A moment with 'Lillypad Flowers & Events'
ABIA meets Melbourne wedding florist Lilly Mance
With more than two decades experience Lilly Mance and the team at Preston-based wedding florist Lillypad Flowers & Events have seen wedding floral trends come and go, but are now noticing a new way that couples are using blooms to elevate the wedding experience.
“Couples are moving beyond traditional arrangements and embracing florals as a way to create an atmosphere that evokes feeling and tells a story from the moment guests arrive,” says Lilly.
As part of their collaborative process the Lillypad Flowers & Events team have been helping their couples achieve this, with their usual dedication to seasonal selection, fresh florals and storytelling.
ABIA chatted to Lilly to discover more about how she and her team are bringing weddings to life with their beautiful blend of bouquets, floral installations, table centrepieces and bespoke service offerings.
Tell us a little about your business and wedding services.
Lillypad Flowers & Events is a boutique Melbourne florist specialising in bespoke wedding flowers and event floral styling, with a strong focus on personal service and custom design.
Since 2001, we've spent more than two decades bringing floral visions to life with creativity, care and a deep love for our craft. Our services include everything from delicate bridal bouquets and buttonholes to ceremony installations, arbour florals, reception centrepieces, hanging features and large-scale floral arrangements.
We pride ourselves on offering a highly-personalised experience — we don’t do copy-paste designs — and every couple meets with our team to collaborate on a floral concept tailored to their style, venue and story, whether a grand ballroom celebration or intimate garden elopement. We talk them through seasonal choices, colour palettes, styling details and logistics to ensure everything feels stress-free and seamless.
Where are you based and what locations do you service?
We're based in Preston and proudly service couples across Melbourne and the region — from the city and leafy suburbs to the Yarra Valley, Dandenong Ranges and Mornington Peninsula. Whether it's an inner-city venue, a romantic vineyard or a coastal estate, our team delivers bespoke floral styling, onsite setup and dedicated service. For select bookings, we're also available to travel further afield.
What inspired you to become a wedding florist?
My parents owned a local grocer that sold fresh flowers and my Mum often bought the fading blooms home at the end of the day. We rearranged them together and I found the process incredibly therapeutic. What began as a simple joy soon blossomed into a true passion for floristry, and a deep love of using flowers to tell stories and create meaningful, lasting moments.
At what stage of the planning process should couples start to think about florists and flowers, and how far in advance should they book?
Couples should ideally start thinking about their wedding florist and flowers early in the planning process — usually as soon as they have secured their venue and set a date. This helps ensure availability and ample time to collaborate on a vision, discuss seasonal blooms and plan floral designs that complement the wedding style and venue. For most couples this means booking about two to nine months before their wedding, but we do accommodate shorter timelines where possible, so it's always worth reaching out sooner rather than later.
What recommendations do you have for couples choosing their wedding colour palette?
When it comes to choosing a wedding colour palette, we always encourage couples to start with what feels true to them, and to then let the season, setting and floral availability enhance that vision.
From a floral design perspective, colour plays a powerful role in setting the tone of a wedding day. Soft neutrals and pastels evoke timeless elegance, while rich, moody hues bring drama and depth. We encourage couples to mix tones and textures as layering colours creates dimension and adds a truly bespoke feel.
We also recommend taking cues from the wedding venue — a classic ballroom calls for something different to a modern garden party.
Do you have any suggestions for couples sticking to a budget?
Making the most of wedding florals is about designing with intention, and creating floral moments that can seamlessly transition from the "I do" of the ceremony to the reception celebration. Lush ceremony arrangements, such as arbour installations, aisle flowers or large urn displays, can be artfully repositioned to elevate key reception spaces, like the entrance, bridal table, cake station or dance floor. This approach allows floral styling to feel cohesive and abundant throughout the day, without compromising on elegance or atmosphere.
When repurposing arrangements we coordinate closely with venues and planners to ensure each piece is thoughtfully relocated and presented, so everything feels fresh, polished and purpose-built for the celebration.
What are some creative ideas for floral designs? Are there any floral trends to look out for in the near future?
Floral design is becoming far more immersive and expressive than ever before. Couples are moving beyond traditional arrangements and embracing florals as a way to create an atmosphere that evokes feeling and tells a story from the moment guests arrive.
We're seeing designs that flow throughout a space, like floral meadows that grow along the aisle, installations that wrap around entryways or dance floors and sculptural arbours that feel more like living art than a backdrop. Tablescapes are also being reimagined with layers of texture, bud vase clusters and florals that spill organically across the table for a more natural, curated feel.
Tonal colour palettes are also a strong trend, with soft gradients or rich, monochromatic designs adding a sophisticated, modern edge.
If a couple gave you ‘free reign’ what would their wedding floristry look like?
If we were given free reign over a wedding's floral design, the vision would be deeply rooted in storytelling, using florals to reflect the couple's personality and their venue's unique character.
We often draw inspiration from a venue's surroundings — be it a rustic vineyard, a coastal retreat or an urban loft — and craft designs that harmonise with that environment. This might manifest as floral installations that mirror the natural landscape or arrangements that echo the architectural nuances of the space.
Seasonality also plays a pivotal role in our floral design, as by selecting blooms at their peak we ensure a freshness and vibrancy that we can weave into textures and tones that add depth and movement.
All images courtesy Lillypad Flowers & Events
Read Lillypad Flowers & Events ABIA wedding reviews
Visit Lillypad Flowers & Events website
