What Is Wedding Bouquet Preservation?

Wedding Bouquet Preservation: How to Make Your Beautiful Wedding Flowers Last Forever

You’ve spent so long planning your perfect wedding day, down to the intricate wedding decor details, including your wedding flowers. From the gorgeous bridal bouquet to the wedding party’s bouquets and boutonnières, even the centerpieces — each and every one of these delicate blooms has been handpicked with love. Do you really want to throw them away after you’ve said “I do” and left for your honeymoon?

Luckily, you don’t have to. Wedding bouquet preservation methods can ensure your fresh flowers last for the long haul.

How Can I Preserve My Wedding Bouquet? Some Professional Options

There’s no single wedding bouquet preservation method that everyone opts for. Instead, you have a handful of options, including both DIY and professional services. Here are a couple of ideas for when you want a pro to handle it.

1. Resin Wedding Bouquet

Professionals will best know how to preserve your wedding bouquet in resin, which freezes the blooms as-is, in a clear shape of your choosing. The simplest option is a paperweight, but you can turn resin into various items, from jewelry to coasters to entire tabletops.

This process requires the expert to fill a mold with epoxy resin, before arranging the flowers within the resin and filling the mold the rest of the way up. Then it simply needs to sit until hardened. While technically, you could complete the project yourself (most craft stores will sell everything you need), it’s not advised unless you have some experience with resin and resin molds.

2. Freeze-Dried Flowers

Some florists offer this option where they simply clean up your bouquet by removing any leaves or flowers that are beginning to show their age before freeze-drying the blooms inside a commercial machine. Once finished, you can display the flowers as a beautiful keepsake.

How to Preserve Wedding Flowers at Home

Of course, you don’t need to reserve a big chunk of your wedding budget for professionally preserving a wedding bouquet. Some DIY projects can be easily and affordably completed with just a little savvy and a trip to your local craft store.

1. Pressed and Displayed Flowers

One option is to pick a few flowers from the entire bouquet or arrangement to preserve via pressing, rather than doing so with the whole bouquet. (If you do want to preserve an entire bouquet in this manner, choose a smaller wedding party arrangement rather than the ornate, extravagantly large bridal piece.)

To start, spread the flowers between sheets of clean wax paper and press them down with a large book or a heavy, flat object. Leave them like this for 10 days, and then come back and see if the flowers are pressed and dry. Once ready, you can arrange each pressed flower to your liking within a frame or shadow box.

When it comes to how to preserve wedding bouquet flowers, this option is one of the easiest and cheapest.

2. Dried Wedding Bouquet

If you can’t stand the thought of smooshing your beloved bouquet, you can also go with an air-drying process, which is equally free and easy. Just hang the bouquet upside down, preferably by separating the individual flowers and then hanging those flowers upside down to allow for plenty of air flow. Then, let the blooms air dry in a warm spot for about a week.

3. Wax-Dipped Flowers

If you’re wondering how to preserve a bridal bouquet for a short period of time, you can always dip it in wax. This will keep the preserved flowers looking good as new for a few months.

Simply melt paraffin wax on the stove, dip each full bloom into the wax, and hang them upside down over a piece of wax paper or parchment paper so the excess wax can drip off and the flowers dry.

4. Silica Gel-Preserved Flowers

If you buy a bag of silica gel, you can pour it into an airtight container, carefully layering your flowers inside. Leave the flowers in the silica gel for at least a week, then take them out and spray them with hairspray. You can then display the flowers to your liking.

Should You Choose a Professional or DIY Method for the Preservation Process?

It’ll all depend on a few factors. You’ll want to consider the following before making a decision:

• Did you pick one of the wedding bouquet preservation options that are only really possible for a professional, or did you choose one that’s DIY-friendly?
• Do you consider yourself a pretty good DIYer? If not, you might want to trust a professional.

• Do you have the budget for professional services? If not, you’ll want to do it yourself.

Before deciding on any particular way to go about preserving blooms, weigh your options carefully and thoughtfully. You only get one chance at this.

Things to Consider When Choosing How to Preserve Wedding Bouquets

Whatever option you choose, keep a few things in mind.

• Your bouquet toss can, unfortunately, harm your bouquet and leave it looking worse for wear. If you know you want to save your flowers, opt for a smaller and/or fake flower arrangement for the tradition, and keep your actual bouquet safe for preservation.

• After you preserve your flowers, you should still care for them properly. Keep them out of direct sunlight and away from moist environments or extreme temperatures.
• Don’t let worrying about how to save a wedding bouquet keep you from your wedding. Enjoy life’s biggest moments on your day and assign a trusted, responsible member of your wedding party or family to watch over your bouquet the rest of the night.

How to Preserve Wedding Bouquet FAQs

How Can I Preserve a Wedding Bouquet?

There are many options for how to preserve bridal bouquet flowers. You can take them to a professional for freeze-drying or to encase them in resin. You can also preserve them at home by pressing or drying them or protecting them with silica gel or wax.

How Do I Preserve a Wedding Bouquet for Free?

You can preserve your wedding bouquet for free by either pressing or drying the flowers at home. Both methods only require regular household items.

Can I Learn How to Preserve My Wedding Bouquet at Home?

Yes! There are several DIY methods of preserving wedding flowers at home, and even professional techniques can be done at home if you invest in learning the necessary skills and buying the right equipment.

How Much Does Professional Floral Preservation Cost?

It depends on the service provider, but you can expect to pay several hundred dollars to preserve one large bouquet professionally.

Is Preserving Your Bouquet Worth It?

It will depend on the individual couple. Some think that the extra cost of professional preservation is not worth it, especially considering the cost of wedding flowers in general, while others think it’s a worthwhile investment for a memento that you’ll keep forever.

Don’t Forget the Wedding Insurance!

As you’re planning your perfect florals and all the other necessary wedding details, don’t forget the most important (and yet most affordable) detail of all: wedding insurance.

A comprehensive wedding insurance policy like BriteCo offers will keep you covered if your big day goes sideways, from vendor cancellations to bad weather to damage at your venue.

Get your BriteCo wedding insurance quote now.

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