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Drying bridal bouquet intact?

Posted by Sara_the_Brit_z6_CT (My Page) on
Wed, Apr 30, 03 at 13:15

I know this was asked before, but I wasn't clear on the answers, or whether it was suitable for particular flowers.

My stepdaughter's wedding is in two weeks. She's asked me to try and dry her bouquet. It is a cascade style, not a posy, and includes calla lilies, freesias, orchids and roses - mostly 'fleshy' types. (I've never dried flowers other than roses before)

I've done some web searches, and all seem to suggest the bouquet has to be taken apart, to dry with silica gel. I'd like to keep it intact if possible. Do you have any recommendations? Gel vs air-drying? taking apart, leaving in one piece?

I'd appreciate some advice from you experienced folk!


Follow-Up Postings:

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RE: Drying bridal bouquet intact?

For the flowers you mention, air-drying won't work (doesn't work for almost any monocot except grasses and freesias) and drying as an intact bouquet with silica gel strikes me as very difficult (although we don't use it as a rule, and experts may have a different take on this). But there are shops that specialize in freeze-drying wedding bouquets, and I think they could produce the results you're looking for. The link below lists two in Connecticut, and a search for "freeze-dry", bouquet, etc. will produce more. It isn't cheap (freeze-drying is actually a slow process, and the equipment is expensive), but professional-quality results with silica gel aren't necessarily cheap, either. I'd suggest visiting the shops you're interested in and looking at their results.

Here is a link that might be useful: Some shops that freeze dry wedding bouquets


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RE: Drying bridal bouquet intact?

Thanks for your response: I did do a web search on freeze drying, but my stepdaughter didn't want it: the cost is between $100 - $500 depending on the size of the bouquet (and hers is big), so would rather have me try - if it fails, it's not the end of the world.

Thanks for the input though, especially on unsuitability of the flowers for air-drying.


 
 

 

 


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