In a remarkable twist of fate, a Braddon-based florist discovered she had created the wedding bouquet for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his bride Jodie Haydon without knowing their identities until after the ceremony.
The Unexpected Discovery
Loulou Moxom from Moxom + Whitney florists was going about her normal Saturday when she received a startling message from a friend. The text came with a photo of Jodie Haydon holding the very bouquet Moxom had arranged that morning, accompanied by the question: "Is that your f---ing bouquet?"
"I've not stopped smiling, let's put it that way," Ms Moxom told The Canberra Times after the revelation. The florist had spent December 1, 2025, preparing flowers for several weddings, completely unaware that the cream and white roses she'd arranged earlier were destined for the Prime Minister's intimate ceremony at The Lodge.
The Secret Order
The extraordinary story began approximately two months earlier when a man named David approached Moxom's shop. He claimed to be organizing a casual backyard wedding for his sister and said arranging the flowers would be his gift to her.
"My brief was, I was doing flowers for Marie and Matthew, that's who I thought my bride and groom were," Ms Moxom explained. The request was for a bridal bouquet, flower girl bouquet, buttonholes, and chair decorations featuring cream and white flowers with wattle greenery.
As the wedding day approached, David maintained regular contact, which the florist found unusual for what she believed was a simple backyard celebration. "I'd get emails from him and the odd phone call, and I was thinking to myself, 'Oh my God, dude. For a little quiet backyard wedding... this just seems like a lot of communication for this little casual affair,'" she recalled.
The Special Request That Sealed the Deal
David eventually emailed requesting a teardrop-shaped bouquet on behalf of his "sister," but Moxom initially refused. "I was like, I don't make them, they're not my jam, I don't enjoy them," she said.
The situation changed when David visited her shop bearing chocolates and a heartfelt apology for his frequent communications. "He came in and he bought chocolates, and he gave me this great big hug, and he said, 'I'm so sorry I've been emailing and calling a lot,' and I just fell in love with him," Moxom shared.
Moved by his gesture, she created the teardrop bouquet as requested. When David collected the flowers on Saturday morning, he became emotional at the sight of them. "He cried when he saw [the flowers]," Moxom said, still unaware of the flowers' true destination.
The roses in Ms Haydon's bouquet came from a local Canberra grower, adding another layer of local connection to the Prime Minister's special day.
The Happy Aftermath
As wedding photos circulated across social media and news websites nationwide, Moxom recognized her handiwork center-stage in the official photographs. Rather than feeling disappointed about missing the opportunity to visit The Lodge, the florist expressed relief at having been kept in the dark.
"If I'd known who I was doing flowers for, the anxiety, the imposter syndrome, the panic attacks would have set in," she admitted. "So I love David for not giving that one up because it would have been really hard to do."
Moxom expressed particular delight that the couple had chosen to support a local small business for their important day. "What a gorgeous couple and that they chose a local small business, that just makes my heart sing," she said.
Reflecting on seeing her work featured prominently in media coverage, she added: "I know it sounds really silly, like I love all my weddings, but when you see it in the paper and in the news and like, wow, everyone's gonna see that."
