From the moment your flowers come through our doors, our team takes great care to ensure that they return to you as beautiful, lasting keepsakes. This process is done with intention and precision, taking necessary time to preserve the most important blooms of your life. The process begins with you (or a helpful loved one) getting the bouquet and other flower arrangements to our Easton, PA location. We can accept your flowers both through the mail and by local drop off, which you can easily schedule on our website.
1. Pressing
Once your bouquet or arrangement arrives and is logged and photographed, our talented team of floral preservation specialists begin to work their magic. First, the bouquet is carefully taken apart. Our team will make sure to select the loveliest flowers, then, using a combination of preservation methods, they kick off the pressing process. First, they use specialized tools to make the flowers transform from three dimensional to almost completely flat (magic, indeed!). Once flattened, the flowers and greens are stored at a flower-safe temperature and in a humidity-controlled room while they are allowed to lose the last of their moisture. At this stage, they are kept in more traditional presses.
The time we take at this stage of the preservation is crucial, as it uses time to remove any remaining moisture from flowers, while keeping each petal as flat as possible. We are committed to the flowers you held on your special moments looking just as gorgeous as the first time you saw them. Before the flowers reach the design stage, one of our quality check specialists carefully combs through each order, making sure that every petal is looking its very best. Once the flowers are completely dry, completely flat, and totally gorgeous, they are ready to be transformed into the designs you selected.
2. The Designs
We understand how special these bouquets, boutonnieres, flower crowns, corsages, and more are to you and want to do our best to make them look their best! Our team of frame and resin designers are just the folks you’d hope to have turning your memories into art! When an order is pulled for design, our team will once again take a keen eye to your blooms. They will refer to photos that are shared by you or taken at our office to capture the feeling of the fresh flowers, either behind glass or in resin.
3. The Frames
When you order a frame, you can be sure that our designers will work hard to replicate the look and feel of your fresh arrangement, down to the smallest details. The frame team takes care, whether they are working with glass or our archival backing, to ensure that they are using great caution to avoid any smudges or fingerprints. They look to see which orientation you prefer, and whether you've chosen a Field Style or Traditional Burst design, or whether you’ve chosen to add any extra items (such as your invitation, ribbon, or boutonniere). Once they know everything there is to know about the order, they carefully lay out the designs. Throughout the design process, they are referring to the photo taken when the bouquet arrived, or to any photos of your event that you may be able to provide. All of our artisans have incredible skill at recreating the beauty of the fresh flowers, adjusting stems to create movement, and layering the blooms ever so carefully to bring all your favorite memories of your special day back to life, no matter which design style you go with! As they go, they are sure to, once again, look through your flowers and use the best of the best. Once the design is complete, the artist will adhere the flowers to their backing. When the bouquet is fully attached to the glass or backing board, they mindfully check over the design ensuring that the adhesive has secured all flower elements successfully. They also get to have some fun at this stage, as we've found that the very best tool for removing flower dust is a very tiny leaf blower.
Once the design is clear of any debris, designers carefully lay it into a frame, which they’ve prepared with our 99% protective UV glass and the mat corresponding to the frame color selected. They will lay another mat on the back, if it’s a floating frame, to protect the glass from the frame points we use to make sure our designs stay fully and safely in the frame. Hanging hardware is attached, a signature from the artist is placed on the back of the frame, and the order is moved to the Quality Check shelf.
4. The Resin
The resin process, by its very nature, takes some time to complete. Once the flowers have been made flat and checked for quality, they are ready to move into the capable hands of our resin team. Our resin designers will first look over the flowers, dipping anything painted or dyed by the florist in a layer of resin to protect the added color. They will check to see if you've selected an addition of metallic flakes, or something else fun, like your cake topper. Once all blooms are ready to go, the designers pour a very thin layer of resin into our unique molds and begin laying out the design. Like our frame team, they are looking at images of the fresh flowers and layering the flowers into a design that will absolutely capture the feelings of your special day. After the design is laid out, the resin must cure. The resin must be completely cured and dry before adding the second layer to fill the rest of the mold. This layer is a bit thicker and therefore sometimes requires a bit more time than the initial pour to finish curing. Our resin team works as efficiently as possible to design and pour multiple orders at once, while making some of the most beautiful pieces of preservation art we’ve ever seen. Some orders require multiple layers of resin to ensure all flowers are encapsulated completely by resin.
After the resin art is ready to be removed from the mold, they perform any sanding needed, then move into the doming stage, where the surfaces are made completely smooth and level-ready for you to put your drinks or jewelry on! Sometimes there are multiple layers of doming needed to deliver the most perfect product. Once completely cured, the resin is sent to our touch up desk. Here, they have their sharp edges sanded, and carefully looked over for any imperfections, necessary hardware is added, and they are sent off for the final quality check!
5. Quality Check
We’ve made it to the last part of the process, before packing your orders to send back into your hands! The final quality checks are just one more pair of eyes to each and every order is as perfect as our human hands can make it. At this stage in your bouquet’s journey, there have been enough checks that this part is where our team “ooohs and ahhhs” at your pressed florals. We snap a few photos in our light box and file them away to showcase on our website and social media.
When the products have been given the final look, they are ready to be carefully packaged in our custom and eco-friendly packing, and sent off to be displayed in your home! The time we take with each and every bouquet we preserve is crucial to making sure you get the product of your dreams. We hope, when you see your frame on the wall, or set your wedding band on your ring dish, that you are able to relive the happiest moments of your life!
