Creative ways to preserve and display your wedding bouquet
Your wedding day is one of the most magical days of your life, so you’ll no doubt want to hold onto your memories for as long as possible. Here, Clare Price from framing specialists Wall Space shares their tips for preserving your wedding bouquet for years to come.
Preserving your wedding bouquet can be a wonderful way to keep the memories of your special day alive. Techniques like drying and pressing are some of the best methods of flower preservation, and there are countless ways to show off your preserved blooms in your home once you’re done. With the tips and ideas below, you can create lasting reminders of your cherished moments and remember your special day for years to come.
Best flowers for drying When it comes to preserving, some flowers dry better than others, while others lend themselves better to pressing. Your first step is to consider what flowers you have in your bouquet and determine the best method for each. Roses, lavender, baby’s breath, hydrangeas, amaranth, statice, and globe thistles all tend to retain their shape and colour well when dried. Foliage like eucalyptus also dries particularly well.
Simple, delicate flowers and leaves such as pansies, forget-me-nots, cosmos, and ferns lend themselves well to pressing. These either have a flat shape or a shape that can be flattened easily without losing any vibrance and beauty.
For best results, start drying or pressing your flowers within the first couple of days after your wedding, before they start to wilt or become bruised. If you have opted for dried flowers for your ceremony, you can skip the preservation stages and go straight to displaying.
Methods for drying flowers Once you’ve determined which flowers can be dried, you’ll then need to decide on the drying method. There are three options you can choose.
Air Drying
Strip the flowers of any excess leaves.
Gather the flowers into small bunches and tie the stems together with string or elastic bands.
Hang the bunches upside down in a dry, dark, and well-ventilated area and leave them to dry for several weeks until fully dehydrated.
Silica Gel
Fill a deep airtight container with a layer of silica gel.
Place the flowers in the container and cover them with more silica gel.
Seal the container and leave it for several days to a week.
Gently remove the flowers and brush off excess silica gel.
Microwave
Place the flowers in a microwave-safe container with silica gel.
Microwave on low heat for 2–3 minutes, checking frequently.
Allow them to cool before removing.
After drying, you can prolong the lifespan of your flowers by spraying them with unscented hair spray. This can help to protect the flowers and reduce brittleness.
Pressing your flowers Any delicate flowers that aren’t robust enough for drying can be pressed.
Place the flowers between sheets of parchment paper or wax paper.
Put the paper with flowers between heavy books or in a flower press.
Leave them to press for 1–2 weeks.
Framing your flowers Placing your preserved flowers in shadow boxes is a great way to show them off. These are deep frames with a glass front to protect their contents. Simply select a shadow box that matches your interior style and is deep enough to accommodate the size of your bouquet. Then, arrange the dried flowers inside. You can also add other mementos from your wedding, such as invitations and photos.
Pressed flowers can be displayed in a traditional frame. Delicately arrange your flowers on a piece of decorative paper. You may want to use an adhesive such as double-sided tape to keep them in place. Then, simply add your flowers to your frame, seal it, and hang it on your wall. When choosing where to hang your flowers, pick a spot that is out of direct sunlight. This will protect your bouquet from fading.
Other preservation ideas Alongside framing your wedding flowers, you could also try other methods of showing off your bouquet. Small posies and individual flowers can be displayed under small glass domes for an elegant display. Pressed flowers can be preserved in resin to create paperweights, coasters, or decorative blocks. You could even give these to guests as a ‘thank you’ gift. Of course, you could also display your dried bouquet in a beautiful vase. As they’ll be more exposed this way, they’ll take a little more care to keep them looking fresh. You can dust them gently using a soft brush or a can of compressed air.
Whether through drying or pressing, preserving and displaying your flowers is a wonderful way to immortalise your wedding memories. For more wedding ideas, take a look at the news and advice from County Wedding Magazines.
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