How to Preserve Your Wedding Bouquet: Tips and Ideas

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Your dream wedding day is almost here, and we’re sure you have all the details perfectly planned. From the wedding dress and makeup to the venue and wedding bouquet, you have everything ready. But have you considered what you will do to preserve your wedding memories? How to Preserve Your Wedding Bouquet: Tips and Ideas.

Of course, you can take photos and hold on to your wedding gown, or keep small details like invitations, wedding favors, and accessories from the happiest day of your life. However, many brides forget about one of the most integral parts of their wedding – the wedding bouquet! It’s truly a sad moment to see your wedding flowers die. Especially after you’ve put in so much work in choosing the specific blooms, colors, greenery and creating the design with your florist. But your wedding bouquet doesn’t have to end up in the trash!

Here are our best tips on how to preserve your wedding bouquet!

Prep For Your Wedding Bouquet Preservation 

Before we share different ways to preserve your bouquet, here are some tips on how to prep your wedding bouquet for the preservation process:

• First things first, ask your florist if the pricing includes bouquet  preservation.
• If it is not in the florist’s price, it is important to include your wedding bouquet preservation cost in your wedding budget!
• We recommend starting with preparing your wedding bouquet for the preservations once you’re done with all your wedding photos.
• Skip the bouquet tossing or switch the real blooms with an artificial bouquet to protect your wedding flowers
• Make sure you keep your blooms in a cool, shaded place before and after the ceremony, reception, and pictures.
• Don’t forget to have your flowers in water for as long as you can!
• Decide how you want to preserve your flowers. You can choose to air dry, press, silica-gel, resin, or wax.
• Keep your blooms away from the sun and change the water daily until you can preserve your wedding flowers.
• Remember, the sooner, the better. If you wait too long, your flowers may be bruised, discolored, wilted, or even moldy.
  

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Once you’ve done all the prepping, you can start on actual preserving!

Bouquet Pressing 

This option is perfect for the brides who plan on saving just a few flowers as opposed to the entire bouquet. It is also one of the easiest ways to preserve your blooms since heavy objects like a book or stack of magazines do the majority of the work. 

Arrange your flowers how you want between two sheets of coffee filter, parchment paper, or wax paper. Place the paper inside the middle of the heavy book, like a dictionary or phone book. Add more books or any other heavy objects on top and leave it to dry for three to four weeks. The longer they dry, the better results you’ll have! 

Once the blooms are dry, they are ready to be framed and showcased on your wall. Don’t want them on the wall? Opt for a memory book, phone case, scrapbook, or even bath salts.

Air Drying

The most traditional method of them all, air drying is a simple process that you can easily do yourself. Since you don’t need any special materials and skills you can do it at home. Simply hang the stems of your wedding bouquet one by one in a dry, dark place where it won’t be disturbed by light or humidity. Hanging them by one stem will give you much better results with less chance of mold.

This option is great for those brides who want to keep the blooms’ original shape intact (although slight shrinkage will happen). Your flowers will lose some color and will be very fragile, so arrange them with care. The process of air drying will take around two to three weeks, the longer, the better.

If you’ve kept any ribbons from your original bouquet, tie your dry wedding bouquet with them and showcase it in a vase or hanging on a wall for an eye-catching statement piece in your home.

Silica Gel

Despite its name, silica gel is actually more like a sand-like substance that absorbs moisture and acts as a drying agent. This method is similar to air drying but takes less time for your blooms to dry and preserves their color, look, and original form much better than air drying. You can buy silica gel at most craft stores or online. Test it before you use silica gel on your actual wedding bouquet!

Fully cover your blooms with gel making sure the shape of the flower is not compromised. Leave them in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for a week. Make sure the container is airtight, or your flowers will become moldy. 

When the flowers are dry, use a small paintbrush to dust off any sand left between the flower’s petals. Spray your blooms with either fixative spray or hairspray and display them in a vase or see-through box.

Wax Dip

Dipping your blooms in wax is another great way to preserve your flowers. However, this is not a permanent option, as wax-dipped flowers will only last for four to six months most of the time. Wax-dipping will also keep the original form and color of your blooms intact. This method is tricky so make sure you practice a few times before you use it on your wedding bouquet.

Melt paraffin wax (or uncolored and unscented candles) in a small saucepan. Let the wax cool slightly and dip your flower heads in one-by-one until they are completely covered. Leave them to dry hanging down, or place them upright in a vase. The wax gives your blooms a shiny appearance.

Once the flowers are dry, place them in a vase or hang them somewhere in your home as a reminder of the beautiful memories you made on your wedding day.

Epoxy Resin

Resin is another unique method of preserving your wedding flowers. Resembling a glass-like material, epoxy resin can be used for coasters, earrings, pendants, ring holders, letter shapes, and even Christmas ornaments. You just need to get a mold from your local craft store or online in whatever shape you want. 

Pour the resin on top of the flowers in a mold and let it harden before removing the mold. The epoxy resin can only harden in small layers, so make sure you pour small, even amounts. The drying process will take around 24 hours to a few days, and may slightly change the color of the flowers. However, this method allows you to show your blooms in their full glory!

Keep in mind that this method requires some practice before you use it on your real wedding flowers.

 

There are a lot of ways you can make your wedding memories last. If you are still looking for great wedding ideas, make sure to check our Ultimate Bride’s Survival Guide!

 

Header Image Credit: @dayeightstudios