Keep your wedding flowers forever with these preservation options.
Parting with your romantic wedding bouquet after all the careful preparations is undoubtedly bittersweet. But luckily, there are plenty of creative ways to preserve your special memento - from pressing to creating paper casts of each petal and bloom. You could even have your favorite florist dip a bouquet replica in wax! Today we're sharing why flowers hold such a special place in so many people's hearts. There is something magical about witnessing nature's intricate journey from seed to flower - so preserving those blooms can help couples revisit memories of their wonderful day for a lifetime. So go ahead and treasure your enchanting, one-of-a-kind bouquet for eternity!
Preserving your blooms to keep them forever is actually easier than you think - but it requires a little bit of forethought and energy. Choosing which method you want to go with – from simple drying techniques to more involved glycerin preserving – depends on how much effort and dedication you’re willing to put in. But the good news is that whatever technique you choose, the result will be a beautiful piece of art, custom-made for your home thanks to your wedding flowers. It’ll be like having an everlasting reminder of the joy and love of your special day on display, right in front of you! So why not take the time to preserve those memories - because who knows what tomorrow brings.
1. Press the flowers
When it comes to pressing your wedding bouquet, you'll want to ensure that you get as close to the original look and feel of the flowers as possible. To do this, try aiming to preserve your color and texture by selecting as many of your favorite blooms, or even the entire bouquet, and laying them out on clean wax paper. Give yourself a moment here to appreciate how beautiful they are, then arrange them in a way that holds meaning. It may not be the same when they are dried and pressed - so take the time while they're still vibrant!
All you need to do is make a wax paper-floral sandwich! Place the wax paper and in-season blooms between the pages of a phonebook or an old school textbook and close it tight. You can really weigh it down with whatever you have lying around – a vase, more books, or anything that could add some extra pressure for optimal pressing. Wait around for a week or two and voila - you’ll have petals as flat as pancakes fit for framing!
Not only can you choose to dry and press the flowers yourself, you can also opt to have a professional like Angela DeMaio of Bouquet Casting Co handle the task. You only have one shot at preserving flowers, so it's important to select someone whose style aligns with yours and don't be afraid to ask for customizations - after all, this is something that you'll keep forever. With that in mind, the choice between DIY or professional should be an easy one.
2. Hang the Flowers Upside Down to Dry
Preserving your wedding bouquet can be surprisingly simple and incredibly fulfilling! One great way to preserve your bouquet is by air-drying the individual stems. We suggest cutting away any ties or tape, then hanging them upside down in a dry, temperate area like a hallway closet for at least a week. Then arrange them in a vase or create a wreath with all your dried flowers that you'll be able to enjoy for years to come. If you saved the ribbon from your original bouquet, be sure to use it to add some extra special detail on your wreath!
Be very careful handling your dried flowers as they'll be fragile and may break easily.
3. Submerge Them in Silica Gel
Sure, you can't turn back time, but the next best thing is here! With less than $10 to spare, you could be cozying up your bouquet with silica gel - a porous sand that works surprisingly well at preserving flowers. Form a base of silica gel in an airtight container, delicately place those petals inside, seal it tight and gently pour more silica gel around your petals until they're completely submerged. Then, voila! You've got yourself some near-freeze dried floral bouquets that will be sure to preserve memories from the most important day of your life.
When taking them out of silica gel, we suggest pouring the sand out very slowly as the fragile dried blooms may rush out with the pour and could break. Gently scoop the dried blooms out as the sand empties.
Silica gel preserves the color of the flowers nicely, too. When the week is up, remove the flowers carefully and spray them with either an artist-fixative spray or hairspray.
4. Make a resin paperweight
It's the perfect time to put your wonderful wedding bouquet to good use! After the big day, you can preserve its beauty with clear epoxy resin and make a stunning paperweight that you'll treasure forever! After your flowers are properly dried, all you'll need is a mold from your local craft store in whatever shape you'd like – think spheres, cubes, or whatever tickles your fancy. Arrange the flowers in the resin and voila! Your blooms will stay vibrant well into the future. But if this DIY project isn't for you, there are amazing artists out there who create unforgettable keepsakes with your wedding flowers – just take a look here at Bouquet Casting Co for some stunning inspiration!
5. Dip the flowers in wax
Waxing your flowers doesn't have to be daunting. If you've ever wanted a little bit longer of a chance to enjoy your blooms, then wax-dipping is the way to go. It's simple, too - all you need is paraffin wax and a saucepan. And while it won't make them last forever, you'll still get several months of extended life so you can display your favorite bouquet with their original integrity and color intact. To top it off, no one will be able to tell that they're not fresh! So go ahead and give décoring with flower wax-dipping a try!
Melt the wax in boiling water until the fluid is even and smooth.
Turn the stove to low so the wax mixture cools down slightly but is still warm.
Next, take your best blooms (avoid any that are stained or wilting) and gently dip them into the wax solution.
Immediately pull them out and hang upside down.
After they're dry, you'll have beautifully preserved flowers for months to come.
6. Preserve them with glycerin
Preserving your wedding flowers with glycerin is a beautiful way to keep the memories of that special day alive for a long time. The glycerin process replaces the water in the blooms, so all you have to do is mix up two parts lukewarm water and one part glycerin in a vase, put your flowers into the mixture, and wait a few weeks for them to look just as they did on your big day. Ready-to-show wedding decorations, with very little effort - now that's something worth celebrating!
Fill your vase or container with two parts lukewarm water and one part glycerin.
Place your flower stems into the container.
Wait two to three weeks for the absorption process to complete.
7. Freeze dry your flowers
If you want to keep the beauty of your flowers alive for as long as possible, freeze-drying is undoubtedly the way to go. However, it's not an easy task and certainly isn't cheap! It involves purchasing a freeze-dryer and freezing the flowers while they're in full bloom to capture their natural appearance. While this process can be done at home, it takes a lot of effort and patience,so if you don't plan on preserving any more bouquets than this one, perhaps a professional would get the job done quicker and cheaper. That way you can enjoy your bouquet for its true beauty–without all the hard work.
There is a little bit of prep work involved before we can freeze dry your wedding flowers:
Recut the flower stems.
Remove any leaves.
Place the flowers in water at least 12 hours prior to freezing.
Deliver them to a professional florist to freeze-dry the flowers.
Once these steps are complete, place the freeze-dried flowers into a shadow box.
8. Paint them, or hire an artist to
Preserving your wedding bouquet is a meaningful way to keep the memories of your special day - and by painting them, you can have an even more unique reminder of that occasion. Not only does this method provide great flexibility in terms of style options, but it also gives you the added benefit of a custom-made piece that will be truly one-of-a-kind. Whether you opt for a traditional painting or perhaps something more abstract, such as a minimal line drawing or watercolor, your artwork will be the perfect representation of how beautiful those flowers were on your big day. Commission your favorite artist to paint an interpretation of your bouquet or floral arrangement.
