Flora-Ly artisan flower preservation
  • Home
  • About
  • Inspiration
  • Working Together
  • Contact
  • The Journal
  • Shop
  • Vendor Partners

Saving Wedding Flowers One Petal at a Time - Working with KC & Mary, Part II

11/2/2017

2 Comments

 
Don't throw your wedding bouquet away!
KC & Mary had brought me two coolers full of flowers from their wedding.

I pressed just about everything they'd given me and when the flowers came out of the presses, I'd joked that I might need a bigger table. Then, of course, I was quick to point out that if bigger tables were required to hold more flowers and more love then (metaphorically speaking) we should ALL have BIGGER tables!
Artisanal Flower Preservation for Wedding Bouquets
I stood back to take in the scope of the botanicals I'd taken from the presses. There had to have been a thousand petals in front of me. I bit my lip, intimidated by the sheer volume of the possibilities.

I took a deep breath. Just as every journey begins with a single step. Every botanical collage begins with one petal.

Shhh, here's a secret...when I get a bouquet, I pick apart all of the flowers and press the individual petals. Weeks later, when they come out of the presses, I re-build the flowers petal by petal.

​Watch the process here...
I had reconstructed about 20 flowers when it became clear that the 11"x14" collage KC & Mary had ordered wasn't going to be big enough to hold this botanical abundance. I sent them an email to explain. I asked them to consider a bigger piece. "Think about where you're going to hang this in your home. Do you want one large piece, or maybe a series of smaller ones?" They said they'd talk about it and get back to me. 

I expected KC & Mary to deliberate awhile to consider the possibilities. I was suprised when I heard back from them the very next day. They wanted a 20"x20".
"We want to capture that feeling of abundance we had throughout the day. Not only the abundance of flowers, but love and laughing and so much fun!"
For KC & Mary their flowers represented the total joy of their wedding day and they wanted their collage to capture that feeling so they could hold on to it forever.
Custom botanical collages from your wedding flowers. Don't toss your bouquet!
As much as it thrilled me to hear how excited KC & Mary were about their collage, I was a little bit terrified. No lie.  20” x 20” is a large piece of artwork when your medium is pressed flower petals.

​I needed to get busy building more flowers.
Wedding flowers saved one petal at a time
​After I've reconstructed the flowers, it's time to design the collage.

But, before I begin to the design process, I set an intention.

I take a few moments and sit with the flowers. I think about the people I am creating for and what they want. 
Keep your wedding bouquet forever
I think about love; deep love that makes one person say to another, you're the one for me.

I listen to the flowers. They witnessed the moment. They soaked up the joy. The flowers were there and now they're with me, imbued with the emotions of the day.
Pressed flower wedding bouquet preservation
As I was designing KC & Mary's collage, I started to giggle. There ARE joy in the flowers and it's CONTAGIOUS!

​I'm following the lead of the flowers and we're having a grand ol' time here at Flora-Ly Studios.

Here's a little glimpse of the piece in process...
The centuries old tradition of flower preservation
Stay tuned to see the final collage. Gah! I'm so excited to share it with KC & Mary!

​And with YOU!

P.S. Follow the whole process from fresh wedding flowers to finished botantical collage. Did you see Part 1? Are you ready to head straight to Part 3?
2 Comments
resume prime link
12/12/2017 07:37:06 pm

That looks so cool! I wonder why I didn’t think of doing this with my bouquet? I’m kind of regret letting those beautiful flowers just wither. If I had known that I can make it into this wonderful art, I will totally spend time and effort to do this. I hope I can learn how to make a collage as cool as that! I’ll start searching for tips and tutorials online. This will be a good way of spending my free time!

Reply
essays on line link
1/6/2018 02:49:48 am

Wow! That was so cute and creative. I admire the skills you have and I admire the bouquet you did. I have no idea that flowers will look so extraordinary when you rearrange them like this. It is perfect for passing the time every free time I have. It is a perfect idea too in different occasions. I will definitely share this with my sisters and I hope that they will be encouraged to make some. Thank you for sharing that one.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I'm Linda, keeper of the flowers. 

    Archives

    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    February 2016
    July 2015

    Categories

    All
    Botanical Collage Designs
    Calendar
    Circle
    Conversations
    Events
    Invitations
    Ketubahs
    Offer
    Process
    Products
    Studio Life
    Walk
    Wedding Suites

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • About
  • Inspiration
  • Working Together
  • Contact
  • The Journal
  • Shop
  • Vendor Partners