How can I preserve my wedding bouquet?

Your wedding bouquet is one of the most traditional and beautiful accessories you will choose for this important day. The cost will be high and then they are left to wilt while you head off on your honeymoon.

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Lots of brides get sentimental over their flowers and are surprised how beautiful they looked when delivered on that special morning. Lots of bouquets are simply taken home and left to die within a few days and others are taken to local cemeteries and placed on the graves of loved ones. But it is possible to preserve your bouquet and keep it for years to come.

There are basically three ways to preserve flowers:

Hanging your bouquet to dry

Hang

Hang your bouquet upside down in a dry safe area for a couple of months and then store it in a specially designed presentation box.

Using silica gel to preserve flowers

Silica

Find a box large enough to hold your bouquet, fill it with at least one inch of silica gel (drying compound), place the flowers in the box, cover with gel and close the box. Leave for a few weeks and then you will find that the silica gel, which comes in crystals, will have changed colour while absorbing the moisture from the flowers. Remove the flowers and dust off any residue gel. Over the next two months, the flowers will become a few shades darker in colour.

Freeze-drying for a longer-lasting bouquet

Freeze

Freeze-drying the bouquet is the most expensive options because you need to take it to a professional with the correct equipment. The flowers are sprayed with starch and the bouquet is then placed in a freeze dryer which takes out all the moisture. This process takes between two to three months. Freeze-dried flowers will last for a number of years.

Whichever option you use, remember to organise it before your wedding day and if you are going on a honeymoon, you will need to ask a friend or family member to organise it for you.

For something different towards your wedding preparations, why not have handmade wedding invitations https://www.looneylizardcreations.co.uk/handmade-invitations/wedding-stationery/ which will impress your guests and set the tone for your big day.

When ordering your wedding bouquet, chat with your florist about preserving your bouquet. They will be able to give you some helpful advice on what you need to do and give you an idea of professionals who can help.

Summary

This article explains three ways to preserve a wedding bouquet instead of letting it wilt after the big day: hanging it upside down to dry before storing it in a presentation box, burying it in silica gel for a few weeks, or having it professionally freeze-dried, which takes longer and costs more but lasts for years. It advises arranging this before the wedding or delegating it to someone else.

Questions this article raises

• Which of these three preservation methods keeps a bouquet’s colour best over time?
• How much does professional freeze-drying of a wedding bouquet typically cost?
• How long can a preserved bouquet realistically be expected to last?