The Butterfly Lounge

Alsmeer: the largest flower auction in the world…

Most people probably don’t stop to consider where the flowers that created their gorgeous wedding bouquet or sit in a vase on their table came from.

On a recent (amazing!) trip through Europe we went to beautiful, crazy Amsterdam. Anyone who has been knows that this picturesque city is home to 750 000 people, 1 million bikes and possibly the most luscious flowers I have ever seen.

A short bus ride (very, very early in the morning for a holiday) took me to Alsmeer, the home of the largest flower auction in the world.

It is here that exporters and wholesalers purchase billions of dollars worth of flowers every year.

There’s a large clock and it ‘ticks down’ as each bloom is presented. Obviously a higher demand equals a higher price and vice versa. The large auditoriums where the buyers sit with their eyes focused on the massive computerised display complete with backwards ticking clock and flower statistics is abuzz with concentration.

As the flowers are purchased here, the market floor below sees millions of flowers being towed in different directions in preparation for their flights across the globe…

Often they arrive in the country of sale just 24hours after having been harvested.

What is a wedding, anyway? Is it a big, white dress, a tuxedo, a bouquet of flowers? Is it the bringing of a gift of game or a selection of arrows? Is it a tea ceremony or the chanting of mantras?

A 4:30 am wake up call… 20 minute drive to the airport… 1 hr flight to Roma… land

… refuel… 1 hr flight to Charleville…

2 hr, 45 min drive along a bumpy, mostly dusty but one-part-flooded dirt road.

And then… a homestead, actual shearer’s quarters that actual shearers use, and Bob, a cantankerous ‘pet’ ram.

And then the Wedding Party. Revelry on home soil to celebrate the recent nuptuals.

   Food and wine, beauty, dancing, love.   All in abundance.

A wedding… a celebration of two people joined by love.

To Diana and Ian.