The second maker in this series is someone whose work you’d recognise before you knew her name. Maddie Jayde is a wedding florist and floral content creator based in Brisbane, and her signature is unmistakable: pastels, softness, and colour palettes that look like they walked out of an ’80s cartoon in the best possible way.
Behind that softness is a working day that starts before most of us are asleep.
A day that starts at 3am
A wedding, Maddie told me, is a few-day process. “Today, for example, I’ve been to the flower market, I’ve spent a few hours conditioning blooms and getting everything ready, and now I’m creating the arrangements.”
The flower market part is the bit people underestimate. Maddie’s market days start at 3am.
“You can go later, but early bird gets the worm, as they say. I try to go as early as possible so my clients get the good stuff. I don’t want anybody to miss out.” She laughs about it now. “Thankfully I’m pretty used to the early mornings at this point. It’s the long days that are harder.”
The reward is the part that comes after: hours in the studio with the blooms. “It can be a really lovely day of creating, getting my hands dirty and just playing with the flowers, seeing how I feel while I’m making them.”
A style she never had to find
Ask Maddie where her eye comes from and she’ll take you back to childhood. “I’ve always had a love of particular cutie-pie aesthetics — think My Little Pony, Lady Lovely Locks, ’80s cartoons, Sailor Moon. Everything pastel, everything cute. As a little kid I was that little girl decked out in pink.”
What’s unusual is that it never changed. “I’ve never had a phase with my personal taste. It’s always been the same. So my style really just developed from that, which I feel really lucky for. Some florists have to find a style. For me, it’s purely an extension of myself.”
Clients can feel that. “Some clients are like, ‘You just have this pretty pastel vibe that I’m really seeking.’ And I’m like, great — I’m happy to provide that.”
The element of surprise
Maddie’s favourite part of the process is the making itself — and within it, something most people wouldn’t expect from floristry: no two pieces can ever be alike.
“Even though things can look quite similar, no two bouquets are ever the same, because no stems are ever exactly the same. It’s always slightly different, which I think is really fun. I really enjoy that element of surprise in floristry that I think a lot of people don’t expect.”
The other favourite moment comes later, on the wedding day itself, when a client sees the finished work. The creating, as she puts it, and then seeing the result of the creation.
How she knows when it’s done
Every maker I talk to answers this question differently, and Maddie’s answer might be my favourite so far: a bouquet is done when it feels good in her hand.
“If I’m holding a bouquet and it’s uncomfortable, it’s not done.” There’s a visual science to it too — she works to the rule of thirds, scanning for groups of three. “I know I need another daffodil, so it’s not done yet. I need another tulip down here — not done yet. I want another point of delphinium — not done yet.” And then there’s the restraint: “You have to know when it’s done, otherwise it just looks over the top.”
But the physical part is real, and it’s practical. “If it’s too weighty in the hand, that’s something I pay a lot of attention to, because someone’s carrying this down the aisle.” She’s seen the alternative. “You’ll sometimes see brides with these enormous bouquets and I’m like, how are they getting down the aisle with that thing?”
And if she’s not in love with a bouquet? She doesn’t redo it in the moment. “I’ll put it down, even do the ribbons and everything, go away for a few hours and then come back.”
This is what The Makers is about. Not the soft-focus version of floristry — the 3am market runs, the hours of conditioning stems, the physical weight of a bouquet in the hand. Maddie’s work looks effortless precisely because none of it is.
You can follow Maddie’s work at @maddiejaydee. And keep an eye out — more Makers are coming.
Maddie is wearing the Charlie Overalls in Rose throughout the shoot. Shop the Charlie Overalls.
The Makers is a joint series between Geneva Vanderzeil and Collective Gen, celebrating the women who make for a living.
