How to Immortalize Your Wedding Day Bouquet
A lot of thought and time goes into choosing your wedding’s floral arrangements, not to mention the expense. You have to consider a lot of factors when choosing your special day’s flowers: the season, your color theme, your bridesmaids’ dresses, your location, and even what color you think compliments your skin tone best! When you put all that time and effort into not only your flower choice but every part of your wedding, you should be able to keep some part of it as a keepsake. So, here are a few ways you can preserve your wedding’s flowers forever!
Epoxy
A very popular craft nowadays is creating small home decor out of epoxy, and it can be a great way to preserve your wedding bouquet! This method involves completely encasing the flowers in a clear hardened material. You will not be able to touch the flowers once you are done which can be helpful as dried flowers are very fragile. Encasing them in resin is the perfect way to maintain their shape and vibrance when done with care. You can even make them into a useful item, like a jewelry bowl, or a purely decorative piece for your wall!
In order to make an epoxy resin object you will need: a mold from your local craft store in your desired shape, the epoxy resin material, and your floral arrangement. Simply, fill the mold half-way with the resin epoxy, place your flowers in your desired arrangement in the mold, and cover with the rest of the epoxy. Let it dry and then you have a breathtaking decoration commemorative of your special day!
Drying upside down
A very simple way to keep your wedding bouquet is to hang it upside down and let it air-dry! This process takes at least a week and requires a low humidity area for the flowers to dry out completely. Once they are dried you can place them in a vase or use them to create a wreath.
Although this method does preserve the original shape of the flowers, they do lose their color and become quite brittle and fragile. Handle these preserved flowers with care!
Pressing
Pressing flowers is one of the easiest ways to preserve them for years to come. In order to press your wedding flowers you will need wax paper, a heavy book and something heavy to place on top of the book.
First, arrange the flowers so that they will all lay flat in between two sheets of wax paper. Ensuring that the flowers lay flat and are spread out will help you achieve the best results. Insert the wax paper that contains your wedding flowers into a large book with paper pages. The wax paper will prevent the flowers from absorbing the ink as they lose their moisture. Once the wax paper-flower sandwich is inserted into the book, place a heavy object on top of the book. This heavy object could be more books, a small piece of furniture or perhap your mattress. Leave the flowers to dry within this place for seven to ten days. Arrange them as you like afterwards!
A good tip for pressing flowers is to start the process when the flowers are still vibrant and colorful. Pressing the flowers when they are still alive will provide you with the best end results.
Silica gel
If you have ever bought a pair of shoes, a purse, or a piece of furniture and noticed a small packet of clear beads, then you are familiar with silica gel! This method is the best at keeping your flowers close to the condition they were in on the special day and maintaining their freedom to be reused and rearranged for years to come. Using silica gel allows you to maintain the color of the flowers and also the shape if done carefully.
Simply pick up some silica gel from your local craft store, fill an airtight container with the beads at the base, situate your flowers within the container and then pour in the silica gel until they are completely covered. Be sure your container is airtight or your flowers may suffer from mold. After a week, gently remove your flowers and spray them with a fixative spray or hairspray and viola!