If you have a family member or friend getting married soon, you're probably looking for memorable and unique wedding gifts that go beyond what’s on the average registry. There are many options to choose from, but what if nothing quite catches your attention? After all, you want your gift to be different from your typical wedding present — something the couple will cherish and remember for years to come.
Preserved flowers allow couples to cherish the beauty of real flowers for a long time, making them one of the most meaningful and long-lasting wedding gift ideas for newlyweds. Wedding flowers have a long history of symbolic meaning, and they have extra personal meaning to the couple who picked them. When you preserve wedding flowers, you can give your friend or family member something sentimental that represents their special day and works in their home for years.
Learn more about how preserved flowers can help create one of the most unique wedding presents.
Why People Love Preserved Flowers
People's love for preserved flowers comes from the significance of the bridal bouquet. Bouquets are a reminder of a couple's love for each other, but the meaning goes even deeper if we look at the long history of wedding flowers.
Wedding Flowers Have a Fascinating History
Wedding flowers started as a wedding tradition in ancient Rome. Brides and grooms carried and wore floral garlands to their nuptials, and this wedding tradition carried on throughout history:
Antiquity: Ancient Romans and Greeks used a combination of flowers, fragrant herbs and spices in matrimonial ceremonies. Flowers symbolized new beginnings, fertility and fidelity. Some herbs were considered aphrodisiacs, while others carried similar meanings to the flowers and were meant to ward off bad luck.
Middle Ages: During the plague, bouquets took a more superstitious form. Couples would accessorize their wedding attire with flowers to mask body odors and would add pungent herbs and spices to ward off evil spirits and any form of bad luck.
Elizabethan era: Prior to this time, brides would sometimes wear small floral circlets — similar to flower crowns — as part of their attire. During the Elizabethan era, bridal bouquets became more decorative, though they were not always carried by hand, as flowers would be woven into elaborate hairstyles.
Victorian times: During the 19th century, Queen Victoria carried a small bunch of flowers at her wedding, giving new meaning to bridal bouquets and flower symbolism as we know them today.
Modern day: Today, couples choose flower bouquets and decorations based more on aesthetics and color schemes rather than historical value. However, flowers still represent the couple's feelings toward each other and their hopes for the future. While images of wedding flowers can be captured in a photo album, preserving flowers can act as a beautiful reminder of these symbols for the married couple to admire in their home every day.
They're Beautiful and Functional
The reason why certain household items — such as trays, coasters and jewelry dishes — always appear on unique wedding gift ideas lists is because they're beautiful and personal. And, in many cases, they're functional. You can use these items every day or display them as centerpieces to be constantly admired. Preserved floral frames and resin pieces are the same — beautiful with that extra personal touch.
Preserving flowers is one of the best wedding present gift ideas and offers several benefits:
Longevity: Preserved flowers last a long time, allowing the couple to enjoy their beauty for years. Even as the flowers change over time, they are no less the perfect representation of a lasting love.
Memories: Framed and resin-preserved flowers allow the couple to relive their happiest moments by looking at the very flowers that made their wedding beautiful.
Unique decor: Preserved flowers offer a different, eye-catching decorative element to living spaces.
Symbolism: The longevity of preserved flowers symbolizes enduring love and many more memories to come.
Cost-effectiveness: Using preserved flowers is a more cost-effective way to add floral decor to your home than fresh flowers, and our resin products can be used in the home for many years.
They're Customizable
Although you'll find many original ideas for wedding gifts that are customizable to a degree, flower preservation takes things to a new level. Even two brides who like the exact same flowers will have different-looking bouquets that fit their wedding theme and style.
Additionally, Element Design has multiple options to memorialize different parts of the wedding, from the bridal bouquet to the bridesmaids' bouquets and boutonnières and corsages. We have a hands-on approach and prioritize the delicate details to create beautiful and customized frames, trays and coasters that suit the newlywed couple's home. We also have options that allow our clients to preserve photos and paper items, such as their invitations or photos with our Paper Preservation line, which still includes florals, but gives yet another piece of the wedding time to shine.
Our finished products come close in looks compared to the bride's bouquet, and offer a different perspective of the blooms. Whether the design is a traditional burst, which is made to mimic the fresh bouquet from an overhead perspective, or a field style, made to look like a beautiful field of flowers, we can create something stunning and full of sentiment.
We always strive to be helpful and communicative throughout the process while working on your orders and add the utmost love and care to each piece for our customers.
Choosing the Perfect Style
We know it can be challenging to pick a wedding gift for someone, no matter how well you know them. Luckily, choosing to base your gift off the bride's bouquet is perfect since you already know they love what they picked! At Element Design, couples can add our services to their registry, which makes the gift-giving process even easier.
For a custom preserved flower wedding gift, there are a couple of routes you can take:
Framing: Does the bride love flowers and want to see them hanging every day? Our pressed bouquet frames might be the perfect option. First, choose the type of frame, size and flower design style, and then select between a glass float or solid background.
Resin: Does the bride value functionality? Encasing flowers in resin creates beautiful trays, coasters, ornaments or a jewelry holder. These items come in different shapes, including circles, squares, hexagons, rectangles and diamonds.
Bundles: If your bride is someone who admires beauty combined with functionality in their home, our custom bundle deals are ideal. Our collections incorporate frames and resin. Why choose one over the other when you can give them the best of both worlds? Spread special floral touches throughout their home with pressed floral frames and resin pieces.
Paper Preservation: Paper preservation allows couples to highlight a paper item, such as their invitation or photo. Dainty florals, either from their bouquet or our inventory, are added, and we offer a few options for the overall look.
Gift cards: Still unsure which style or combination to pick? We offer physical and digital gift cards for the couple to decide for themselves. Give them the gift of choice, from the aisle to our hands, to their home.
Let Element Design Help You Find Personalized Wedding Gifts
Flowers are one of the most beautiful and thoughtful gifts. For newlyweds, flowers have an even deeper meaning, representing love and a lifelong commitment. You can give the couple in your life a gift as special and personalized as the wedding bouquet — but with a longer life span. Giving them preserved wedding flowers in a frame or encased in resin will put a smile on your loved ones' faces every time they look at it.
Explore Element Design's collections to find the perfect fit, or browse our gallery to get some inspiration for that perfect wedding gift. Alternatively, get a gift card to leave the choice up to them.
