How to Preserve Your Wedding Bouquet After the Party's Over

Flowers are perfect takeaways for important moments, especially with weddings. These lovely bouquets can mean a lot, but these flowers can only last for so long. After the event, the bouquet will waste away as these flowers can last around a week or less.

So, what do you do if you intend to bring the bouquet with you after the wedding? We have a variety of ways that you can try out to preserve your wedding bouquet and make these lovely flowers a tangible memory.

Press and Frame

One of the ways you can preserve wedding and spring bouquet flowers is to have your wedding bouquets pressed and framed. You can do this yourself, or you can also hire a professional to have your bouquets preserved in this manner.

To do this, take as many flowers from your bouquet as you would like. Have those flowers spread out on a clean parchment paper. After which, lay the parchment paper with the flowers inside the pages of a heavy book (a phonebook or a textbook should suffice).

Once you have done that, place another parchment paper on top to keep the flowers free from ink. Then shut the book and put something heavy on top of it (like more books on top of it, or a vase). Leave it to dry for seven to 10 days.

Once it's done, you can have the pressed wedding flowers arranged and framed to your liking.
If in case you have a hard time doing this, you can hire a professional to help you out.

Air Dry

Air drying the flowers is another way to preserve your wedding bouquet. The first thing you do is tie up the stems together. After which, find a dry and temperate area where you can hang the bouquet upside down.

Make sure to let all the blooms air dry. After about a couple of weeks, your bouquet should be air dried completely, leaving you a preserved bouquet of flowers.

Freeze-Dry

This method is notably pricy and would require a professional to execute. The advantage of having the bouquet freeze-dried, however, is that the bouquet will closely retain its appearance during the wedding day.

The flowers are first sprayed with starch, then the bouquet is then placed in a freeze-dryer to remove the moisture. This process takes up to three months to complete.

Use Silica Gel

If air drying or freeze-drying is not an option that you fancy, try using silica gel. It's not actually a gel but a kind of porous sand capable of absorbing moisture and water. This aids in drying up flowers in one to seven days.

To do this, create a base layer using the silica gel in a container that's pressurized and airtight. This is where you are going to lay the blooms into. Once those are in place, gently pour in more silica gel while making sure that the flower's shape doesn't get affected.

Once you have filled up the container, seal it with a lid. By the time the week finishes the flowers should be ready by then. Carefully take off the flowers and use a compound with a strong hold, like a hairspray or a fixative spray.

You can get Silica Gel from craft stores for less than $10, making this an affordable method for preserving flowers. What's more, silica gel preserves the color of the flowers nicely. This method is perfect for use with flowers like peonies, roses, or orchids.

Preserve with Epoxy Resin

You can also preserve your wedding bouquet by using epoxy resin, immortalizing them into decorative shapes. The most usual one is making globe paperweights with them, making them beautiful and memorable pieces.

First, get a globe-shaped mold from your local craft store. Fill the mold halfway with resin and arrange the flowers with utter care as you desire in the fluid. Once you have done that, fill it up to the brim and leave it to dry.

Once dry, take off the mold and you'll have a wonderful decoration that keeps your wedding bouquet at its shining best.

Dip in Wax

Preserving flowers using wax is more of a temporary measure, but this extends the life of the flowers for up to six months or so. To do this process, you will require paraffin wax and a pan (a saucepan would do). Work the wax in some boiling water and keep at it until it's smooth and even. After which, turn the stove to low heat so the mixture cools down but remains warm.

The next thing you do is to take your best blooms (avoid any of the stained or wilted) and gently dip them into the wax solution. Then immediately pull them out, and hang them upside down to dry.

Hire a Professional to Help Preserve Your Wedding Bouquet

With all the options shown in saving wedding flowers, some of these have a DIY touch to them. But if it seems that you may not have the time or skill to do so, there is always the option to hire a professional to help you preserve them.

So, in this case, ask your florist if they offer in-house preservation services or if they can recommend a vendor offering such. When you have found one where you can have your wedding bouquet preserved, make the reservation at a minimum of a month in advance to ensure they have enough space.

You will need to have the bouquet delivered in a cool container to help the flowers retain their freshness. There may be times when the company may also provide a box or cooler for you to use.

Have the Bouquet Painted

This last option may come as a surprise as it doesn't exactly involve preserving the bouquet physically. Instead, this option is towards preserving the memory in a painting before the flowers wilt away. Commission a local artist to paint your bouquet and it can become part of your home as a lovely art piece.

When It Comes to Flowers, Come to Us!

Weddings are wonderful, as is with every moment in your life. The bouquet is one piece that you can take with you to remember the wonderful moment of love at its highest peak. As these methods have shown you how to preserve your wedding bouquet, you now have a means to keep the memory with you.

And when it comes to flowers for the important moments in your life, you can come to us to help you get you the perfect bouquet for the occasion. Contact us today and we'll help in getting the right bouquet for you.