Bouquet Preservation Best Practice

Preserving your wedding flowers is a lovely way to remember your most important day; here Hilary Jones, Managing Director of Flowers Forever, gives some advice on how to achieve the best outcome for you.

With a national network of outlets and the long established market leader Flowers Forever has vast experience in preserving wedding bouquets.

* Although all types of flowers and foliage can be preserved successfully we recommend that brides discuss their wedding bouquet with a floral designer in advance of choosing. Ask to see examples of other brides bouquets that have been preserved.

* Roses, cala lilies, lisianthus and aspidistra leaves are very popular in wedding bouquets and come out of preservation well. There may be slight colour change however with professional colour enhancement techniques this should not be a problem.

* Preserved flowers should be framed using uv glass which will help protect them from sunlight damage.

* Check the quality of the flowers your florist intends to use. Wedding bouquets should always be made up using first quality flowers but less reputable florists may be keen to keep their costs down and use inferior flowers, this is hard to tell on the morning but by the evening poor quality flowers will be half dead whereas first quality flowers will be fine for a few days.

* Make sure your flowers are delivered as soon as possible to the preservation specialist as the better condition the flowers are in when they are preserved the better they will look when they are hanging on your wall as a lasting romantic memento of your special day.

* Choosing a hand-tied style of bouquet means that the flower stems can be put into a vase of water and therefore stay in better condition.

* Never spray flowers with water, keep them in a cool dark place until they are handed to the preservation specialist.

*Never put the flowers in a freezer, you will kill them.

* Prices should start from under ?100 for a small bouquet or corsage preservation, it depends on how many flowers you are having preserved. A whole wedding bouquet preserved in a large frame will cost around ?300 - ?400. Prices could be higher than this for special work. Make sure you get a written quote in advance before handing over your flowers.

* Check how long it will be until you get your preserved wedding flowers returned to you; you should plan on around 3-4 months. Ask your flower preservation company to give you an estimated delivery date and to phone you on progress.

For more information please visit www.thehitchingpost.co.uk

The Hitching Post is one or the largest UK Wedding websites offering extensive information and services on all aspects of weddings. Also now producing a TV show appearing on Sky 639