Preserve Your Bridal Bouquet for a Long Lasting Family Keepsake

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Bridal Bouquet Bridal Bouquet

 Turn Your Bridal Bouquet into a Long Lasting Family Keepsake

Have you considered turning your bridal bouquet into a long lasting family keepsake? If you have, add preserving your bridal bouquet into your Wedding Planning List!

You can have a professional preserve your flowers or preserve them on your own at home. 

Have a professional preserve your bridal bouquet

If you plan to have a professional preservationist, you must be curious as to how this works. There are two main methods used by professional preservationists: Freeze drying and silica gel. Each of these techniques will affect a flower’s color, crispness, and form differently.

Some flowers preserve better than others. For example:

  • if you are planning to include white roses in your bouquet, consult with your florist which variety of which flower will preserve best and the blooms will not tend to turn a little brown in the center.
  • If you want red roses, they preserve beautifully in silica gel. If you choose the right variety of roses, they will maintain the red color exactly as it is when fresh, will not drop any petals and remain totally crisp and “fresh” looking. so be sure to ask your florist to recommend the right variety of roses for preservation because many red flowers will turn darker when preserved.
  • Other flowers that are popular for bridal bouquet are  Stargazer lilies, Iris, and Bright Fuchsia.
  • When it comes to lilies, be careful of the stamens. Their pollen pods should be removed immediately by the florist, to avoid staining the flower itself and more importantly, your wedding dress.

If your preservationists plan to use the silica gel method, be sure to instruct them not to apply an anti-desiccant spray. Anti-desiccant spray will affect the quality of the preservation, adversely.

Since high quality wedding floral preservation leaves your flowers looking as fresh as they would when the florist delivers them, rather than as an afterthought, you may preserve your bridal bouquet before the wedding. If you decide to preserve your flowers after the wedding, your bouquet will be preserved when it’s passed its peak of freshness, This may affecting the quality of the keepsake.

Questions to ask a floral preservationist;

  1. What preservation method do you use?
  2. Can you demonstrate your technique?
  3. Can I see actual samples of your work?
  4. Do you offer any keepsake design styles?
  5. Do you have any references I may contact?
  6. Can you create a custom design for me and will there be any additional cost for this?7. If I choose a shadowbox type designs, can I choose the background materials?8.  What is your fee schedule?
  7. Do you require a deposit? how much? I expect that it will be applied to the design fee, will it?10. I plan a destination wedding. How can you help me?11. Can you accommodate me if I call you after my wedding to preserve my bouquet?
  8. Will you charge me an additional fee for treating flowers that are beyond their peak?
  9. Do you guarantee your work?
  10. If I’m not happy with how my flowers look after you dry them, what happens?
  11. How will you compensate me if the flowers turn out not to look totally fresh?
  12. Will you pick my bouquet directly from my reception when the flowers are still fresh?
  13. Will you consult with me at no charge before I meet with my florist to pick my flowers?

If you are looking for quality preservationists you have a few options:

    • Look for them in bridal shows where you can also see their work
    • Consult Wedding websites, magazines and publications,
    • Contact: “The Perfect Wedding Guide”,
    • Ask for referrals from your friends, coworkers, florist, bridal consultant, bridal shops, or other wedding professionals.

    If you did not find a local professional, follow the guidelines to shipping your flowers long distance/ Conributed by Christine S. Zipps

    Ideally, you will want to send the flowers immediately following your wedding ceremony and reception right after the photos have been taken. However, if that’s not possible, keep them in water and in a refrigerator until you can ship them. In any event, keep them out of direct sunlight/heat source and not laying down.

    If you have not already done so, alert the recipient that your flowers are being sent and when you expect they will arrive.

    I would recommend sending your flowers Fed Ex overnight.

    Purchase a couple of gel packets from the grocery store and freeze them. That will help keep the flowers cool. This is a must, in warm/hot weather.

    Take care not to freeze the flowers.

    Spray them with water and gently place them in a large enough plastic bag.

    Package them with styrofoam peanuts.

     

     preserving your bridal bouquet at home,

    I found that the easiest way to preserve a bridal bouquet at home is following the steps listed below:

    1. If there are extra leaves, trim them
    2. Leave about 6 inches of stem
    3. Tie the bouquet with string, and hang it upside down in a dark cool place where no sunshine or light can affect the flowers. A dark closet that is not used often, is ideal,
    4. Let the flowers dry for about 3 weeks.
    5. Once the flowers are completely dry, spray them with unscented, strong hair spray. Do not hold the sprayer too close to the flowers.
    6. let the hair spray dry for a day. the following day, spray again and spray again on the third day.

    You just preserve your keepsake wedding flower bouquet. Simple, wasn’t it? Enjoy it!

     

    TO READ THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES ABOUT FLOWERS – JUST CLICK ON THE TITLE:

    HOW TO CHOOSE A WEDDING FLORIST – FLORAL DESIGNER AND – OR DECORATOR.
      FLOWERS: THEIR SEASONS AND THEIR REASONS
      FLOWERS AND THEIR MEANINGS 
      KEEP YOUR FLOWERS BEAUTIFUL AND LONG LASTING
     SHOULD YOU CHOOSE FRESH OR SILK WEDDING FLOWERS
    WEDDINGS: THINGS TO KNOW WHEN CONSIDERING YOUR FLOWERS ARRANGEMENTS AND BOUQUETS

     

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    Author Byline

    Nily Glaser, the publisher of the A-wedding Day Magazine , at http://a-weddingday.com is herself a published author.  She writes important articles, and has presented workshops for wedding professionals all over the USA. Her free web site magazine is very popular because of the informational articles, the wedding questions and answers section and most importantly because brides and grooms plan their dream wedding stress free when they download and print the FREE Wedding Planning Guide, book authored by Nily Glaser.

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