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Keep your big-day blooms forever with these preservation options.
Photo by Oliver Fly Photography
No one wants to say goodbye to their wedding bouquet or centerpieces—especially not after all the painstaking planning and flower budgeting that went into carefully choosing each and every bloom. After everything that went into choosing and creating the flowers for the big day, it's no surprise many couples wonder how to preserve at least some of them. While many people choose to preserve a wedding bouquet, any big-day arrangement can be saved for years to come. Components of the ceremony installations or reception centerpieces, boutonnières, and bouquets can all be saved if you plan ahead.
"A part of what makes flowers so special is their fleeting beauty. After months of metamorphosis from seed to stem, they have finally reached their pinnacle in your wedding flowers," says Shannon Morrow, founder of Arvo Floral Studio. "Couples are always looking for ways to make a keepsake from their florals so that they always have a little bit of their floral design to remind them of their special day."
Shannon Morrow is the founder and lead designer of Arvo Floral Studio. Founded in 2013, Arvo has served countless couples on their wedding day by bringing their floral dreams to life.
If you want to keep your blooms forever, you'll be glad to know that you can—and there are numerous ways to do just that. "My number one tip for someone who wants to preserve their flowers is to decide what way will be most practical and can be easily implemented into your home," says Morrow. "Deciding on an option that will result in a piece of art that can be displayed in your home year-round is truly the best option for couples wanting to have everlasting enjoyment."
Read on to learn how to preserve your beloved wedding flowers and hold on to them forever as a floral keepsake from your special day.
To press the flowers in your wedding bouquet, select as many flowers as you'd like, or even the entire bouquet as pictured here, and spread them out on clean wax paper so they will lift easily after pressing. Morrow suggests arranging them in a way you are happy with during this step—once they're dried and pressed, you won't be able to manipulate them.
A number of professionals offer this service—do a quick Google search or browse Instagram to find some options!—so you don't have to go the DIY route if you don't want to. That said, it's important to plan ahead and budget for this route. A professional will need to receive them in the days immediately following the wedding in order to press them while they're still fresh, and costs vary depending on how large you'd like your final framed piece to be.
When you preserve flowers, you'll want to start the process when petals are still vibrant, colorful, and unstained. If you wait too long, they'll have more time to die, wilt, and become discolored.
Photo by Terryfic3D / Getty Images
Another simple way to preserve your wedding bouquet is to let it air-dry.
"Arrange them in a vase or create a wreath with your dried flowers to enjoy," says Morrow. "Bonus, if you kept your ribbon from your bouquet—be sure to use that on your wreath!"
If you're drying the flowers yourself, remember to handle them with extra care. The dried stems will become brittle and fragile.
Silica gel isn't an actual gel but a porous sand that works to absorb water and dry flowers in one to seven days. This method keeps your flowers looking the closest to how they did on the actual wedding date. While freezing your bouquet in time isn't an option, silica gel is the next best thing. You can pick up silica gel at any craft store for less than $10.
Silica gel preserves the color of the flower nicely, too. When the week is up, remove the flowers carefully and spray them with either an artist-fixative spray or hairspray. You can then arrange full stems in a favorite vase or pop the tops of the flower buds into a shadow box.
Courtesy of Leman Floral/Etsy
You can also use clear epoxy resin to preserve your flowers in decorative shapes. To make a resin paperweight, get a mold from the local craft store in whatever shape you want, like a sphere or a cube.
Don't want to tackle the project yourself? Send the blooms from your bouquet to an artist. The one above was created by Etsy artist Leman Floral who also creates resin ring holders and jewelry trays with wedding flowers.
Wax flowers are not a permanent form of preservation, but they will extend the life of your flowers for up to six months and keep the original integrity and color intact. You won't be able to tell fresh flowers from wax-dipped aside from the feel. To wax-preserve your bouquet, you'll need paraffin wax and a saucepan.
Using glycerin is a unique way to preserve your wedding flowers. The process replaces the water that was in the blooms, keeping them just as they appeared on the big day.
If the DIY route isn't appealing here, know that many professionals offer this service; just be sure to get on someone's calendar before the wedding day to ensure your blooms arrive while they're still fresh.
While it is one of the costlier and more time-consuming preservation methods, freeze-drying can keep flowers as close as possible to their original appearance. Doing it yourself would require the purchase of a freeze-dryer, which freezes the flowers while they are in full bloom, preserving their original brightness and color. Unless you're looking to do this often with other flowers, it is probably easier (and more cost-effective) to find a professional who can freeze-dry flowers.
There is a little bit of prep work prior to having wedding flowers freeze-dried:
Once these steps are complete, place the freeze-dried flowers into a shadow box.
Courtesy of Salt Stains/Etsy
While having your wedding bouquet painted is not preserving the actual flowers, it's still a lovely way to preserve the bouquet. This is one of Morrow's favorite methods. "Since your flowers will never look the same after your wedding day, even with the above preserving options, it is nice to have a permanent reminder of the flowers in all of their glory," she says.
Commission your favorite artist to paint an interpretation of your arrangement or bouquet to live on in your home forever. "It can be as literal or as abstract as you like, and that is probably the best part," Morrow says. "From acrylic to watercolor to minimal line drawings, you are sure to find an option that will fit your style." The beautiful piece of art above is by Salt Stains on Etsy, who creates custom paintings of bridal bouquets.
Dead and dried-up flowers can also be repurposed, so consider getting crafty before tossing them! Options include making homemade potpourri, adding the petals to homemade candles, creating a DIY floral bath soak, pressing them in a journal, or simply composting them.
You probably aren't interested in preserving every floral arrangement at your wedding. For flowers used as décor, send them home with guests, bring them to a local hospital or nursing home, offer them to your vendors, or bring some to the burial site of a deceased loved one.
If you're hoping to keep your wedding bouquet fresh until you or a professional can preserve the blooms, make sure to pop the stems in water as soon as possible. For bouquets and centerpieces alike, store the flowers in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight until you're ready to use them or preserve them.
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