Written By: Phaedra, an Element Designer
One of the most beautiful things about a marriage is the ways it changes over the years. From newly wedded bliss to the rhythm of years spent together, couples go through many seasons that see them learn, grow, and change together. Much like a long and successful marriage, the artifacts of the wedding day also change and gracefully age. The invitations, saved in a box, will have softer paper over the years; the dress may still bear the small stain from a drop of wine spilled while laughing at her father’s speech: as these things take on new qualities, the memories they contain grow more precious. Always, of course, the shape of their love and the memories they share stay the same at the core.
When it comes to preserved florals, the natural elements used in your frame and resin designs will look different in time, but will be no less beautiful, and will always bring to mind your special day. We’ve compiled photos of our frames and resin products from years after they were created and delivered to happy couples, so you can see what to expect from your preserved blooms as the years go by. Here, we have an example of a preservation piece from each year we’ve operated, going back through time to our earliest example, so you can see up to just over three years of change to our products.
2022 Weddings
For Pressed Bouquet Shop founder and CEO, Amelia, having light and beautiful blooms was a must. She loves the look of neutral florals, so she chose to carry things like butterfly ranunculus, pale peonies, and white garden roses– absolutely stunning! When pressed, these beautiful white florals transition to blonde, even tones. The peonies provide incredible texture with their many layers of petals, and the butterfly ranunculus keeps its shine. Our frames are all protected by a specially coated 99% UV protection glass, which helps to maintain the pigmentation of colorful blooms, and to stave off any changes to white flowers by keeping them safe from harsher light.
You can see in the photos of the framed pieces, which include a bridal 16x20 in natural wood and a TripTych in gray wood, that the florals have maintained their integrity, a year later. The shape of the overall design is still reminiscent of the centerpieces they once were on the special day she shared with her now husband, and the colors have maintained their neutral tones. Though some, such as the garden roses, are no longer the stark white (you can read more about the ways white roses specifically change here), and have shifted naturally to a warmer tone, which is no less lovely. The designs feature our signature tiny details, with astilbe and tiny orchids making a pop, just as they did in the fresh bouquets.
For her sister and bridesmaid, Abby, Amelia chose a display tray as a gift. The light, bright flowers Abby held as she stood next to her sister are now forever there as a functional piece. The flowers in the display tray still have their brightness, with touches of yellow and pink standing out against the neutrals. Resin helps maintain color, as there is no chance for oxygen to seep in and affect the aging process, so the fringe of pink on the ranunculus and the greens on the lisianthus aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Robert also tied the knot in 2022, and knew his wife just had to have a display tray, so he snuck it on to their registry (see how to do so here). His wife was, of course, delighted, as flowers are very special to her, especially these. Her hand picked bouquet featured bolder, brighter tones, such as dahlias, zinnias, and purple aster, and many were grown by her mother. They look, honestly, just about as they did when she picked them with her bridesmaids. With resin products, different changes can occur over a very long period of time. Resin will, eventually, begin to amber ever so slightly, though this can be held off by not allowing your resin product to rest in sunlight, the other big component in color changes to any dried florals. Robert and his wife love having something they can use everyday that calls back important memories of their favorite day. We think he was pretty smart to make sure it was on their registry!
2021 Weddings
Our lovely client, Kate, married her soulmate in September of 2021, and carried a bouquet of pastel, softly toned roses, tulips, delphinium, and eucalyptus. She decided to preserve her flowers in a 16x20 natural wood frame, with an archival white background. The white background allows for the flowers to truly shine, as they circle a photo of the happy couple in the center. Kate also had the boutonniere her husband, Alex, wore added to the corner of the frame. The florals have held up very well, especially the purple roses, which have grown darker as other blooms have gone a bit lighter in color, balancing the tones as time passes. The pale delphinium, a favorite for our designers to work with, stands out against the roses, and the soft texture of the lacy dust miller is apparent even though the glass. Kate, just by glancing at her frame, can remember the feeling of holding her flowers as she walked the aisle towards Alex, just a few steps from forever.
Speaking of Alex, we can see his boutonniere in the corner has changed little from when it sat over his heart. The white spray roses, pressed closed, have just as much charm as they did on the big day, and the white and purple details of the arching caspia still stand out against the greenery. The delicate touch of the ribbon wrapping the stems is just another small detail with a big impact.
Our Director of External Communications, Nikole, also married in 2021, and she also chose to preserve a little more than her bouquet. Along with her bridal in a 16x20 natural wood float frame, she had a bridesmaid’s bouquet preserved (and hung next to a photo of her bachelorette trip to NYC, how sweet!) in a 10x10 frame. Both bouquets feature roses and sweet peas, and the bridal has peonies, anemones, and mauve roses. Nikole’s flowers have changed in the two and a half years since her wedding, and some have deepened in tone. The peonies anchor the larger design, and their petals have stayed more true, while the white roses have elegantly shifted to a cafe au lait tone. The playful design has stems of sweet peas popping through the other flowers, which is echoed in the bridesmaid’s bouquet. The roses in the smaller frame mirror those in the larger, and the sweet peas provide a delicate layer over top of them- so much natural texture! The greens in both frames have all gone just a couple shades lighter, which is to be expected, and darker greens like Italian ruscus will keep longer, while dusty miller, like in Kate’s frame, will remain largely unchanged as it was always lightly colored.
Caitlin had the joy of getting married to her sweetheart twice, and her second, larger wedding took place in 2021. For this event, she chose thistles, white roses, hellebore, masterwort, and delphinium as her flowers. The particular white roses she went with are a smaller variety and have kept up their white color in her 16x20 barn wood floating frame. The hellebore, which was a light green when fresh, still holds its color, especially at the edge, and the texture of the centers add fun detail to the piece overall. She also has a set of hexagon coasters, two of which were gifted to loved ones. The two she keeps in her home feature hellebore as well, and a full faced ranunculus. These have such a lovely texture through the clear resin, and play off of the bridal bouquet’s design well. The resin is still clear, as it has been kept from the sunlight, and flowers within have only faded slightly so far.
2020 Weddings
Pressed Bouquet Shop was still a small operation in the fall of 2020, but the work created in that time was just as stunning as it is now, and Caitlin’s small, COVID elopement is memorialized in a 16x20 barn wood frame on an archival white background. The pampas grass that reaches towards the edges of the frame evoke movement in how they interact with the lovingly placed greenery. The petals of the red dahlias are delightful, and still full of pigment, as are the red round leaves. This older bouquet is in perfect condition for its age, and the flowers look just as one can expect. They have changed, but the details within the design harken to how it appeared as fresh florals. While the white and lighter tones have taken on new depth with the passing years, the more saturated blooms have remained so.
This preservation was one from our early days, and we are proud to see it looking as beautiful as ever as we embark on our fifth year of making memories last a lifetime for our clients. Our business began with a very simple and sincere hope- we want to give couples a window into the best day of their lives. When you look through the glass of a frame, or into the clear resin at your flowers, we want you to feel transported back to the smell of fresh roses, your favorite music playing as the people who love you the most dance around you. We want your bouquets, boutonnieres, flower crowns, and centerpieces to have a place in your homes for years to come, and while they may take on new qualities, they will be no less special and no less a connective thread back to the happiest of times.
