Preserving wedding bouquet

[MaryPlain59]

My daughter would like to preserve her bouquet from her wedding this Saturday, I have just looked on a couple of websites I found through Google but they quote hundreds of pounds, does anyone know of cheaper options? I am worried that we need to get it done promptly before the roses begin to wilt but there is just not that amount left after spending all the budget on the wedding.

[StealthPolarBear]

I squashed mine between two heavy books :o guessing she's looking for something more professional

[Cutecat78]

Tie it with cotton and hang it upside down as soon as they are past their best

[WalkWaddleRun]

All the options I found were super expensive too. It's a shame isn't it? I hope someone comes along get with a great idea.

[MaryPlain59]

Sorry, I thought I was posting this in the Wedding section and have put it in AIBU by mistake.

[MulderitsmeX]

I'm getting some of the flowers made into paperweights. There's a company called Hafod Grange which are really very cheap and look great

[MaryPlain59]

Thanks so much for your replies, I didn't even realise people did preserve their bouquets until someone mentioned to dd at the wedding that she should get hers done.

[neonrainbow]

I've separated all mine and hung them upside down now i have no idea what to do with them now! Took weeks to dry out. The ones i pressed went mouldy.

[thenewaveragebear1983]

My sister hung her bridesmaid bouquet from my wedding from the curtain rail in her spare room. A few weeks ago, five years after my wedding, she presented me with quite possibly the saddest looking bunch of stalks with brown leaves and petals, tied with a vaguely familiar piece of silver ribbon (I'm not being mean here, she had given it to me because they are moving house, she hadn't done it specially for me) - its hideous and nothing whatsoever like my bridal bouquet of white roses. I don't even want to put it with my other wedding items because it looks so sad and ^dead^. Please, if preserving her bouquet is that important, use a professional preserver company because she will likely be disappointed if she does it herself. I didn't keep my own bouquet as I had my DM put it on my gran's gravestone.

[MyBreadIsEggy]

I hung mine upside down until they dried out. They still have their colour, and smell....they are just a bit crispy!! They live in a display box on the wall in DD's room

[mrsfluffybottom]

I did this for my wedding last year. I bought silica gel (the stuff that comes in little sachets in handbags) from eBay. You put the flowers in and leave for 3-4 weeks. I've bought deep frames from ikea to display them. Going to give one to my bridesmaid as a keepsake. They've kept their shape and colour. I was a bit put off by pressing as they go a bit brown.

[PageStillNotFound404]

Another one who air dried my bouquet upside down. It was a very simple bouquet of tied long stemmed roses with no other greenery though, so dried very well and kept its colour.

[purplefizz26]

I had artificial flowers made by silkblooms.
Tons of people thought they were real and i get to keep it in its original state forever.
Is that an option ?

[purplefizz26]

Sorry just reread didn't realise the wedding happened already!

[44PumpLane]

I hung mine upside down in the airing cupboard last year when I got married as my SIL was insistent id want to keep it, like a prior poster said its the saddest thing I've ever seen! Lol.
It's not the right colour and it's just sad and crispy. I'm tempted to get a good quality artificial bouquet made up to keep in a presentation frame- I actually think that would be far more effective thank any form of pressing or drying, unless you get it put in glass of course.

[CodyKing]

What happened to throwing it to the next "bride"?

[CPtart]

For the short term, I put mine in the fridge in water, they were still beautiful two weeks later on return from honeymoon.

[PageStillNotFound404]

I only had five female guests at my wedding and they were all already married, Cody, so it would have been a bit tactless!

[Da1sycha1n]

I'm a florist and have had great success drying flowers using the silica gel another poster sugested. They then need to be kept airtight (I've used domed cake stands, sealed with superglue and also sealed box frames). Another great memento is just drying one or two of the key flowers, such as the roses. Air drying them will just leave them crispy and a bit depressing! You'll need a lot of the silica, buy from eBay or Hobbycraft, a large Tupperware type box and a couple of weeks patience. Good luck, it'll be great!

[Bovnydazzlers]

My friend who was my bridesmaid used this lady, she made the bouquet into a picture, it is lovely and we still have it on our wall, I think it was about £20-£30.
www.doreenthewpressedflowers.co.uk/about.html

[tryingtocatchthewind]

Get an artificial florist to recreate it in silk flowers for you

[Cupcakes2014]

Theres a page on Facebook called echo designs who puts them in a frame with your name and date of the wedding.
//Www.echodesigns.co.uk

[MaryPlain59]

Thank you all so much for these brilliant suggestions, I am going to look into them all now and I really appreciate your help.

[Scholes34]

I did pay to have mine preserved, and it's still looking good 22 years later.

Actually, this is sounding a bit Miss Haversham. It's basically just a deep oval frame with some dried flowers mounted in it, though, but I know it's my bridal bouquet.