around a while, and it’s no surprise: they stay at the edge of beautiful design, seasonality, and most importantly, making couples over the moon with their brilliant creations. North St can frequently be found at Rupert (see Liv and Dave’s Rupert on Rupert wedding).

Melbourne Florists: North St Botanical website:

https://northst.com.au/

11. Melbourne Florist: Flowers St Germain

Flowers St Germain are serial dressers of Stones of the Yarra Valley, and we worked for them on the meticulously crafted wedding (care of wedding planners Weddings of Desire) of Ella and Mack.

Common Melbourne wedding florist questions

Final tips for picking your wedding florist Melbourne or beyond:

Like all the pieces of the wedding and events puzzle, it’s a dance between executing your vision, and letting experienced professionals do their thing. Reach out to the florists up there with your ideas, and be sure to take a look at these brilliant alternative Melbourne wedding celebrants, as well as the most unique wedding venues in Melbourne.