"I decided to build Wild Fleur Co. last year and started by selling bunches at the markets to gauge peoples interest on my designs - and they loved them! My first market was such a success, the dried flowers and mixed native bunches were such a hit, and continue to be! I now create weekly arrangements for local businesses, provide floral magic for birthday parties and events, and am now also offering fleurs for weddings!" Madeleine tells. |  |
Bridal bouquets, arbours, reception fleurs, headpieces, anything! You name it - I am down for it all! One of my favourite things is to Pinterest the heck out of floral scapes, designs, styles, colours and textures and watch both mine and my couples and clients ideas come to life. I love getting creative and it's such a great feeling knowing that they're as happy with the outcome as I am!
Did you always know that you wanted to design with florals?
When I was at younger and during school I wanted to work with brides and help them create the magical wedding day that they had dreamt up. I always was kind of obsessed with envisioning how my wedding day would look, what dress I would want and what colours my maids would be in. The colour palette for the florals, what we would eat (duh cause that's half the point of a wedding) and what song I would have my first dance to. But when I was going through high school I decided fashion was the way to go, so I was completing a cert II in fashion design and also worked in a retail wedding shop as work experience.
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"Find the right florist who can take all of your crazy ideas + bring them to life in the most magical way - beyond what you could have imagined."
Realising I didn't have the patience for a sewing machine and that I really couldn't draw, I moved onto working as a retail florist but was just there to sell bouquets and take orders - which mind you, was great at the time! I knew I wanted to work within the wedding industry, and maybe become a wedding/event planner or stylist - something along those lines. I started playing around with flowers a few years ago and as I'm born on Halloween I have always incorporated flowers and put my event planner/florist/stylist self to work anywhere I could - then the want to sell bouquets and create magical flower creations came to life!
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What keeps you inspired along the way?
There are several floral geniuses that I seriously look up to and they provide such an insight into the world of floristry and help you remind yourself that you're not crazy, and although a lot of people look at this job being a 'pretty flower girl job', the BTS is actually really hard work! Most nights I am up til 1am and up again at 6am for work or the markets, a flower delivery before another job or just to be able to fit admin and picking up flowers, prepping them and storing them for arrangements. Not to mention the cleaning of buckets, and floors and vases and everything else there is under the sun that you did or didn't use - you've then lost half your mind and ready to do it all again the next day! I freakin love doing it - and to be honest I don't know how I didn't start Wild Fleur years ago. It's something I have wanted to do for ages - I finally got the guts to do it and haven't looked back since.
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Do you have any stories that you would like to share from your experiences?
Wild Fleur is still such a baby with a great deal of experience under her belt but I guess a lot of my skill has come from working alongside other professionals within the industry and learning from them. Working for them and watching how they deal with certain situations, how they overcome hiccups on the day and make it look like it was meant to be that way all along. I was thrown in the deep end a lot of the time with some things but always managed to deliver.
Advice:
There are so many amazingly talented florists, freelance floral babes and events, styling and floristry companies that all create the most incredible work. I think finding someone that is passionate about their work and has the time and energy to invest in you and your big day, is a large part of it. By only taking on one wedding or larger event per weekend, I'm able to give it my all and provide my undivided attention to the gig I'm fleuring up! Finding the right florist is also about someone who understands your vision and you believe in their ability to take all of your crazy ideas and bring them to life in the most magical way beyond what you could have imagined.
What is your own personal favourite style?
Any brief with a burnt orange or copper hue paired with dusty pinks or peach and eucalyptus is just beautiful. I'm also crushing over lilacs and lavenders and that all round love sick mermaid vibe - gold hints and aqua under tones alongside luscious red roses are really doing things for me at the moment. I love creating floral clusters and pieces with dried fleurs, which I call 'forever fleurs' and incorporate these guys into anything I feel works. I've become somewhat a 'drying pro' and my workspace is surrounded by hanging bunches, roses, paper daisies and buckets and buckets of foliage & fleurs I have foraged myself! I feel dried flowers are something that isn't necessarily done that much but can look so understated and beautiful - in my eyes, even more so once life as left them. They are able to be prepared early and kept for years, if not decades after the big day which is something that every bride wants!
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What is the best part about what you do:
EVERYTHING! It is so worth every sleepless night and groggy wake up. This is still a part-time gig for me and to take Wild Fleur full time (well moreso than I already am ;) ) is something that I have been wanting since the beginning. I can't wait to make my dream a reality and continue to build Wild Fleur and watch it blossom into something beautiful! Being surrounded by such beauty and magic every day and watching my visions unfold infront of my eyes, whilst also kinda surprising myself along the way, is addictive and I would rather take a rose thorn cut to the eyeball than quit this 'pretty' job!
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Wild Fleur Co
