Bouquet Preservation
The bridal bouquet is one of the most cherished decor elements for our brides on their wedding day. In order to enjoy it for longer than just the one day, many clients seek ways to preserve it after the celebration. There are many cool ways to preserve the memory of a bouquet and we are here to share some of our favorites!
Methods of Preservation
Pressed
This old school method is making a come back as a wedding trend! Although you could DIY it, hiring a professional to dry them for you will ensure you won’t mess the process up or forget that they are stored in a book on your bookshelf. It also helps that a professional can artfully arrange them and mount them in a frame for you afterwards.
Although this is a common method, it doesn’t work well for all flowers. If you are opting for a bouquet with more delicate flowers like roses, hydrangeas, lisianthus, etc., this method will work well. It is important to remember the thicker the flower, the longer and more difficult it will be to get the moisture out.
Here are a few pressed flower companies whose work we are drawn to: Pressed Bouquet Shop, Amaranthine Florals, and Stag Ridge Mercantile.
Preserved in Acrylic
This method of preservation has been a huge trend the past few years. Specialist take the bouquet and dry each flower in a special process that maintains the shape and some color over the course of several weeks. Once they are dried, they add them to molds where they pour acrylic over to create various keepsakes.
Some of the most classic elements include acrylic ring holders, keep sake boxes and Christmas ornaments. We have also seen some more unique items like key chairs, trays and even tabletops. With many different styles of acrylic preservation it is important to find a professional who specializes in what you looking for.
A company that we’ve worked with many times is Modern Bouquet Preservation. They are a local company specializing in bouquet preservation and they offer a range of options for you to choose from. One of the main reasons we recommend them (other than the fact their work is lovely) is that if you are getting married on Oahu, you can get the bouquet to them the next day when it is still fresh. If you opt for a company on the mainland, it will be an additional day of travel and you will have to take it to the department of agriculture for inspection before shipping out.
There are a few other off-island companies who’s work is really cool and worth considering as well. In particular we love Si Deco Handmade, There Better Be Flowers, and Leila Art Collection.
Hand Painted
A unique and artistic approach of preserving your bouquet is to hire an artist to paint a portrait of your bouquet at its peak beauty. This is a great alternative if you are not able to get your bouquet to a preservation company immediately after the wedding, you opted for flowers that don’t dry well or you want to remember how vibrant your wedding flowers were and they just won’t look the same when they are dried.
There are many amazing artists that we’ve stumbled across over the years, but here are a few that we especially love for their style: Katie Jobling, The Copper Wolf and Olga Ayhan.
Preserving your bouquet is a lovely way to remember the beauty of your wedding day. We hope that we’ve inspired you to preserve your bouquet so you can enjoy for years to come!
