Bouquet Preservation

Bouquet Preservation, Memories to Last for a Lifetime

Every bride dreams of the perfect wedding and spends months, sometimes years planning, all for that one special day a day she will remember and cherish for her entire life. Traditionally there have only been a few ways to preserve those memories so your children and grandchildren could experience that cherished moment in your life. Recently a new industry has emerged making it possible to preserve a part of your wedding for a lifetime.

Floral freeze drying can preserve your wedding bouquet, the same flowers you walked down the isle with, through a space age process called freeze drying. This process extracts the water from your flowers using a floral freeze dryer, the flowers maintain there shape, color and smell and will last for a lifetime. Most floral freeze drying professionals will then reassemble your bouquet and mount it in an oval frame with a special dome for you and your family to cherish forever.

This service until recently has been reserved for an elite few with prices well above $400.00 for a single wedding bouquet. As the popularity of this service increased over the years, larger companies have entered the floral freeze drying market and brought the price down. Now a bride can afford to have here memories preserved with prices around $99.00 for an 11x14 , most brides can’t afford not to take advantage of this service.



Proper Care and Handling Before Preserving Your Bouquet

If you will be preserving your bouquet it is important to mist the bouquet with a little water and place it in a plastic bag that has air blown into it soon after the ceremony/reception. Make sure it is kept tightly closed (use a twist tie) and then refrigerate it until you are ready to take it to the preserver, or ship it. Do not place it in a freezer, as this will damage if not possibly destroy the bouquet.

If shipping the bouquet, keep it chilled as long as possible. One idea would be to pack the plastic bag with bouquet in it, into a styrofoam cooler (chilli bin) with some refreezable ice packs. Secure the ice packs with tape so that there is no chance of them moving and squashing the bouquet. Stuff the cooler with newspaper or tissue around the bouquet, but do not place any on top. Be sure to use express shipping. Label the package clearly showing "THIS WAY UP" & "FRAGILE", the last thing you need after all your effort is for the carrier to damage your package with bad handling.

Flowers most suitable for freeze-drying are, but not limited to...

Astroemeria, Aster, Baby's Breath, Bird of Paradise, Bouvardia, Calla Lily, Camellia, Carnation, Dahlia, Daisy, Delphinium, Freesia, FOrget-Me-Not, Gardenia, Hydrangea, Iris, Lavender, Lily of the Valley, Mums, Narcissus, Orchid, Peony, Rose, Snapdragon, statice, Stephanotis, Stock, Sunflower, Sweet William, Tuberose, Tulip, Zinnia

By: Nina Romano
National Freeze Dry

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