Tahnee Skowron is the florist and plant hire specialist behind The Botanic Edit, and she has seen the part of weddings most couples never do: the pack down. The bin bags. The thousands of dollars worth of blooms that lasted a single day. Here, she writes about what that moment changed for her, and why she thinks the questions couples ask about their flowers matter more than they might realise.

There was a moment, late one night during the pack down of a wedding, that changed the way I thought about flowers forever.

The guests had gone home, the candles had burnt low, and the room that had felt full of celebration only hours earlier had fallen silent. It was time to pack down the wedding flowers. Pulling down installations, taking apart arrangements, gathering stems we had spent hours so carefully placing.

Then comes the part no one sees.

The bin bags. Buckets of discarded flowers. Thousands of dollars worth of blooms that had lasted a single day.

As a wedding florist at the time, I remember thinking: if only people saw this part.

Most couples only see the beauty, as they should. The ceremony flowers, the reception tables, the hanging installation they’ve had saved on Pinterest for years. But they don’t see what happens after the last dance.

I kept trying to find better alternatives. Donating flowers to aged care homes. Drying leftovers to use in workshops. Trying to reduce what was going to waste. But no matter what I did, the waste kept building up. If the wedding happened to fall on a forty degree day, there was no saving any of it.

It’s something many florists don’t think twice about because it’s simply how the industry has long operated. But once I saw it, it stayed with me.

This isn’t a case against wedding flowers. Flowers are beautiful, emotional, and woven into how many people imagine a wedding. I just think there’s value in talking more openly about what sits behind them.

Many couples care deeply about sustainability but often don’t realise how much waste can sit behind traditional floral design. Imported flowers, the plastic sleeves each bunch arrives in, floral foam, one-day-use installations. Often it comes down to awareness, knowing there are options.

Maybe that looks like choosing seasonal, locally grown blooms. Maybe it means reusing ceremony flowers at the reception. Maybe it means gifting arrangements afterwards instead of letting them go to waste.

Or perhaps it looks entirely different.

Living plants lining an aisle. Potted trees framing a ceremony. Installations that can be rehired and used again and again.

Questions like these are what led me back to plants. What drew me in was how much atmosphere they bring to a space. Softness, texture, scale, presence. While continuing to live on after the celebration.

There’s something quietly symbolic in that. Growth. Longevity. Putting down roots.

I remember one wedding where we moved large tropical plants from the ceremony into the reception to surround the couple’s table. By candlelight the whole space felt lush and intimate, almost like dining in a greenhouse. It had all the drama and abundance couples often look for in floral design, but in a way that could be packed down and used again.

That stayed with me too.

Lately I’ve noticed more couples asking different questions about their weddings. Not just what something will look like, but where it comes from, how it will be used, and what happens afterwards. I love that shift. There’s a thoughtfulness in it. A sense that beauty can hold values too.

Perhaps that’s what mindful weddings are really about. Not getting every decision right, but making choices that feel considered. Sometimes that may be flowers. Sometimes it may be plants. Sometimes it may simply be asking one extra question before deciding.

Where did this come from? Where does it go next? What does this choice support?

For me, those questions changed everything.

Maybe beauty isn’t only about what fills a room on the day.

About the author: : Tahnee Skowron is the florist and plant hire specialist behind The Botanic Edit. What began as succulent arrangements during maternity leave in 2020 grew into wedding floristry and eventually a full focus on plant hire for couples who want their day to feel alive and considered. Sustainability is at the heart of everything Tahnee does, offering living designs that fill spaces with texture and personality while keeping waste to a minimum. The Botanic Edit also supports tree planting projects in Western Australia. Find her at thebotanicedit.com or @thebotanicedit_ on Instagram.