How To Immortalize Your Wedding Bouquet Forever

Preserving your wedding bouquet is a great way to keep your wedding day memories alive. There are several ways to do this, from DIY methods to professional services. If you're crafty and want to save some money, you can try pressing the flowers in a book, hanging them upside down to air-dry, using silica gel or wax to preserve them, or encasing them in resin. If you're time-poor or the project is too complex, you can outsource to a professional, who can freeze-dry, press, or paint your bouquet.

Air-drying

Dismantle the bouquet

Take photos of your bouquet from all angles before you start to dismantle it. Then, carefully take the bouquet apart.

Prepare the flowers

Remove any wilting petals and browning stems, or anything that looks past its best. Trim the ends of the stems. Place the stems in a bucket or vase of fresh water.

Skip the bouquet toss

If you want to keep your bouquet, you might want to skip the tradition of throwing it into the crowd. You can substitute it with an artificial bouquet or use one of the bridesmaids' posies instead.

Find a suitable space

Find a dry, warm and dark space to hang your flowers—an airing cupboard or boiler room is ideal.

Hang the flowers to dry

The best way to dry the bouquet is to hang the flowers separately, which ensures the air circulates around each stem. You can use coat hangers or rig up some sort of clothesline. Make hooks from florist's wire and gently poke one end through the stems (the drying process causes the stems to contract, so if you tie them onto the line, they'll simply slide off after a few days).

• Check on the flowers
• Display your dried bouquet

Once your bouquet is fully dry, it will look gorgeous in a vase or hanging on a wall in your home. If you kept any ribbons from your wedding, you can tie them to your bouquet to help decorate it.

Pressing flowers

Preparation

Before your wedding, research florists who do not spray preservatives on bouquets as this causes browning when pressed. On your wedding day, skip the bouquet toss or use an artificial flower bouquet. After the ceremony, ask a loved one to disassemble the bouquet, remove any ribbons and pins, and diagonally cut about half an inch from each stem. Then, place the flowers in cool, fresh water, keeping them away from sunlight and refreshing the water daily until you are ready to press them.

Pressing

Select the flowers you want to press and arrange them on a piece of parchment, wax, or coffee filter paper. Place them inside a heavy book, such as a dictionary, and put another sheet of paper on top to prevent ink from transferring to the flowers. Weigh the book down with additional weights and leave the flowers to dry for about two weeks.

Display

Once the flowers are pressed, you can display them in a frame or turn them into a new piece of art. You can also send your bouquet to a professional pressing service, which will press and frame your flowers for you.

Using silica gel

Silica gel is a porous sand that absorbs moisture from flowers, helping to preserve your bridal bouquet. It is a great method to keep your blooms true to their original form and colour. You can purchase silica gel from craft stores, ranging in price from $10 to $30 depending on the quantity.

Step 1: Disassemble your bouquet

Take a picture of your bouquet to use as a reference for later. Carefully deconstruct your bouquet by cutting the stems off each bloom, leaving only about an inch or two.

Step 2: Prepare the silica gel

Get an airtight container made of plastic and pour a small amount of silica gel as your base.

Step 3: Arrange the flowers

Gently place your flowers face-up in the silica gel, ensuring they are not overcrowded. Leave a little space between each flower to avoid damaging them when removing them later.

Step 4: Cover with more silica gel

Slowly pour silica gel over your flowers, allowing the crystals to settle into the petals and fill any gaps. Continue pouring until every flower is completely covered.

Step 5: Seal and let dry

Seal the container with the lid and let the flowers dry. This process typically takes about one week.

Step 6: Remove the flowers

After the flowers have dried, carefully remove them from the silica gel and shake off any excess.

Step 7: Reconstruct the bouquet

Use floral wire to puncture the stem of each flower, and wrap it down the stem onto a green floral stake. Cover the wire and stake with green floral tape. Repeat this process for each flower.

Finally, carefully reconstruct your bouquet by referring to the picture you took earlier. Use floral tape to hold the stems together, and even out the ends of the floral sticks with garden shears. Wrap the stems with a ribbon and secure it with pins.

Your preserved wedding bouquet is now ready to be displayed! You can place it under a glass cloche or in a shadowbox frame to protect it and keep it dust-free.

Wax-dipping

To preserve your bouquet using wax-dipping, you will need paraffin wax and a saucepan. First, melt the wax in boiling water until it is fluid and smooth. Then, turn the stove to low so the wax mixture cools down slightly but is still warm. Take your best blooms, avoiding any that are stained or wilting, and gently dip them into the wax solution. Immediately pull them out and hang them upside down to dry. You can also place them upright in a vase so the flowers dry with the petals open.

Freeze-drying

The process involves flash-freezing fresh flowers, which must be in good condition, and then loading them into a freeze-dryer, where they are sealed for 10 to 15 days. The basic principle of freeze-drying is the use of a vacuum chamber that slowly extracts moisture from the flowers. This process retains the original shape of the flowers, and chemical enhancements are used to preserve their colour. The flowers will look as though they have been frozen in time, making for a beautiful memento.

If you wish to freeze-dry your wedding bouquet, you will need to recut the flower stems and place the flowers in water at least 12 hours before freezing. You can then deliver them to a professional florist to freeze-dry. Once the process is complete, you can place your freeze-dried flowers into a shadow box to display and preserve them.

It is worth noting that freeze-drying requires a large and expensive piece of equipment, so it is often necessary to hire a professional service to carry out this method of preservation.

Frequently asked questions