Your bridal bouquet is such a special piece of your big day. You spend so much money on it, it’s definitely something you want to be able to preserve! That being said, sending your bouquet off to be professionally preserved isn’t always in the budget. We love finding ways to DIY wedding details that will garner the same great result of keeping your wedding memories alive without the heavy price tag. Luckily, there are so many ways you can preserve your wedding flowers at home for a fraction of the cost. Keep in mind, your flowers may not be fresh cut on the day of the wedding, so it’s a good idea to know what route of bouquet preservation you want to take ahead of time so you’re ready to jump into action and maintain the best possible quality of your flowers. So what are your options? We’re sharing some of our favorite, unique ways that anyone can do at home!
Hang Drying Your Bouquet
If arts and crafts and the DIY world are overwhelming to you, check out hang drying your bouquet. Probably the easiest option, simply hang your bouquet upside down to dry. That’s it! While this is the easiest and most inexpensive option, it is also probably takes the longest, so if you’re impatient, this may not be the route for you. Your flowers will need to hang for a couple of weeks or even a month in order to dry completely.
Once dried, you can display the flowers in a variety of ways. Our favorite is to fill a shadow box with the dried blooms! It’s important to note that in drying your flowers out this way changes the look of the blooms. The colors won’t stay the same and they’ll shrink down in size as they dry out. If you’re looking for something that really keeps your flowers looking the same, check out some of the other options we’re compiled for you.
Drying with Silica Gel
Slightly more crafty than hang drying, but still pretty easy, is the idea of drying your bouquet with silica gel. Your materials list is pretty short and inexpensive and you can find silica gel at most craft stores. The only other thing you’ll need is an air-tight container large enough to fit all your flowers so that they’re completely covered.
Start with a layer of silica gel (it’s a fine sand-like material), then lay the flowers in the container. Gently fill in with the silica gel all around the flowers and cover so that they’re no longer visible. Cover the container and store in a warm place for a week and a half. After removing the flowers, brush off any remaining silica gel and spray them with a fixative or hairspray. Make sure you let this dry completely before storing them in a box.
This is a great option if you’re still on a budget but not quite as patient and willing to wait for flowers to hang dry. It also keeps blooms looking fresh and new, which is a huge plus! However, it’s important to note that silica gel is poisonous, so keep it away from children and pets and make sure to thoroughly wash your hands after handling your flowers!
Press Drying
We love all the fun options you have with press drying flowers! This is another fairly easy and inexpensive option for brides who are feeling creative. While you may not necessarily be able to do this with your full bouquet, it’s still a great option. Find a big, heavy book (like a phone book). Line pages with parchment paper and place flowers between the layers. Close the book and weigh it down with other heavy objects enough that the flowers are being compressed and flattened in the pages. Leave them to dry for 7-10 days.
After they’re dried out, you can arrange and frame the pressed blooms.This is a great opportunity to create some real artwork. Have some fun with it! If you have a surplus of flowers, try creating matching frames that will coordinate and can hang in your bedroom or somewhere special. Mix in these frames with your wedding photos to keep your memories from the day together. Alternatively, if you have some smaller blooms, you can make little ornaments too!
Creating Paperweights with Epoxy Resin
If you’re really crafty, creating paperweights is a really cool option if you’re looking for something unique! As with the other options, your materials list is pretty short and reasonably priced. All you need to do is grab a sphere mold from your craft store. Fill it halfway with clear epoxy resin. Gently arrange your flowers inside and finish filling the mold with the epoxy. After it dries, you have a stunning new paperweight!
This gives you the fun opportunity of creating different groupings of some of your favorite flowers from your bouquet. This is all about finding a balance, you don’t want to overfill the mold! Try some different combinations and see what you like best. If it’s in your budget, grab a couple of different size molds to create a variety of sizes for some fun variations.
