Like many things post-wedding, one of the frequent questions I got was “What are you going to do with your bouquet?”. I didn’t want to spend $$ preserving and in a manner that made it difficult to display, or lead to being stuffed in our basement. After doing some researching, I landed on pressing the flowers for some unique, sentimental wall art (which you know I love).
See how I did it below, as well as some frame options that work!
Supplies:
- Parchment Paper (1 roll)
- Heavy books or flat weighted items
Instructions:
- As soon as your wedding is over, store your bouquet in a plastic bag and put them in the refrigerator. I skipped this step and caused my flowers to be a little brown. Flowers with a ton of color will easily hold, too. Mine were neutral!
- When you are ready to press, cut all stems at an angle, remove low leaves, and place flowers in a clean vase with water and flower food, or a teaspoon of sugar. Keep them in a cool, ventilated place out of direct sunlight. You only need to hydrate your flowers for a few hours.
- Split thick flowers in half by cutting or pulling out half of the petals.
- Lay down one large piece of parchment paper that accommodates the # of flowers to be pressed.
- Place your flowers anywhere, it doesn’t matter at this point in terms of arrangement, but be sure to space them out so that the moisture from one flower doesn’t transfer to another.
- Lay down one large piece of parchment paper on top of all flowers.
- Use books, or perhaps bricks, to weigh down the flowers once ready.
- Keep the flowers pressed for 7-10 days, or up to 3 weeks if possible.
- When removing, use a pair of tweezers, or very carefully use your fingers, as a completely dry flower is very delicate.
- Grab the frame of your choice and arrange the flowers of your choice to your liking.
- Hang & admire!