There are many beautiful fresh and vibrant flowers involved in the perfect wedding day. From bouquets to buttonholes to decorations and centrepieces, it can almost break your heart a little to see all of the gorgeous blooms that might go in the bin at the end of the day. Also these flowers have normally cost a bomb……..so why not put them to good use.
Guess what – they don’t have to go in the bin! We have some wonderful ideas for what to do with all of those leftover wedding flowers. The love from your wedding day can just keep on giving. Winning!!
Frame them
You probably know that you can preserve your bouquet in a wonderful framed keepsake for your wall. But you may not have realised that there some great variations on this theme.
Three-dimensional framed bouquets look impressive and will instantly draw the eyes of anyone who walks into the room. You could also get petals and flowers pressed and made into a wonderful creative pressed version of your bouquet to last a lifetime.
Get them painted
Arrange for a local artist to paint a portrait of your special bouquet in all of its glorious colour and full of life. This way you can keep an original image of the flowers forever on your wall.
Technically you aren’t keeping the actual flowers forever, with this choice you can incorporate different art genres and styles into a keepsake from your wedding, that will perfectly go with the interior design theme of your home.
Use living plants as centrepieces
This is a lovely idea that lasts forever. Use living plants as your centrepieces, such as orchids, succulents or wild roses. At the end of the day take these home and plant them in your own garden as an everlasting reminder of this incredible day.
You could also give these plants away to your guests to take home.
Preserve your flowers in Epoxy Resin
This is one of my favourites……..You can create a gorgeous paperweight or other tabletop decoration using epoxy resin and your flowers. A company like Blooming Keepsakes can create a glass piece for you that encases a permanent arrangement of your chosen blooms. You can then take it to your workplace or home office and admire on a daily basis.
Turn them into Jewellery
We love this idea! You can get petals from your wedding flowers encased in beads and turned into beautiful jewellery. This would make a beautiful keepsake for yourself or give them to your bridal party or close family members as gifts.
You could even get them made into a baby bracelet for your children! My daughter would love wearing some of ‘Mummy’s and Daddy’s’ flowers.
Turn them into a wedding favour
Use individual blooms as table centrepieces for your reception and fill the room with colour and energy. And then double up your flowers as wedding favours; encourage your guests to take your flowers home with them in a cute little vase or bucket that has been personalised with your initials and a little message of thanks.
Talk to your florist or whoever is creating the centrepieces so they can let you know the best flowers or arrangements for this.
Embed them in a candle
Crafty brides can take individual petals and preserve them in wax candles that you can put proudly on display in your home. Making your own candles is easier than you think; check out this video to see how pretty they can look https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWtAylJYhOY
Use a Forever Bouquet
Who says you need to choose real flowers as your bridal bouquet anyway? You can buy stunning silk arrangements that look exactly like the real thing, and will obviously last for years, needing just a dust every so often.
Check out the range from suppliers like https://www.justfakeitbouquets.com/
Something else we love is not even trying to mimic real flowers but having a bouquet brooch or jewelled floral headpiece – extra sparkle on your special day and something that you can definitely wear again.
I had actually never seen this before but then one caught my eye on Instagram and stopped me in my tracks. They may not be every brides choice……..but you can’t deny that they are absolutely stunning.
Donate them
A local charity such as a cemetery or nursing home would absolutely love your donation of leftover decorations and centrepieces.
The bigger cities will probably have flower-donating charities you can contact who will come and pick up your flowers after the wedding is over. Even if a formal process isn’t set up, local hospitals or retirement homes would love to have them, just give them a call in the lead up to the big day. Delegate a family member to drop them off for you.
I know this is not about donating specifically………..but when my brother got married a few years ago, they chose to have silk bouquets instead of real flowers. A few days after the wedding we took the bouquets to the cemetery and laid them on each of my grandparent’s graves. It was almost like giving them a part of my brother’s special day.
Your wedding day should definitely be full of love, and what better way to express this than to bring happiness to others after your big day is over.
Main photo by Blooming Keepsakes
Resources
https://www.brides.com/story/how-to-preserve-wedding-bouquet
https://lover.ly/planning/news-tips/wedding-101/wedding-flowers-reception/
https://www.flowers24hours.co.uk/blog/peony-flower-bouquets/
https://www.todichfloraldesign.co.uk/blog/queen-mary-wedding-reception/
