Page 116 - South Mississippi Living - February, 2025

ROMANCE & WEDDING PRESERVING YOUR
Wedding Bouquet
story by Gaye Winter
Choosing your wedding bouquet is special. It’s hard to let the flowers go after your special day since your bouquet represents love and marriage. The beauty alone is a reminder of the day you got married.
Planting flowers from your bouquet is a wonderful idea. What a great way to celebrate your anniversary! You can also air dry your bouquet to keep forever. Some brides even preserve their flowers using silica gel. There are also artists who can paint your bouquet in a gorgeous painting for you to remember it always! There are many ways to preserve your bouquet. If you are going to try and preserve your wedding bouquet, how can you prepare it best?
How to Prep Your Wedding Bouquet
After all the photos have been taken at the wedding, try the following:
• Have another bouquet for the “toss” (this one can be smaller or
artificial).
• Ask a friend to be in charge of your bouquet by disassembling
it, removing pins and ribbons, and diagonally cutting 1⁄2 inch
from each stem placing them in cool, fresh water.
•Do not put bouquet in direct sunlight and refresh the water daily until you decide what you want to do to preserve the flowers.
• Preservatives can cause browning when sprayed; ask your florist not to spray the bouquet.
Air Drying Your Bouquet
Air drying is easy to do. You can select some of the better flower stems individually and strip off the lower leaves. Hang flowers in a dark area to dry like a closet. Tie with a rubber band and hang upside down in a place with low light levels and good ventilation. Air-drying your whole bouquet is great if you want to keep the original shape. It should be ready in a week or two. The dried bouquet will always look nice even though it may fade. Adding fresh ribbons from your wedding will help keep the flowers looking nice and new.
Silica Gel Preservation
Using an airtight container, pour a small amount of silica gel (which is really porous sand that absorbs moisture) as your base. Silica sand is one of the best ways to preserve your blooms to true color and form. Gently place your flowers heads up in
the sand. Give them plenty of room. Pour the gel over the flowers making sure to get the crystals into the petals filling the container making sure every flower is covered. Sealing the lid, let the flowers sit for a week or so. Then, if the flowers are dry, dump extra sand and use a q-tip or small brush to brush off any sand in the petals. You can use clear hairspray or floral sealant to protect from moisture. This would be a great time to use a shadowbox to display your creation.
Re-Planting Your Bouquet
Re-planting your bouquet is not easy, but this would be a great way to keep your bouquet around forever. At the late Queen
of England’s Funeral, King Charles requested that myrtle be included in the funeral wreath which was cut from a plant grown from the myrtle that was in the Queen’s wedding bouquet. This is a truly wonderful legacy!
Since most cut flowers don’t have seeds, you may have to root the cuttings, placing the cut flowers in a moist growing environment to encourage the stems to form roots. Once the roots appear, you now have a whole new plant.
116 | February 2025
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