11 Ways To Preserve Wedding Bouquets + Keep The Memories

You are either planning on falling in love with your bouquet or you are newly married and can’t bear to see your beautiful wedding bouquet wilt. Am I right or am I right?

Well, there is no need to fret, because I am here to the rescue with different ways to preserve your wedding bouquet to keep forever!

Now, as a bride, I have to admit that my bouquet was my favourite physical element of my wedding day. I was in love with it and I often wistfully look back on my photos of it.

Photo of me by Alexa Loy

 

I really regret not having tried some more ways to preserve my bouquet. I did do a couple of the options below with mixed results, but I winged it in all honestly, rather than having a solid plan of action!

So, take a look at these ideas, choose one or two to do and get all you need at the ready to preserve when your wedding bouquet is at its best!

Where I Went Wrong With My Bouquet Preservation

I didn’t have a plan for preserving my bouquet, so after it dried out a bit, I tried pressing some flowers. I wanted to try and enjoy my bouquet for as long as possible so I kept it in water, which perhaps wasn’t the best move on my part!

I missed the opportunity to really think about how to keep my flowers and I don’t want this for you. This is why I have created this guide on how to preserve your wedding bouquet.

Photo of my bouquet by Alexa Loy

How To Avoid Needing To Preserve Your Bouquet

Eh? How to avoid preserving my bouquet? I hear you ask! Yes, you could opt to have a bouquet made from materials other than fresh flowers. Here are some options:

• Dried Flowers
• Brooches
• Jewellery
• Silk Flowers
• Felt Flowers
• Paper Flowers

So if you want a flawless way to preserve your wedding bouquet, simply make it to last!

How To Preserve Fresh Wedding Bouquets

If you do really want fresh flowers (I totally get it – I did too!) then read on.

1. Dry Your Wedding Bouquet

All you need to do is hang up your bouquet, somewhere dry, away from water. It should simply dry out on it’s own.

I did this with my flower crown and it now sits on my living room shelf.

My Flower Crown Fresh

Photo of my flower crown by Alexa Loy

My Flower Crown Dried (6 years after the wedding)

 

2. Press Your Wedding Bouquet

I tried pressing some of my wedding flowers, but some flowers were too large. Using a DIY flower pressing kit, I pressed flowers and framed them as you can see below.

However, it didn’t quite go fully to plan. Some flowers were quite large and needed a heavier/bigger flower press which I didn’t have. So they weren’t exactly flat, so it’s worth considering the type of flowers in your bouquet AND how many flowers you want to save.

You could press flowers and then frame them, or make a wedding memory scrapbook. You could even create your own pressed flower artwork.

 

3. Have Your Wedding Bouquet Illustrated/Painted

This is another way I had my bouquet preserved. I was really lucky that an artist sent me a beautiful illustration of my bouquet as a gift. It’s a really special momento and something that can be framed and hung in a lovely spot in your home.

A dressing table/room, office or bathroom can make for a sweet spot for a painted bouquet.

Illustration gifted to me by Harriet Parry Flowers | Photo of my bouquet by Alexa Loy

 

4. Ensure Your Wedding Bouquet is Photographed

Perhaps an obvious idea, or is it? If you are hiring a professional wedding photographer or filmmaker and your bouquet is really special to you. Tell them!

They can then ensure they capture your bouquet in all it’s glory for you to relive and enjoy for years to come. I have some beautiful shots of my bouquet which I am really thankful for.

You can them frame your photos, create an album or create a spot for them on your social feeds.

Photo of my bouquet by Alexa Loy

 

5. Seal Your Wedding Bouquet in Wax

This is definitely not something I have not tried, but you can preserve flowers with wax.

Whether or not you can preserve your whole bouquet is uncertain. But you may be able to dip individual stems in wax which seems simple to do.

Photo of my bouquet by Alexa Loy

 

 

6. Preserve Your Bouquet in Resin

Not for the feint hearted, perserving flowers in resin may need a little professioanl assistance. This is something I’d love to try as a little DIY project.

Photo of my bouquet by Alexa Loy

 

7. Make Beauty Products From Your Flowers

How about reusing your flowers rather than preserving them by adding them to beauty products for scent?

Flowers such as these could work really well:

• Rose
• Lavender
• Chamomile
• Marigold
• Echinacea

Be sure to check flowers you use are safe for beauty products and look online for beauty recipes.

 

8. Dry With Silica Gel

Silica gel is made of crytals used for water absortion, so they make a great option for drying wedding flowers. However, quite a lot of silica gel would be required to preserve your bouquet. Not to mention a really large container.

This option is best for preserving individual stems and the results can be quite effective.

There are different methods, from storing in a container to using a microwave with different timelines for both.

Photo of our wedding table flowers by Alexa Loy

 

9. Dry In A Microwave

For a speedier drying process you could ping your wedding bouquet flowers in the microwave. Quick and easy to do, however it’s unlikely you’ll be able to keep your whole bouquet and results can vary.

Photo of air-dried hydrangeas

 

10. Dry In An Oven

On a low heat, and with careful guidance you can bake flowers in your oven to dry them out. You will need to think about taking the stems off and just using indivdual flower heads though.

Again, you won’t be able to keep your bouquet intact, but it should be a fairly quick and easy process.

Photo of my bouquet by Alexa Loy

 

11. Add Keepsake Accessories To Your Bouquet

For a touch of whimsical, I added multicolour ribbons and a wool pom pom garland I made for my son’s room. I also added a brooch on the day as a special touch.

What’s lovely is that the pom pom garland still hangs in my son’s room and I also kept the ribbons for my wedding memory box.

Think about adding keepsake items to your bouquet, so that if your flowers don’t last, the keepsake will:

• Brooch
• Locket
• Charm
• Ribbons
• Pom Poms
• Jewellery

Photo of my bouquet by Alexa Loy | Pom pom garland in my little boys’ room

 

Wedding Bouquet Preservation FAQ

🌸 How long do you have to preserve a wedding bouquet?

It’s best to try your wedding bouquet preservation as soon as possible. Fresh flowers last around 1 week depending on the flower and how you care for it.

So if you want to start the preservation process, aim to do so while flowers are at their best. Ideally within 1 week after your wedding day.

💐 How much does it cost to preserve a wedding bouquet?

The cost of preserving your bouquet really depends on the method you choose. Air drying at home, is free. But hiring a professional could cost up to £500 to preserve a whole bouquet.

Other ways of preservation could cost in the region of £50, depending on equipment or preserving stems only.

 

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Non-DIY Wedding Bouquet Preservation

Now we’ve taken a look at different wedding bouquet and flower preservation techniques, let’s see some ways the pros can do it for you!

Acrylic Frame Bouquet Preservation

Oh, how pretty is this framed dried flower artwork? It’d look really beautiful hung pride of place.

Smartfloralart

 

Resin Bouquet Preservation

Casting wedding flowers in resin is such a fun way to preserve your flowers and their colours. Plus it protects them!

NogardCreationsGB

 

Frame Bouquet Preservation

Drying and framing your whole bouquet has to be the ultimate way to preserve your bouquet, surely?

FrameYourFlowers

 

Pressed Bouquet Preservation

Pressed flowers can look so pretty arranged in frames like this.

CareationDesigns

 

Embroidered Wedding Bouquet

How about embroidering your bouquet or getting a pro to stitch up a storm?

ThroughRainOrShine

 

Wedding Bouquet Painting

These wedding bouquet paintings are so beautiful, wow!

 

JaclynMariePrints

 

Resin Bottle Preservation

I love how these resin bottles allow the flowers to be 3D and in a suspended effect.

OrphicTreasuresGB

 

Ring Bouquet Preservation

Keep your wedding bouquet with you always, in a ring. So special!

MadeToLoveVa

 

 

Further Reading