A sizeable chunk of your wedding budget will be spent on flowers. From bouquets for the bridal party, buttonholes for the groomsmen and flowers for both the ceremony and banquet, it’s understandable to feel nauseous at the thought of tossing them in the trash afterwards. Here are our tips on what to do with your flowers after your special day.
Donate
There are endless options for donating your flowers after the wedding. What better way to bring a smile to someone’s face by spreading your joy through a random act of kindness. Many couples donate their ceremony flowers to the church for the following day’s service as a gratuity. Other options include presenting them to church volunteers who helped prepare for the ceremony.
Flowers and centrepieces from the banquet can be gathered into bouquets and donated to local nursing homes. This may take a few phone calls and organisation prior to your wedding. However, many elderly residents may not have family or frequent visitors and a token from your day will brighten theirs.
Another alternative is to invite guests to take flowers home with them as a small gesture for sharing your celebrations.
Make a Shadow Box
The bridal bouquet is one of the most iconic symbols of your wedding day. If you decided to break tradition by not throwing your petals to the wolves, then making a shadow box to display in your home is a great way to preserve them forever. However, professionally freeze-drying your bridal bouquet can be a costly expense following your nuptials.
An alternative method of preservation is to hang your bouquet upside-down in a dark, cool environment for up to two months. For all you DIY gals who love a project, a glue gun and some hairspray are set to become your new best friend. This low-cost keepsake can be made as simple or as intricate as you wish with the help of a few online tutorials. Variations include images of the bride and groom, invitation templates and song sheets from the ceremony as a backdrop for the bouquet.
Blossoms to Beads
You can wear your bouquet every day thanks to a new trend from the US. Specialised companies now take petals from your wedding flowers and crush them to create handcrafted, custom pieces of jewellery. Be mindful, this service will be expensive for us brides from across the pond. But many websites offer worldwide shipping if you are willing to pay out for some beaded beauties ranging from earrings to bracelets.
DIY Floral Ornaments
Personalised decorations for your Christmas tree are the perfect way to remember your big day at the most magical time of the year. Once your bouquet has fully dried out, keeping the buds whole and crushing the remainder, place in clear glass ornaments. Decorate with ribbons and glitter to make a unique memento of your wedding day.
Your old flowers can also be crushed and mixed with dried lavender or other fragrant materials to create potpourri pots which will keep your home filled with your special wedding scent all year round.
Heavenly Headbands
A wedding abroad is the perfect excuse to channel your inner beach babe. Why not recycle your flowers from the big day by keeping them fresh and incorporating them into your outfit for the following day’s celebrations. Crafting them into a floral headband or simply weaving them into your hair will create an effortless boho chic vibe. Perfect for cocktails by the beach or an afternoon barbecue as the sun sets.
Image Credits: Bridal Party – Moore Photography; Shadow box prep – Pair of Pomeroys WordPress; Shadow box – Metal and Mud Blog; Ornament – Wholly Kao.
