Why I Started Preserving Bridal Bouquets: The Ancient Art of Flower Pressing
Wedding bouquet after flower preservation
Bouquet preservation is the process of pressing and framing a bridal bouquet so a couple can keep it long after the wedding day itself has passed. At Heavenscent, I have been doing some version of this since I was a small child, long before I ever thought of it as something I would offer as a wedding florist.
A Practice Older Than Photography
Flower pressing is one of the oldest ways people have found to hold onto something beautiful past its moment. Ancient Egyptians pressed flowers and placed them inside tombs, believing the flowers would travel into the afterlife with the person who had died. In Japan, the art of oshibana, pressing flowers and foliage into pictures, dates back roughly six hundred years to the sixteenth century, when it was practiced as a form of patience and mindfulness.
The practice later spread to Europe and became especially popular during the Victorian era, when a pressed flower kept inside the pages of a book or framed on a wall was one of the only ways to hold onto a memory. Long before anyone could take a photograph, a pressed flower was the record. That is really what bouquet preservation still is today, a record of a day, held in a form that does not fade the way memory sometimes does.
Growing Up on the Edge of the Bush
I grew up on the southeast coast of Australia, on the edge of what is now called the Great Otway National Park, near Bells Beach and the Ironbark Basin. I don't remember a time when I wasn't pressing flowers. It was as automatic as brushing my teeth. I would spend whole afternoons wandering that park looking for spider orchids and native wildflowers, then bring them home and press them between the pages of whatever book was closest. I did not know flower presses existed as a child. I just used what I had, and it worked well enough that I never stopped.
Twenty Years as a Wedding Florist in Vermont
I have been a wedding florist for twenty years now, most of that time here in Vermont, building Heavenscent into a studio that serves couples across the state and the Adirondacks. Now I live here and walk my ridgebacks through woods that look nothing like the Australian bush I grew up in, and yet I catch myself doing the same thing I did as a child. I want to bring everything home. I want to hold onto it a little longer, whether that is a wildflower on a trail or a bouquet a bride carried down the aisle.
Wedding bouquet before flower preservation
Why I Waited to Offer Bouquet Preservation
For a long time, I could not bring myself to turn this into part of my business. Pressing flowers has always been personal to me, something that never had a price attached to it. I have also always believed that part of what makes a bridal bouquet beautiful is that it does not last. A bouquet is meant to be carried for one perfect day and then let go.
Over time, though, I started to see it differently. Preserving a bouquet is not about holding onto something that should have faded. It is about giving a couple a way to keep a piece of the day they married the person they love, long after the flowers themselves are gone. That shift in how I thought about it is what led me to open up bouquet preservation as its own service at Heavenscent.
How Bouquet Preservation Works at Heavenscent
Most of the bouquets I preserve end up in a sixteen-by-twenty-inch hardwood frame, built from oak, cherrywood, teak, or walnut, though I work in other sizes and shapes depending on the bouquet and what a couple wants. Pricing starts at $150, with a standard sixteen-by-twenty frame typically running around $295, depending on the piece. The process takes four to six weeks from the time I receive the bouquet to the finished, framed piece.
Booking ahead gives you the most flexibility, but I do accept last-minute requests when my schedule allows. If you are getting married and want to plan for preservation from the start, take a look at our wedding florals to see the kind of arrangements Heavenscent creates before they ever become a keepsake.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does bouquet preservation take?
From the time I receive your bouquet, the pressing and framing process typically takes four to six weeks.
What frame sizes and materials are available?
The most common option is a sixteen-by-twenty-inch hardwood frame in oak, cherrywood, teak, or walnut, though smaller and custom sizes are available depending on your bouquet.
Do I need to book bouquet preservation before my wedding?
Booking ahead of your wedding date is recommended so I can plan around your timeline, but I do accept last minute requests when I am able to fit them in.
If preserving your bouquet is something you are considering, the best next step is to reach out through our contact page and we can talk through what it would look like for your wedding.
