As soon as I knew that I would be getting married away from home (South Africa), I knew there was one thing I definitely wanted at my wedding: Proteas. Proteas are a genus of flowers indigenous to South Africa, and the King Protea (Protea cynaroides) is the national flower of our country. 92% of Protea species grow in the Cape Floristic region. They are big, beautiful, hardy flowers, and you see them growing wild when you hike on the mountains. The first time I found some proteas in Berlin, I inhaled their subtle scent into my lungs and could smell home.

Luckily for us, my Czech fiancé’s sister knew somebody whose wife had recently started a wedding flower arrangement business. She was enthusiastic about the protea theme for the wedding flowers and her arrangements were absolutely beautiful. According to her research, it wasn’t possible to get the King Protea in Czech Republic, but it was possible to obtain these three species: Protea Brenda, Protea Venus and Protea Carnival, all of which are equally beautiful. I loved my bouquet, and my witness, who is also South African, was thrilled with her bouquet as well.

My friend’s witness/bridesmaid bouquet

A very rushed shot of my bouquet before I departed for the church!

The best thing about proteas is that they last a very long time and also look beautiful dried. One time J bought me one as an Easter present at a flower market in Slovenia, because we were moving locations daily and it was probably the only flower that would survive this. When we travelled around he stuck it on the back of his backpack, on the aeroplane we stuck it into the net on the back of the seat, and it still lasted for a while afterwards once back in Berlin!

Traveling protea (1)

Traveling protea (2)

…and safely home.

We don’t have the professional photos from the wedding yet, but here are some of the photos of the flowers that our friends sent us or that we took after the wedding.