Kinder Weddings: A sustainable winter event design approach for floral creatives
Last weekend we attended an event by the Kinder Wedding Community at the Parkside Hotel in Victoria, organized by the duo at Paper Hearts Films and Rad Occasions. As one of the event sponsors, we were tasked with sustainable floral stage design that was going to be paired with a photoshoot. We had an approved floral purchasing budget, which meant the sponsorship was in the form of my creative hours. Led by Rad’s vision, we explored how we can compose a beautiful stage set-up and tablescape in February (when our fields are covered in snow).
Below you can find how I approached this project from pre-production (planning, sourcing) to post-production while considering many sustainability factors:
PLANNING
With everyone living in separate locations (Courtenay - Victoria), we relied on online platforms to connect (virtual meeting, instagram, emails).
Our initial virtual planning meeting was set up to discuss scope and colour palette. Since we embrace colour within our business, some lovely emeralds, deeper purples and burgundy were the focus with highlights of mustard yellow and mauve. We also confirmed the investment $ in purchasing supplies.
Once hyper-local and bc grown products were selected as the only products to highlight during the event (this meant no imported produce like grapes for a tablescape), we also considered how the product will be disposed of once the event comes to an end. The idea that florals and vegetables could be sent home with attendees, made us feel better that the product didn’t immediately end up in a landfill or compost pile.
SOURCING FLORALS, FOLIAGE AND PRODUCE
To highlight a sustainable, local first approach to design work, I first considered what is currently around me within the colour palette. There were small leaved eucalyptus still growing in our unheated hoophouse, birdhouse grounds saved from a few seasons ago and dried celosia.
I then reached out to my Comox Valley Growers network to see what they had available. Luckily one of my garden friends, Elizabeth, had some beautiful dried grasses, and Shorewolf Farm had some funky radicchio + poppy pods.
The next reach out was to South Island Growers to see what they had available. I was able to source beautiful dried gomphrena, amaranth and poppy pods from Rockrose Farm, the most wonderful radicchio from Square Root Farm and citrus grown on Salt Spring Island by Jane.
The final source to help with colour was United Floral local. This is where I chose BC grown roses, alstroemeria, hyacinths and tulips. Most of the flower production in BC at this time is done through heated greenhouses. When flowers arrive, they are packaged in plastic wrapping paper and elastic string. In terms of waste production, this is the step that was more difficult to avoid while sticking to a colour palette. Luckily during the field growing season, there are more local producers where bunches are just put into a bucket with rubber bands without plastic wrap.
MECHANICS AND DISPLAYS
For mechanics, I used what I had in my existing vessel collection - brass coloured vases, glass bud vases, small bowls and chicken wire. Aside from tape to hold chicken wire in place, no other plastic was used for mechanics.
The idea of designing arrangements in different sized vases that could easily be placed on pillars, as opposed to building an arch design on site made the process so much easier. This meant we didn’t have to use plastic water tubes (that would have gotten reused for multiple events, especially during the heat of the summer outside), agrawool (compostable alternative to floral foam) or single use zap straps.
For the displays, the event was lucky to have Party Mood sponsoring pillars, tables, linens, dishes, etc. It was great to see what they had online, without having to visit a storefront.
EVENT TAKE DOWN
The event take down was really simple. We took flowers out of the vases, made mini bouquets and handed them to guests. After that it was a matter of quickly loading items into our vehicle.
For the produce (mainly raddichio), they were given away to a few attendees and also taken to a local food redistribution organization by Chelsea and Bryan.
Overall this was such a great opportunity to connect with like minded individuals in the wedding and event world. One of my favourite parts of the conference was a presentation by Sustainable Fox, who really dove into their approach for waste management at events.
What a perfect way to kick start our 2025 floral design season! (I will be sure to upload more photos to this blog post once we receive them!)
The full list of event sponsors can be found below:
Venue Parkside Hotel – Graham, @parkside_hotel
Catering Truffles – Cara & Sharina, @truffles_catering
Cake Love’s Galettes – Adina, @lovesgalettes
Planning & Design Rad Occasions – Rad, @radoccasions
Models/Clothing/Accessories – Jeff Insell & Elliot Loran, @jeffinsell @elliottloran
Flowers/Vegetables : Wild Bee Florals – Thanu, @wildbeeflorals // Elizabeth’s Garden, Rockrose Farm, Shorewolf Farm, Square Root Farm, United Floral - local
Decor Rentals Party Mood – Anne, @partymood
Designer Weddings – Linda, @designerweddingsvictoria
Crowfoot Collective – Julie, @crowfootcollective
Stationery/Calligraphy Penned Creations – Asha, @pennedcreations
Photographer – Jen McLeod Photography, @jenmcleodphoto
Videographer Paper Heart Films – Chelsea & Bryan, @paperheartfilms, @sustainablywedvi
Hair, Makeup, & Styling – Erin Bradley S, @erinbradleyartist
Music – Jill Cooper, @jillcoopermusic
Photo booth Four Frames – Lindsay & Derek, @fourframesphoto
Registration Desk – Andria Lee Winters, @andrialeewinters and Mallory (WasteKnot Weddings), @wasteknot_weddings_events
