How to Preserve Wedding Flowers

Decorative flowers are perhaps one of the most important decisions a couple must make before their wedding. After the big day is over, many brides struggle to figure out ways to preserve their wedding flowers, especially when it comes to the ceremonial bouquet. While it’s nice to keep flowers in a vase after the big day is over, drying the flowers offers the opportunity to keep those beautiful blooms in your home forever without watching them wilt away. Here are two ways to dry the flowers you loved from your wedding day and turn them into a keepsake that lasts a lifetime.

Pressed Flowers

A popular way to preserve flowers is to press them. Pressing flowers isn’t difficult and can be completed in a few steps.

• Spread the flowers on a piece of clean parchment paper.
• Lay the paper on a page toward the middle of a heavy book (dictionary, encyclopedia, etc.).
• Place another piece of clean parchment paper over the top of the flowers and close the book.
• Make sure the book is firmly closed by stacking another heavy book on top.
• Leave to dry for seven to ten days.

After the flowers are dry, try placing them into a frame as a keepsake. Switch out the flowers in the frame to match the season, or frame the flowers in different rooms in your home.

Hang Your Flowers for Drying

If pressed flowers aren’t for you and you want to keep the shape of the flowers intact, hang them upside down and let the flowers air-dry.

• Use a hanger with clips to hang a piece of string in a dry area, like a hallway closet.
• Use more string to tie the individual stems of the flowers tightly together.
• Hang the stems upside down on the string in the dry area.
• The flowers should be dry within two to three weeks.

The flowers are still pretty hanging upside down, and they can be left this way once dry. You can move them anywhere attached to the string after they have dried completely. Dried flowers also make a nice statement piece in an antique vase.