How to Preserve your Wedding Bouquet

It comes as no surprise that wedding flowers can be a significant investment, especially if you’re like me and prefer fresh flowers over faux or silk ones. So it makes sense that we want to make every petal count. This begins the journey of deciding the best way to immortalise our expensive florals. There are many blog posts, such as this fantastic one at Brides.com, that already provide a comprehensive outline of the nitty-gritty how-tos. But I won’t bore you with the details. Instead, I’ll give you a rundown—a pros and cons list of some familiar ways you could preserve your flowers—then explain (with as little bias as possible) why custom artwork (by yours truly) might be the best option for you.

1. Pressed flowers
   Apart from my own work and method, this is actually one of the other ways I prefer to have my flowers preserved. In fact, I had a piece done by my florist using my own wedding bouquet. Many artists take different approaches to presenting the flowers: some arrange them closely together to mimic the shape of the bouquet, while others space them out, creating a spread reminiscent of a garden. These pieces can be created professionally, but they can also be a DIY project.
   
   

   Pros:
   Can be quite colourful, your real flowers stay with you, framed as a piece of artwork

   
   Cons:
   They cannot be altered or adjusted once petals have been pressed.
   You must also plan ahead and have your bouquet sent to the professional asap to ensure your florals are still fresh, this means you need to be familiar with the logistics around sending your bouquet off (which might come at an additional cost) if dropping it off isn’t a viable option.
   
   

2. DIY air dry and hang your flowers upside down

   Pros: free and can be done easily at home

   Cons: colour fades and you’re left with brittle petals
   
   

3. Resin paperweights and other decorative items

   Pros: flowers still retain their colour

   Cons: can be “tacky” if it isn’t your style, cannot be altered once epoxy resin has been poured into the mould, and can be tricky to DIY. Thus, I would personally enlist a professional to do this, and then you run into similar issues outlined in number 1 (logistics around sending your bouquet).
   
   

4. Get your bouquet painted or drawn

   Pros: you can DIY or enlist a professional to do this

   Cons: but editing your piece can be costly as it is hand illustrated on paper or canvas, additionally, unless specified otherwise by the artist, the quality of materials used may be unknown and may be susceptible to fading in the long term

5. Have your florals digitally illustrated by us!

   Pros:

   • you get to be a part of the design process, you can edit and alter drafts if you want adjustments made before printing.

   • our pieces are printed using Fine Art ink and archival paper to ensure high quality pieces that last.

   • our pieces are also framed in charming custom handmade Melbourne frames with our design specifications.

   • not a problem if you’ve had a destination wedding where bringing home flowers isn’t possible, all we need are some photo references of your bouquet.

   • drying or pressing flowers isn’t necessary! that means you won’t have to worry about keeping your florals fresh and vibrant, as this will be captured in the form of illustration for you.

   • want your bouquet to include flowers that may have broken or fallen out during the day? This is certainly possible in illustration! You can watch the design process on our Tiktok account.

   • your artwork doubles as a way of preserving your bouquet but also as meaningful artwork! If you needed something to fill those blank walls, you’ve just killed two birds with one stone!

   Cons: if you want your physical flowers with you, this may not be option for you

I hope this helps you decide which form of bouquet preservation best suits you!