There's something really special about receiving a bride’s flowers just after her wedding. These flowers were part of such an important day, and now my job is to carefully preserve as much of their beauty as I can. I preserve wedding bouquets at my farm in Blackstock, Ontario, using a combination of air-drying, silica gel drying and occasional pressing. My approach is a little different from traditional pressed-flower preservation because I love three-dimensional flower art. Whenever possible, I want to keep the natural shape, texture and character of the original flowers rather than flattening everything.
1. Your flowers arrive at the farm
Most of my brides are local and drive their bouquets to my farm in Blackstock, Ontario shortly after their wedding. Some brides book their preservation 6–12 months ahead of time, which gives us plenty of time to plan, while others call me on a Monday morning saying they just got married and they need to get the flowers to me as soon as possible. I do my best to accommodate last-minute preservation requests whenever I can, even during the busy summer wedding season. Of course, the sooner I receive your flowers, the better, but I know wedding weekends don't always go exactly according to plan. As soon as your flowers arrive, I get them into fresh, cool water and move them somewhere cool and dark, away from direct sunlight. I then process them as soon as possible, ideally the same day.
2. I carefully take the bouquet apart
Once I receive your bouquet, I take it apart carefully, working through the individual flowers and greenery rather than simply drying the bouquet as one large arrangement. This allows me to assess each flower and decide how it will preserve best. It also gives me much more flexibility when it comes time to design your finished shadow box. I can select the flowers that have dried particularly beautifully and arrange them later in a way that feels intentional, while still keeping the character and feeling of your original bouquet.
3. Each flower is dried using the method that suits it best
Most of the flowers I preserve are hung upside down to air-dry. I love this method because it allows the flowers to remain three-dimensional, and I find that keeping them in their natural shape often preserves more of the texture and character of the original flowers. Flowers with higher moisture content, such as dahlias and zinnias, generally do better in silica gel, which gives me more control over the drying process and helps protect their shape. I may also use different methods for the greenery. For example, eucalyptus that I want to keep dimensional can be air-dried, while another piece of greenery might be pressed if I want it to create a flatter background inside the shadow box. There isn't one method that works perfectly for every flower, so I choose the approach based on the individual flowers and the finished design I have in mind.
4. I let the flowers dry slowly
The flowers generally take around 2–3 weeks to become completely dry, although the exact timing can vary depending on the type of flowers and how much moisture they contain. I don't rush this part of the process because properly dried flowers give me the best material to work with when I begin designing your preservation piece. This is also why I encourage brides to bring me any other flowers they have from their wedding. If you have a bridesmaid bouquet, an extra centrepiece, loose flowers or flowers from another arrangement, bring them along. You don't necessarily have to know what you want me to do with them; having extra material simply gives me more options when I'm creating the final arrangement.
5. We choose the shadow box
Once your flowers are completely dry, we can start looking at the finished piece. I'll help you choose the frame colour and size based on the amount and type of material we have available from your bouquet. Every wedding bouquet is different, and I don't want to put a smaller collection of flowers into a frame that feels unnecessarily large, or try to squeeze a fuller bouquet into something that doesn't give the flowers enough room. I offer several shadow box sizes, and we'll choose the one that makes the most sense for your flowers and the look you want.
6. I create a mock-up before anything is attached
Before I permanently attach your flowers, I arrange everything inside the shadow box and create a mock-up of the design. This is one of my favourite parts of the process because I get to see your wedding flowers come together in a completely new way. I can move the larger focal flowers around, layer in the greenery and add the smaller flowers and filler until the arrangement feels balanced and still reflects the character of your original bouquet. I don't permanently attach anything until I'm happy with the overall composition, so the mock-up gives me a chance to really work with the flowers and make the most of the material you brought me.
7. Your flowers become a finished keepsake
Once the design is finalized, I carefully attach the dried flowers and complete your shadow box. Every bouquet is different, and natural flowers will always have some variation after drying, so no two preservation pieces are exactly alike. My goal isn't to make your flowers look exactly as they did on your wedding day, because dried flowers naturally change as they lose moisture. Instead, I want to preserve them as naturally and beautifully as possible while creating a piece of artwork that still feels connected to your wedding day. Once your finished piece is ready, I'll let you know that it's available for pickup at my farm in Blackstock, Ontario. Your wedding flowers get to come home with you again, this time as something you can display and enjoy for years to come.
