Vase Review: Ixia Vase from Hattie Molloy
I recently picked up two of the Ixia vase, created by Hattie Molly, an Australian florist based in Melbourne.
The vase comes in blue, which I affectionately will be calling 'big blue', yellow, burgundy and in silver. I picked up "big blue" and silver in two sizes, as I've been wanting to treat myself to these vases for so long! I consider it as buying a test size of each one.
After playing around with them and testing out some floral designs, here's my review of the vases:
Quality
These guys are made out of solid aluminium, and they are Australian made in Victoria. The blue version is power coated, which is such a great way of finishing off anything metal. It protects it from rust and creates a really clean, professional finish. The silver version is not powder coated, it's a little bit more raw and has some sharper edges. I do think that the silver will go down in quality a little bit faster than the blue, purely because the blue is protected with the coat.
These guys are solid metal and they're not going to break when you drop them! These are going to last for years and years.
I would give these 10 out of 10 for quality. Maybe except for the silver one.. not being powder coated, But big blue, she's going to last forever.
Design
I work foam-free in my floral design, which is why I love any vases that have mechanics with a grid pattern. It helps you place your stems so that they can be separated, which is great.
I love this layout and think it allows you to create some really fun designs, creative with your stem placement and create a really bold modern artwork that allows you to showcase your blooms.
Personally, I found that the square divots of the larger one weren't enough to hold my stems in place. To counteract that I popped a chicken wire bundle in my larger vase as well. It helped me control my stem placement a bit more.
Ultimately I thought it was very, very fun to design in and allowed me to be very creative and try out some fun styles.
Practicality
In terms of a vessel to be used practically in a wedding, there are some things that I really love. The first one is weight, and these guys really are nice and weighty. The reason I love weight is because it holds up better in the elements, like wind. Another factor I love is that the vessels hold quite a lot of water, which means that your stems are always going to be hydrated, even if you do prep these the day before.
Price
These babies retail at $390 AUD for the large size and $195 AUD for the small.
I thought it was a great investment as its a statement vase, and I will use it multiple times as well.
Overall, it has become one of my favourite vases! My opinion is that vases made by florists are superior. Fellow florists just know what we want, the struggles that we face, and have worked with vases before that haven't worked, and they figured out what it is that going to make a vase really special.
The design of the Ixia vase is also really fun and unique. Even when I eventually stop doing weddings, I will probably put these in my house just to display flowers!
View this post on Instagram
P.S Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you get better at designing, book out your calendar and design your dream flower business:
1. Join our Wildflower Academy Membership
For florists serious about building a business, not a hobby. The ultimate tool for creative florists to design a profitable business, fast track their growth and find their flower people.
2. Swipe my high converting email templates for wedding florists
Reduce ghosting, hours chained to the laptop and admin overwhelm. Optimise your client's experience, book more weddings, gain back hours of your life.
Get them here
3. Book a Strategy Session
And if you ever want to get some 1:1 help, you can jump on a zoom with me and brainstorm strategies on how to grow your dream floristry business.
Your flower friend, Ash x
Hey!
