What To Do With Wedding Bouquet? (After Wedding)

Some brides only participate in the bouquet toss tradition to get rid of their flowers. That’s a valid option, but there are numerous better ideas for every preference.

You may dry your bouquet, have it professionally preserved, convert it into artwork, make jewelry, donate it, or gift it.

Some couples set up bouquet stations at their wedding to get rid of all flowers at once, make the guests happy, and save on favors. Choose an idea you find the most meaningful and creative.

Professional Wedding Bouquet Preservation

Many women can’t stand the thought of their wedding bouquet withering in a vase. Professional wedding bouquet preservation is the best way to ensure your flowers maintain their beauty for years to come.

Professionals use the freeze-drying method to preserve wedding flowers. First, they disassemble the arrangement.

Then, they place each individual flower in a high-pressure vacuum machine and drop the temperatures below freezing.

This technology extracts water from the flowers, preventing bacteria growth. Afterward, the temperature in the machine gradually rises. When the process is complete, preservation professionals assemble the bouquet and frame it.

Unlike DIY wedding bouquet preservation methods, freeze-drying maintains flowers’ original shape and color. However, it’s far from cheap. The average price of wedding bouquet preservation is about $250.

If you decide to go for professional preservation, plan ahead. You’ll need to send the bouquet for preservation right after the wedding. Otherwise, the flowers will start withering and won’t look as good.

Donate It

If you don’t want to pay for bouquet preservation but also don’t want to throw your flowers in the trash, consider donating them to charity.

They can cheer up patients in hospitals, kids in hospice care facilities, or women in shelters.

There’s nothing more fulfilling than bringing joy to others. Start by looking around – your neighborhood may have a local charity organization that accepts flower donations.

If there are no charities nearby, visit your community hospital or senior living homes.

Alternatively, you may find organizations specializing in flower donations online. Apart from the wedding bouquet, you can also donate venue decor flowers.

Your wedding flowers may also help another bride. Not every woman has money for flowers, but every single one dreams of a beautiful bridal bouquet.

Have A Bouquet Station At The Wedding

Donating flowers to someone in need is sweet, but giving them to someone you’ve never met may feel impersonal. Instead, you may give out flowers to anyone wanting them at your wedding and make your loved ones smile.

Create an interactive wedding flower station near the venue exit for anyone to take. You’ll need some clean buckets and a large table.

As the reception comes to an end, have someone collect flower arrangements such as centerpieces, venue décor, and your bridal bouquet and arrange them on a table.

This way, everyone gets to bring flowers home and enjoy them for another week or so. Your guests will undoubtedly appreciate such beautiful, creative wedding favors.

Dry It and Display at Home

Suppose you aren’t ready to say goodbye to your wedding bouquet but also don’t have the money to pay for professional preservation; you can dry your flowers at home.

They won’t maintain their original color like with freeze-drying, but it’s about memories, after all.

Start by stripping excess foliage from the stems and removing any withered petals. Then, wrap the stems with a twine and hang your bouquet in a well-ventilated room. Ensure no direct sunlight falls on the flowers to avoid overdrying.

Wait for about three weeks. When your flowers are completely dry, gently take them down and spritz with strong-hold hair spray. Display the bouquet in a vase somewhere in your bedroom, living room, or kitchen.

Alternatively, you may leave the flowers hanging for a rustic appeal. Long-stemmed flowers like delphiniums look especially stylish hanging.

Press The Flowers and Create an Art Piece

If displaying an entire dry bouquet in your home seems too much, press your flowers and make a small flower book or glue them into your wedding album. You’ve likely made herbarium in childhood and know how to press flowers.

If your memory needs a refresh, start by removing excess foliage from the stems or simply cut the blooms. Line a book’s pages with parchment to avoid damaging the paper, and place flowers face down.

Close the book and place a weight on top of it, for instance, more books. Wait for about three to four weeks and check your flowers. You can spritz them with strong-hold spray afterward.

Pressing works the best with flat-head flowers such as gerbera daisies, orchids, and pansies. Globe-like blooms such as dahlias will lose their shape.

Have Your Flowers Painted

Convert your wedding bouquet into an artwork by having it painted.

No hassle with preservation is required, and you’re getting a new, meaningful decoration for your dining room or bedroom. Furthermore, you can pass the wedding bouquet painting to future generations as an heirloom.

You may find a local artist who accepts custom orders or send your flowers to a company specializing in wedding bouquet painting. If one of your friends or family members is an artist, ask them to help.

You may even take a master class and paint the wedding bouquet yourself. It may seem intimidating, but with professional guidance and a glass of wine, even beginners can create gorgeous artwork.

Alternatively, you may have your flowers professionally photographed. Photos aren’t such a sophisticated way to preserve your memories as an artwork, but they are an excellent addition to your wedding album.

Wax Dip Your Bouquet

Wax dipping is a DIY flower preservation method that requires some practice. Don’t attempt to wax-dip your wedding bouquet if it’s your first time because the technique takes a while before you get it right.

In its base, flower wax dipping is simple – melt wax, dip your flowers one by one, and let them sit for a few minutes to harden. Then, assemble your bouquet back or use individual blooms for home decoration.

Make Jewelry with Epoxy Resin

Jewelry made with your wedding flowers is a meaningful keepsake you can wear for special occasions and pass on to your children. You may make earrings, a necklace, bracelet, ring, brooch, or an entire set.

If you aren’t particularly crafty, find someone to make custom jewelry for you online. You can find entire companies specializing in converting wedding bouquets into keepsakes.

Alternatively, visit an epoxy resin or silicon-crafting masterclass and create the jewelry yourself. It’s an excellent way to unleash your creativity and make the jewelry feel even more special.

Jewelry is small, so you can make multiple pieces from your wedding bouquet. Consider gifting some items to your maid of honor, bridesmaids, mother-in-law, and other meaningful women who’ve attended your wedding.

Apart from jewelry, you can make home decorations such as coasters, candle holders, paperweights, or cake trays. Such items make perfect gifts for men, too.

Make Potpourri

Drying a wedding bouquet isn’t as simple as it seems. Not all flower varieties are equally suitable for preservation, and the blooms may crumble or fall apart if the environmental conditions are unfavorable.

Furthermore, you may not have space to display an entire bouquet. In this case, consider making a wedding bouquet potpourri.

Remove individual petals from your flowers before drying. If you do this after drying the bouquet, the blooms may break.

Then, dry them in a well-ventilated, dry place away from direct sunlight. Mix and match different colors, textures, and shapes.

For instance, dry rose petals together with waxflower blooms and herbs. Dried Echinops or Craspedia look perfect in potpourri.

When the petals are dry, fill a mason jar about halfway full and apply a few drops of scented oil over the mixture. Add more petals and drip more oil until the jar is full.

Finally, close the jar and place it in a space that would benefit from freshening up, such as a hallway or a bathroom. Such potpourri mason jars also make creative gifts.

Gift It to Someone Special

After all, you can simply gift your wedding bouquet to someone special. It may be your maid of honor, your mother, mother-in-law, or grandmother – anyone you appreciate and would like to thank for attending.

You can even give the bouquet to your wedding planner to express gratitude for the hard work in organizing your dream wedding. The catering staff will appreciate it if you’ll give them centerpieces and other flowers from décor.

Some couples replace the bouquet toss tradition with an anniversary dance. All married couples gather on the dancefloor.

After some time, the DJ asks couples who’ve been married under a year to leave, then repeats it with two years, five, etcetera.

The dancefloor should gradually become emptier until only one couple who’s been together the longest remains standing. The bride then passes her bouquet to the couple to express respect.