Two days is the limit and the first morning is far better. What you do with the bouquet on the night decides most of the result.
We preserve about thirty wedding bouquets a year and the quality of the result is decided almost entirely in the first forty eight hours, before we ever see them.
The limit is two days. After that the petals have begun to collapse from the inside and pressing or drying them fixes the collapse in place rather than preventing it. The morning after the wedding is much better than the second day, and somebody dropping a bouquet off on the way to the airport at seven in the morning is an entirely normal thing here.
What to do on the night. Keep the bouquet out of a hot car, which is the single most common way flowers are ruined before they reach us. Put the stems in water if you can, in the coolest room in the house, and do not put the whole thing in a fridge with fruit in it. Do not spray it with anything. Do not wrap it in plastic, which holds moisture against the petals and starts rot within hours.
What to expect from us. We will tell you before we start which flowers will hold and which will not. White goes cream. Deep red goes darker and richer. Pinks hold well. Most blues and purples fade badly when pressed, and some disappear entirely, which is why we will sometimes suggest drying those heads whole instead so they read as deep and deliberate rather than washed out.
The work takes three weeks and occasionally four. We lay the finished arrangement out loose and send you a photograph before anything is glued or framed, because the layout is the part people have opinions about and it is the last moment where an opinion is free.
If your wedding is next month, message us now rather than the morning after. A bouquet expected is a bouquet we have made room for.
