Your wedding flowers are not just a big part of your big day… they’re also a major part of your wedding budget. So what will you do with them once the wedding is over? You may choose to preserve them as a lasting keepsake of such a beautiful day. Or you may be interested in donating or repurposing them, allowing your wedding flower expenses to become more of an investment in others.
Regardless of what you choose to do, the floral experts at Griffin Weddings have some great ideas about reusing, recycling and preserving your wedding day flowers. Here are several ways you can make your wedding flowers last much longer than your wedding day, giving you the satisfaction of knowing your flower budget has made a lasting impact.
Press Your Wedding Flowers
Pressed Flowers
Pressed flowers are a great way to maintain your special blooms and keep them forever. To press them yourself, dry them completely (hanging them upside down for several weeks is a good way to do this). Once you’ve dried your petals, there are a few ways to arrange them as a keepsake:
- Framed: Place your dried flowers in a shape or design of your choosing (the first letter of your last name, for example, or maybe a meaningful symbol like a heart or cross) on clear or white cardstock. Carefully cover with the glass of your frame and voila!- you have a beautifully framed image made from your flowers.
- In a Book: Glue dried flowers into a blank scrapbook to provide a lovely keepsake of the flowers from your special day.
- As Thank-You Cards: Flowers pressed into cardstock can make excellent thank you cards to send to your guests or to use in the future.
Preserve Your Wedding Flowers
Dried Flower Wreath
To keep your bouquet of wedding flowers long-lasting and beautiful, there are a few ways to preserve your blooms so that you enjoy them long-term. Here are a few ideas:
- Create a Wreath: Welcome guests to your home with a wreath made from your wedding flowers. Display your beautiful blooms all year round, or save for special occasions like your anniversary.
- Grace a Headstone: If either you or your spouse have lost a loved one and missed them at the wedding, adorn their headstones with some of your wedding flowers as a way to remember them on your special day.
- Make Ornaments with Dried Petals: Fill clear, simple bulb ornaments with dried floral petals to make beautiful gifts, or to hang on your first Christmas together.
- Plant Your Own Garden: As you begin a life together, begin growing a garden as well. Any plants or succulents used as centerpieces or decor throughout your wedding can be re-planted as part of your starter garden. What a beautiful, living depiction of your life together!
Send Home Wedding Flowers
Flower Station
A popular option for making your wedding flowers last is to give them away at the end of the wedding reception. Here are some really fun, creative ways to send your flowers on to a new life with someone else.
- Have a Bouquet Station: Set up a table with craft paper and twine, and have a few helpers make smaller groups of flowers from centerpieces and other wedding flowers. Guests can make their own small bouquet before leaving as a souvenir.
- Invite Guests to Toss Petals: Have guests use petals from your flowers, centerpieces or other decor to toss at you and your spouse as you make your escape from the party. No need for rice or bubbles when you can use the fragrant petals you’ve already provided!
- Send Floral Arrangements Home with Staff: So many people help to make your big day amazing- from servers and bartenders to DJs and photographers, a lot of people work hard to bring your dream wedding to life. Why not send them home with a beautiful bouquet at the end of the night? They’ll feel appreciated for their hard work and you’ll love knowing your blooms went to a good home.
Donate Wedding Flowers
Flowers in Hospital Hallway
There are plenty of opportunities to donate your flowers to a local venue and make someone’s day a little brighter. Local hospitals, nursing homes, community centers, and homeless shelters will be happy to take your flowers the day after your wedding and brighten the lives of the people they serve.
- Local Hospitals: In the Columbus area, the floral professionals at Griffin’s Weddings make regular delivers to these local hospitals: Mount Carmel West Hospital, Mount Carmel East Hospital, St. Ann’s Hospital, Riverside Methodist Hospital, Grant Medical Center. Talk to us about delivering blooms the day after your wedding. Call ahead to make arrangements.
- Local Nursing Homes: Griffin’s Weddings has a great working relationship with many nursing homes and retirement centers in the area, as well. We will gladly help you work out delivery times and options.
- Local Shelters: Homeless shelters, half-way houses, and pregnancy centers are also great places to find a home for your beautiful flowers.
We know you want to make the most of your floral investment, even after your wedding is over. Reuse, repurpose or recycle your beautiful blooms in ways that will make you feel a sense of satisfaction. Give your flowers a lasting place in your new home together, or give them to someone you know will appreciate them. Let the floral professionals at Griffin’s Weddings help you make the most of your floral investment before, during and after your wedding day.