You don’t need to sacrifice the beautiful things about a wedding to keep your day sustainable. You may even save some money too!

Here are a few ideas we’ve found as well as some of our own personal recommendations that have worked wonderfully at Flowerdale Estate.

1. Choose local Australian grown flowers

Supporting our local florists helps Australia’s economy grow. With so many options of native flora and fauna, there’s really no need to import flowers. Also, remember that climate plays a part in the choice of arrangement. Flowers that may work well in Melbourne may not be suited to the tropical climate of Cairns.

We have also found that you don’t need copious amounts of flowers, minimal can actually be more effective. A stunning display of local flowers and foliage spread across an arbour is all you need if you’re wedding is outdoors amongst nature.

2. Confetti

Recently Flowerdale estate team posted a fantastic way to make sustainable confetti and it pretty much went viral!

Although this could be quite a time consuming, it’s a great way of getting your bridal party together (over some bubbles perhaps!)

Raining Hearts Australia make 100% Eco-Friendly and Biodegradable Leaf confetti.

Leaf confetti is the perfect alternative to plastic confetti. The good news about leaf confetti is that outdoor venues loves leaf confetti and most councils are happy to have it in their parks. So, it’s a win, win!!

Raining Heart Australia

3. Australian made Gowns

Purchasing an Australian wedding gown is not only a great choice in supporting our local designers, but wow, there are some gorgeous dresses to choose from. We are spoilt for choice with Australian made designs and dressmakers from all over Australia.

You could even choose a second-hand dress! There are many online marketplace places for second-hand dresses.

• www.WhiteGown.com.au
• OnlyDreamDresses.com

4. No cake waste!

One way of ensuring that no cake is left over is to provide paper bags or little cardboard boxes for them to take everything home.

5. Recycled paper invitations

Ask your invitation maker to use recycled paper to print out your invitations to save wasting paper or even better send a digital invite!

6. Sustainable favors

We were very excited to see these sweet favors that Tasmin + Jay had at their wedding! 🌱🌿

What a fabulous idea! Not to mention that with attention, love & care (for the plant) it will be a reminder of their special day to friends & family for years to come.

7. Choose your diamonds wisely

Have you thought about going vintage? Instead of heading to your nearest jeweller, consider reusing or recycling a ring. 

Propose with a family heirloom, you could even melt down gold and refine it! If you do choose a bespoke jeweller, ensure they work with ethical diamonds.

8. Choose an outdoor space

This is a great way to be one with nature on your wedding day!

Rolling hills, country landscape are all stunning spots to say, “I do.” You’ll save on your energy usage by cutting down on the amount of lighting you’ll need. Not to mention all the natural light will result in beautiful photographs! No need to spend money on access décor when the great outdoors does the trick!

Read more Eco-friendly wedding ideas here.

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Denise is our gorgeous country gal.

Denise is a wife to a dedicated Truckie & a terrific mum to a teenage boy. She also cares for 4 horses and (an overly affectionate) border collie called Mambo. Denise lives on a stunning country property in nearby Kinglake.

Denise joined the Flowerdale Team about 5 years ago. She brings along much valued local knowledge, an eye for EVERY SINGLE DETAIL as well as some very delicious dips and crispy biscuits for lunch nearly every day!

“I love being here at Flowerdale Estate on wedding days and watching the day unfold. It’s wonderful to see our couples say “I Do” at the end of the aisle, then start the next chapter of their life together. To see all their months of planning come together is very exciting and I’m so happy to be a part of these very magical moments.”

“Flowerdale Estate is like a second home for me. The homestead, pavilion and grounds are just stunning. I’m in awe every day when I drive through the gates. 

I’m proud and grateful to be part of the Flowerdale Estate family and work in such a special, magical place“

– Denise

Claire is our energetic, go-getter!

Claire arrived at Flowerdale Estate 3 years ago, bringing loads of experience as a conference and events planner for high-profile city venues.

Claire is a beautiful mum to 2 gorgeous Primary School girls, who BTW both love a day off school in the office with her too! She is a high energy, very modern, and so much fun to have around the Estate.

She’s a tiny thing but sits at the largest desk in the office. (We even sometimes find she’s hiding Lucy the Border Collie, or Albus the Estates Maremma, asleep under her mammoth desk!)

If there’s one thing Claire loves, it’s being involved in planning something special. She has a great eye for detail, loads of fabulous ideas, and can whip up a running sheet that Brides and Operations Managers only dream of!

“Greeting our couples for the first time, and feeling them relax as we take a walk around, is such a great feeling. It is so exciting to be at the beginning of what becomes a personal and unique relationship between 2 people and their wedding coordinator. The trust our couples instil in us is not something to take lightly.

Getting to know each of you, generally over an 18 month to 2-year period, and learning all about your wedding dreams can be the best part of my job. From those 50+ initial questions-down to sending you photos of our arbour roses a few days prior, the relationship that we build is something quite special to me“

– Claire

Maria our Pocket Rocket

Maria is the one that ensures weddings go to plan. That every last detail is tied up, nicely, in a bow, in fact! There’s never a job too small or too big for Maria. She’ll be your confidant, supporter, encourager and most probably, a long-term friend.

Nobody does it quite like Maria.

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Neil Hole Photography (LINK)

Flowerdale Estate | Yarra Valley

Back when the sun was shining at Flowerdale Estate, High Country, the fun and gorgeous couple Pupal and Goce created their wonderful day. There was so much love for this outdoor rustic wedding *feels*.

Flowerdale Estate | High Country

Outdoor Rustic Wedding

The bridal party was full of joy and the day flowed with lots of laughter and so much love!

The day began loud and was pumped with lots of energy. Goce’s, coming from a Macedonian background meant the party was just beginning. Furthermore, experiencing all of the traditions; from greeting guests, baking bread, smashing of the glass! Followed by lots of food, dancing, and shots!

The ceremony took place in a beautiful, quaint bluestone church (St Petka) located in Mill Park.

After the I-Do’s the wedding party headed our way for their reception. The high country in the Yarra Valley. We could see everyone soaking up the Estate and we welcomed everyone. It was a stunning Outdoor rustic wedding!

Guests were surrounded by the rolling hills and picturesque landscape. Not to mention their fur-babies!

All guests were treated with icy cold drinks and misting fans to keep them cool as they waited for the newlyweds to arrive.

Flowerdale Estate | High Country | Outdoor Rustic Wedding

The day headed into the evening and some pretty amazing food was served.

It was then for some heartwarming speeches and more tradition dancing (and drinks)!

A guard of honour was formed by the guests as the horse and carriage clip-clopped around the lake to make a grand entrance for Pupul & Goce to meet their guests.

Thank you so much to this gorgeous couple for choosing Flowerdale Estate and sharing their special day with us.

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Besides the weather, what other factors draw couples to decide an outdoor wedding venue?

Let’s face it ambiance and atmosphere make a wedding. Billowing hills, stunning countryside and lush greenery all adds to the effect of an outdoor wedding. People naturally connect with nature, so being outdoors creates a sense of calm and beauty that indoors can’t always bring.

The feeling of rustic

We’re rustic. How good is that word? A rustic wedding at Flowerdale is a wedding that injects a piece of country, vintage chic ideas into the ceremony and reception. We love to include natural or nature-inspired elements, décor and style.

Flower Power

Let’s talk flowers. There is a strong theme being featured in many of our weddings this season. The natural, unstructured style garden bouquet. But it’s next level. Gone are the asymmetrical, triangle shapes. Replaced with the crescent moon shape, unstructured with a range of native blooms; eucalyptus and protea. We mentioned rustic above? Well flowers are going very rustic!

Flower Petals, so-long confetti

Whoever thought throwing a bunch of tiny pieces of paper was a good idea!?
Lavender rose petals and scrunched autumn leaves are fantastic alternatives. Keeping the planet clean, but not giving up on the tradition. Bubble blowing is also an idea, however if it’s a windy day, not so much.

Mr Chips and the rest of the gang

If you love animals, our estate is for you. Animals are can be a huge part of a couple’s wedding day and Flowerdale is no exception. We have had many gorgeous couples brings along their K-9 family members to be a part of their day.

We also have our own plethora of animals to enjoy. But, don’t turn away or your bouquet will be quickly munched by our infamous Mr Chips!

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We share this blog from The Outside Bride.

We’re so pleased to be able to share with you today Terrin and Hal’s outdoor wedding in the mountains of Victoria, Australia. Their wedding is absolutely breathtaking. The country wedding on the top of lush green mountains had an elegant and classic theme, with a navy blue, green and classic white colour palette an absolutely timeless affair that oozes class.

We talked to Terrin about their special day…

How did you and Hal meet?

In January 2012 both Hal and I were working for Virgin Active but at different locations. At the end of the 2011 we had both been asked to appear in a training video for internal use. At this point, I had been living in London for 18 months, and Hal had only been in London for 4 months…

Back story over, I was on the gym floor training before my late shift started. I spotted a co-worker talking to a good-looking guy who I recognized from the training video. I decided to casually (definitely wasn’t casual about it) walk over. My co-worker introduced us, and we hit it off straight away. We managed to eventually phase my co-worker out of the conversation, so it was just us chatting. I can’t remember exactly what we spoke about, but I remember laughing a lot, enjoying the easiness of the interaction & feeling disappointed when I had to leave to get ready for work. I ended up late starting my shift……

Hal then started training at my gym almost every day. I got in trouble (on more than one occasion) from my manager for talking with Hal for too long and neglecting my other duties.

Tell us about the proposal…

There is some backstory for this one too!!!

SO, I go for a walk in our local neighbourhood most morning’s. Usually for one hour, and I always ask Hal to accompany me, and he always declines [#cardioishardio]

It was the week approaching our six year anniversary (which was due to fall on a Sunday this year). Hal was going to be working on Sunday, as such, we’d agreed to celebrate our anniversary Friday night/Saturday instead. So on Thursday night Hal asked me if I intended to go for a walk the following morning. I said “of course” & then Hal asked if he could come with me. I was a little confused, as he never voluntarily comes walking, but not wanting to stare a gift horse in the face, I said yes. Hal then asked where I was planning to walk; he complained that the local area/park was overrun with tradies/traffic & asked if we could go to the beach instead.

FYI: Hal is CONSTANTLY trying to get me to the beach. I don’t want to stereotype here, but bloody English people can’t get enough of the beach. I haven’t got anything against it, but typically don’t drive out of my way to walk on the beach before work as it requires a pretty hefty cut to my snooze time. But I caved. So up we get at 5.30am & after some faffing (mostly from Hal…..) we manage to get down to Brighton beach. We walk along the beach, just talking rubbish, joking and enjoying the tradie-less view…

During this time however, Hal was DRIVING ME CRAZY because he was dawdling so much. We’d turned around to head back to the car and came to a lovely long stretch of beach. Hal fell behind by 4-5 paces and kept looking around like a weirdo at the completely deserted beach.

He suddenly asked me if I would sit down with him on a nearby bench.

Hal announced that he wanted to give me an early anniversary present; he started to lift up his top & pull down his trousers slightly….I thought “is this a present for me or for you???”. So he whipped out……..an envelope. Inside was a booklet that had ‘6 memories for 6 years’; Hal had commissioned a graphic designer to depict 6 of the most memorable moments from our relationship. He had even remembered details down to the type of shoes we were wearing; one of our first adventure in London, the first time we said the ‘L’ word in front of the Eiffel tower in Paris, bonding over mutual hangar in Geneva, dining at the Fat Duck in Melbourne, winning the NRL grand final in Sydney. On the final page, it showed a silhouette of Hal down on one knee on the beach.

I looked up, Hal pulled out a ring box, dropped to one knee & told me he wanted to be with me forever.

I’m sure he went on to say lots of other lovely things, but I was sooking up a treat, & don’t remember/couldn’t hear what was said over my sobs. Eventually I said something along the lines of ‘you’re such an idiot’ & then ‘yes’.

What do you love most about your partner?

I fell in love with his sense of humour, loyalty, determination, dedication, intelligence, optimism, confidence & capacity to love. It’s the little things that made me know:

The way he lets me put my cold feet on him to warm up.

He always lets me have more of the doona because he knows I get cold.

Always lets me ‘check for poison’ in his food/drinks because I want to taste whatever he’s eating.

How he genuinely wants to know about my day and what I’m excited/annoyed about.

When he’s still in bed when I’m leaving for the gym: sleepy cuddles are the best.

His laugh.

How he can turn even the most serious moment into a gag (whether or not the moment is appropriate…#toosoon)

How he can make me feel like the most important & beautiful girl in the room.

His thoughtfulness: I always do thing’s in a more immediate fashion, but Hal will deliberate, consider his options, and then finalize (despite the amount of time it can take). This sometimes drives me crazy, but mostly, it’s so lovely to know our relationship is on his mind, and he’s doing thing’s to make it better.

Tell us about your wedding gown and how you chose it…

As with our overall style, I wanted a dress that was elegant & classic. I also wanted to ensure I felt comfortable & the dress wouldn’t inhibit me from moving freely. As with most brides, I had never before set foot in a bridal boutique and as such, didn’t know what would actually suit my body shape.

I selected just one bridesmaid (who always provides an honest yet tactful appraisal) to come on the hunt with me, and we dedicated a full day to the endeavor. By the end of the day, I knew that what I was looking for was something more personal & tailored.

The first boutique we’d entered was Shehzarin Batha, & I loved the experience, the tailoring & the option’s they provided to brides. There was one dress that met the original criteria, however, the neckline wasn’t what I’d had in mind. After trying several other stores, I couldn’t get the Shehzarin dress out of my head, so we went back and asked if we could make some changes. As all dresses are made from scratch, they insisted my request was very reasonable & we signed off then and there!

What sort of style did you envision for your wedding day?

We wanted to keep the style elegant and classic: we always loved the idea of a country wedding, and as such tailored our choices to suit the venue & our colour palette (navy blue, green & white).

What’s your most important piece of advice for creating and maintaining a strong relationship?

Marriage means loyalty, it means mutual respect, trust, empathy, support, encouragement, friendship and love. It means sticking through the tough times because you know how great the good times are. It means building a strong foundation of friendship; always have each other’s back. It’s important to never lose respect for yourself or your partner.

Keep the lines of communication open & be honest.

Keep working on it: sometime thing’s will be hard, but make sure you prioritise what’s important & continue to make time for each other.

What was your favorite moment from the day?

I can’t name just one, but can narrow it down to three:

1. Hal & I did a ‘first look’ 3 hours before the ceremony. The look on Hal’s face when he turned around is something I will never forget, and when we finally embraced, I remember feeling overcome with happiness.
2. Walking down the aisle towards Hal. We had eyes only for each other, & I have never felt more lucky or genuinely happy.
3. Dancing to our very last song, ‘Hey Jude’. By this time, the bus had collected the majority of guests, so only family/close friends staying at the Estate were left. They formed a circle around us, and Hal & I stood in the center and slowly moved around the circle singing and looking out at our nearest & dearest. I was completely overcome and started crying – Hal just held me and kept singing Hey Jude into my ear. I still well up when I think about it!

I think we can all agree that Hal and Terrin really do look sensational! What a day. I absolutely love how completely elegant the day looked and how it was teamed with such a great colour palette.. Many congratulations guys!

Much Love

Emily xx

Credits

Wedding feature thanks to Giant Invitations 

Photographer Rick Liston

Dress Shehzarin Batha Couture

Makeup Clem Cuming

Hair Julia Baha from Baha Hair Design

Shoes Bared footwear

Accessories Top Image Jewellery

Bridesmaids Dresses Bridesmaid dressing room

Grooms Suit Bell & Barnett

Cake: Pretty Tasty

Food Flowerdale Estate

Flowers No 1 Blooms

Ceremony/Reception Venue Flowerdale Estate

Entertainment Mercury DJ Hire

Celebrant Nat Sproal 

Favours Alepat Taylor

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With cooler weather becoming the norm and the extra layers coming out of the wardrobe, it’s time to admit summer is well and truly over.
Luckily, Easter is just around the corner, which means a well-deserved four day weekend to look forward to.

With so many options available on how you should spend your long weekend, there can be pressure to fit a lot in and not really take proper time out to relax.

If you’re planning to get away from it all, for an afternoon or a night — let us look after you at Flowerdale Estate.

Take socially acceptable chocolate guzzling to the next level with our indulgent All About Chocolate High Tea, or stay a little while longer with our decadent Dinner, Bed & Breakfast package.

Flowerdale Estate combines modern features with rustic charm and is surrounded by the breathtaking natural backdrop of the Valley of 1000 Hills.

So whatever you’re planning this Easter, there are plenty of reasons to come and visit our historic country retreat.

To check availability, email us on info@flowerdaleestate.com.au or call 03 5784 9280.

Key dates

Good Friday, April 19: Closed
Easter Saturday, April 20: Dinner, Bed & Breakfast – $360.00 per couple
Easter Sunday, April 21: ‘All About Chocolate High Tea’. Traditional $60pp, Royale, $75pp
Easter Monday, April 22: Closed

Flowerdale Estate Gift Vouchers or Red Balloon Vouchers accepted

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