Today we’re introducing you to the amazing founders of White Lane Events, the lovely Kirsten Curtin and Emma Bayliss. This NSW-based florist and styling team will be your wedding bestie, taking care of all the “pretty things” for your day, including florals, styling, stationery and on-the-day coordination. “Our goal is to make the wedding planning process fun and stress-free, as it should be,” they told us.
We sat down for a chat with Kirsten and Emma, which first featured in Issue 40, and the wonderful Matt Ashton came along to take some incredible snaps. We’re stoked to share it with you here now…
Describe your style? Romantic, textured, whimsical designs with a touch of artistic sculpture. We love texture so, so much, and this plays such a huge part in our designs from florals, to table linens, stationery and natural stones. It helps us create a natural, inviting space that is pleasing to all the senses.
Tell us about your packages… The main package we provide is our all inclusion “Your Wedding Bestie Package” which includes florals, styling and coordination. Having one vendor to take care of everything not only ensures your design is cohesive but it also reduces how many suppliers you need to liaise with in the lead-up to your day. Trust us when we say, the less people you have to send your logistical details to the better. However, we do also provide these elements on their own and are happy to work alongside other vendors and suppliers to make your dream wedding come to life. On top of these packages, we also offer signage and stationery, as well as our DIY hire.
How did you get started? It all began when I popped some lanterns up on Gumtree for hire. I then had people asking if I had any other items for hire and before I knew it my very helpful builder husband was constructing backdrops, plinths and pretty much anything anyone asked for. This took off as a side hustle, before I quit my job (which was also in events) and jumped into White Lane Events full-time. Em then joined me very early on and from there we have organically built it to what it is today. For the first few years, we only offered styling and mainly did smaller events, such as birthdays and bridal showers, and then in 2019 we did our first wedding. It was just chairs and arches at this point, but it opened our eyes to what we really wanted to be doing. We decided we would start pivoting (love a little Friends reference in there) the business to focus more on weddings and introduced florals. Fun fact: both Em and I are not technically trained florists, but we love a good YouTube or online course. Covid allowed us to dedicate almost a full year of trial and error, building skills, and getting our hands on any floral experience we could. We now offer full wedding services and look after upwards of 50 couples per season with our hearts set on expanding even further.
What inspires you? Mother Nature herself. Looking at the natural shapes and textures, as well as how the florals naturally cluster and grown in the wild. We use this when designing our arrangements to create carefully considered yet effortlessly organic design.
Favourite flowers or elements to work with? Oh this is a hard one… I love any floral that allows for the natural movement and will bounce in the wind. Sweet pea, local delphinium, cosmos, but also love a thick fluffy hydrangea cloud. When they are in season hydrangea is on our wishlist for most weddings.
Price range of your services? Most of our weddings sit between $9,000 – $15,000. Our minimum spend for onsite services is $5,000 but we have no minimum spend for our DIY or stationery orders.
Wedding trends you are loving? We love all the floral nest and growing florals we are seeing at the moment. This is when it looks like the arrangements and stems are growing out of the ground naturally. On the styling side of things, we are loving the current draping trend. We are seeing beautiful inspo with large ceiling draping and dramatic cloths over tables and incorporated into ceremony designs. Team the draping with candle light and you have your self such a beautiful romantic space.
What are you most proud of when it comes to your work? Our team and the vibe we have created. No matter if you’re one of our couples, a venue, another supplier, or the security man at the door, we strive to be as helpful and accommodating as possible. Our work can be exhausting at times with super early mornings and very late nights, but by creating a team that vibe off one and other helps us get through the crazy wedding season. We also find passing this posititivity through to our clients helps ease any stressful moments and helps reassure them during the planning process.
What sets you apart? Our unique planning and design process really allows us to get to know the couple. This then allows us to tailor every design to showcase their individuality through out the wedding and adds that personal touch. We really do feel like one their friends on the wedding day as we have spent so much time with them in the lead-up. We often get this feedback saying how easy we have made the planning process and hearing this truly makes our day as it is one of our main missions within the business.
Which areas do you service? We are based out in Penrith NSW and service Sydney, Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Hunter Valley, Newcastle, South Coast, Southern Highlands and more. Our team is only small but mighty with four of us in-house. We do call upon the talented hands of many freelance florists during the busy periods to help us with the creation and execution of the events.
Photographer: Matt Ashton Photography
