Drying Your Wedding Flowers: The Complete Guide
How do I keep my flowers after the wedding?
If you’re recently married or know someone who is, you may be wondering about Wedding Bouquet Preservation.
Wedding bouquet preservation is popular! Many brides want to save their gorgeous blooms as a floral keepsake, and it’s no secret that dried flowers are beautiful just as beautiful as fresh flowers. They can last for years and add a touch of elegance to any room.
Whether you had a spring, summer or winter wedding, your wedding bouquet was stunning and deserves preserving.
Preserving bridal bouquets isn’t as hard as it may sound – fortunately, there are different ways to dry your wedding flowers so that you can keep them as a memento of your special day. Remember to keep them in tip-top condition on the big day, with no direct sunlight and, sorry ladies – no bouquet toss!
Three Wedding Flower Drying Tips
1. Colour can be lost when drying flowers blue, orange and pink flowers retain their colour best
2. To prevent your dried flowers from disintegrating, spray some hairspray on them
3. The faster the flowers dry, the better!
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How to preserve wedding flowers
If you want to keep your wedding bouquet forever or give some dried flowers as a gift, read on for all the information you need!
In this guide, we will walk you through five different flower-preserving methods step-by-step.
Five methods you can use to dry your Wedding Bouquets or Wedding Flowers.
Hang Them Upside Down
This is probably the most common method of drying wedding flowers.
All you need is some string or twine, a paper clip, and a dry, dark place with good airflow. Cut the stems of your flowers at an angle and tie them with string or twine. Then, hang your selected fowers from your wedding bouquet upside down from a clothesline or hanger and allow them to air dry for one to two weeks.
Once they’re dried, you can arrange them in a vase or remove the petals for potpourri or other crafts.
Use Silica Gel
If you’re looking for a quicker drying time, you can use silica gel packs commonly found in new shoe boxes or electronics packaging.
Silica gel is a desiccant, which means it absorbs moisture from the air. You can buy silica gel in large packets most craft stores or online – the silica gel packs are far too small, and you would need to collect so many!
Using silica gel to dry your flowers is actually pretty simple. Start by trimming off any excess leaves or stem from your chosen flowers. Then, place the flowers in an airtight container—a plastic container or shoe box works well—and cover them with silica gel.
Once the flower heads are in position, make sure each flower is completely covered. Once all the flowers are covered, seal the containerr and wait for 5-7 days. After that time, your flowers will be perfectly preserved!
Be very careful when removing your flowers from the silica gel; we suggest you use a small paintbrush to brush away the grains from the precious petals of each flower and handle with care to avoid any petal loss.
Use a Microwave
Yes, believe it or not, you can use your microwave to dry flowers!
This method works best for small delicate flowers like baby’s breath or lavender. Start by picking off any leaves from the stem; then, cut the stem at an angle and lay it on top of a paper towel.
You can either cut them off right below the bloom or leave on the stem if you’d prefer. It’s important to place your blooms exactly how you would like them when dried, so make sure the petals are flat and smoothed out. Once arranged, place another paper towel on top, and on top of the towel, place a microwave-safe plate.
Now it’s time to microwave! Microwave your flowers on half power in 30-second increments until they are dried (usually 1-2 minutes). Remove them from the microwave immediately and allow them to cool completely.
Use an oven
This method is similar to using a microwave but takes much longer; therefore, it’s best reserved for larger flowers like roses or peonies that can withstand high heat without burning up.
Preheat your oven to its lowest setting, then line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Next, pick off any leaves from the stems and cut them at an angle before placing them on the parchment paper—make sure that they’re not touching each other!
Bake them in the oven for 1-3 hours, depending on their size; then remove them and allow them to cool completely.
Press Them
Pressed flowers look amazing this method requires some time and patience, but the results are worth it! Beautifully preserved flat flowers can be used in a framed display or scrapbooking—or even made into greeting cards!
You won’t need a flower press – just some heavy books. Start by picking off any leaves from stems and cutting them at an angle; then arrange them how you want them on top of some heavy books overnight so that they retain their shape while drying out evenly on both sides.
In the morning (or after 24 hours), remove them from under the books and allow them to finish air drying for 1-2 weeks in a dark, dry place with good airflow.
Once they’re completely dry, you can press them between two sheets of wax paper using an iron set to low heat until they’re flattened. Voila! You now have beautiful pressed flowers that will last indefinitely!