Bouquet Preservation

The Process

A wedding bouquet holds the emotion, beauty, and meaning of a deeply special day. Preserving it through pressed‑flower artwork transforms those fleeting blooms into an heirloom you can live with, display, and pass down. The process is simple, intentional, and designed to honor your flowers at their freshest and most beautiful.

1
Fresh and Clean is Everything

Flower preservation works best when the blooms are as fresh as possible. Your bouquet should stay in water whenever it’s not in your hands on your wedding day.

It should be trimmed the evening of your wedding (on an angle) and put into a CLEAN vase with FRESH water then refrigerated until it can be delivered or shipped.

We always do our very best to preserve as much of your bouquet as is possible. We will photograph and document the condition of every bouquet’s “ingredients” upon receipt. If there are any flowers within the bouquet that are showing too many signs of bacterial disease/rotting etc. we will not press those specimens, but can generally still create an artwork with the original vibe in tact.

Please note: Traditional flower pressing is a gentle but transformative process. When a bloom is pressed, its three‑dimensional form is flattened, revealing the quiet architecture; the silhouettes, the unexpected negative spaces. Shapes shift, becoming more sculptural and graphic. Inspired by it’s original form, but very often, quite different.

Color changes are also a natural part of the process. Because petals are made of water and delicate pigments, pressing removes moisture and concentrates or diffuses those pigments in new ways. Vibrant hues may deepen into richer tones, pastels may soften, and some flowers take on entirely new shades. These shifts aren’t flaws — they’re part of the poetry of preservation. Pressing captures the essence of the flower at a single moment in time, honoring its beauty in a new, lasting form.

Beyond the natural shifts in shape and color, it’s also important to understand how modern floristry practices can influence preservation. Many commercially grown flowers are treated with pesticides, hydration solutions, and finishing sprays that help bouquets look flawless for the wedding day but can alter how the petals behave once pressed. These treatments can cause unexpected color changes, spotting, browning or translucency, and sometimes make certain blooms more fragile under pressure. Florists also often use sealants or “flower shine” sprays to keep petals looking dewy and vibrant in photos — beautiful in the moment, but not always compatible with archival preservation.

If your bouquet does not stay fresh and/or you cannot get it to us within 24-36 hours of your wedding, you have the option to pivot to a recreation of your bouquet in which we will order fresh flowers based on a photo of your bouquet. We’ll identify the “ingredients” of your bouquet and order fresh versions. In this scenario there is an extra fee for the cost of flowers.

2
Drop off or Ship Day After Wedding

Out‑of‑state brides
I will send your designated person a pre-paid shipping label prior to your wedding date along with instructions on how to package up your bouquet for careful shipping. You/they simply pack the bouquet and drop it off the day after your wedding so it arrives quickly and safely. (many brides dedicate this task to a parent or friend to do for them).

Local brides (Cleveland Ohio)
We require that your bouquet be delivered to my Shaker Heights Ohio home the day after your wedding. My address will be provided to you once your order is placed. Most brides identify a designated person (MOH, MOB etc) who will be responsible for taking the bouquet home from the wedding and getting it to us in a timely fashion as freshness is everything.

3
Lead Times

We kick off your design with getting some key questions answered by you, but the final layout design of the actual artwork is the creative discretion of Fleur De lis House as the artist and no changes can be made once completed.

We start by determining:

  • Preservation Preference: Preserve Actual Bridal bouquet or Recreate from photo? (will charge actual cost of flowers but estimate around $100 extra fee for buying fresh versions).

  • Style: Do you wish your artwork to resemble a bouquet and include the ribbon that was used in your bouquet? or no ribbon and a more romantic and artistic arrangement using your flowers and does not include your ribbon? (we have lots of ribbon too if you want ribbon but did not keep yours or have a ribbon in yours).

  • Final size of artwork: do you want 16×20 unmated framed artwork or a 20×24 framed artwork which includes a 2” mat overlay around the bouquet.

  • Orientation of artwork: do you want portrait or landscape orientation?

  • Frame Style: Do you want one of our simple modern metal frames (black, gold, white, or rose gold) or do you want one of our wooden frame options (raw oak, or decorative gold “Marrakesh” frame)

  • Calligraphy wording: what would you like your personal label to say? (i.e, The Harpers, September 8, 2026 or something else? - 3 words are included in cost, there is a small up charge for longer calligraphic labels).

  • Wax Seal: Many couples have a brand logo created for their invitations. We can have a wax seal created of this icon and a custom wax seal to your artwork (and you get the wax seal and extra wax as part of your deliverables when we send your artwork) that you can use in other ways (perhaps your thank you cards!).

4
Designing Your Artwork

Please fill out the form below to see if your date is still available for bridal bouquet preservation. We limit the amount of bouquets we take on each week.

Pressed flower arrangement in a gold frame with a white bow and the words 'The Counterpart' at the bottom. 
created from a photo of a bouquet
rather from the actual bouquet.

The overall lead time for a custom bouquet artwork is generally 12 weeks due to the nature of pressing and our schedule with balancing other clients and projects.

There is a long window for pressing and Once the flowers are pressed, I spend weeks composing your custom artwork in the order in which your deposit was submitted. Every piece is arranged by hand, honoring the original spirit of your bouquet while creating a balanced, fine‑art composition. A beautiful calligraphy labeling will be the final touch to your artwork.

Close-up of a wedding bouquet with pink, red, and purple flowers, greenery, and eucalyptus leaves, held by people dressed in formal attire. 
Example of a 20x24 metal frame with 2" mat overlay in a portrait orientation.

5
Matting and Framing your Artwork

All artworks are created on conservation quality acid-free mat board.

All 16×20 Options come without a matte overlay.

All 20×24 Options come with a mat overlay that provides a 2” border around the bouquet artwork. 

Example of a piece created from an actual bouquet in a 16x20 gold Marrakesh frame win a landscape orientation.

You select from our framing style options below, but all of our custom frames use Tru Vue Optium Museum Quality Acrylic for ultimate protection and clarity. 99% UV filtration, anti-static, anti-reflective, 1/8" thick with InSite Acid Free high-quality paper faced mounting board with a memory foam center and a smooth, bright white or black paper that was created for preservation framing.

Framing Your Artwork

Decisions to Make

All bridal bouquet artworks include framing. Pressed flowers are delicate, and museum quality framing provides additional protection.

All our custom frames use Tru Vue Optium Museum Quality Acrylic for ultimate protection and clarity. 99% UV filtration, anti-static, anti-reflective, 1/8" thick with InSite Acid Free high-quality paper faced mounting board with a memory foam center and a smooth, bright white paper or matte black that was created for preservation framing.

Framing Options

Wedding invitation with green wax seal, greenery, pink flower, two rings, and the text "The Hargers" on a white surface.
Close-up detail of a preserved bridal bouquet with custom calligraphy labeling.

A Calligraphic label with your choice of:

  • Name (example “The Harpers”)

  • Date (example “September 8th, 2012”)

  • Custom Phrase (one line of copy)

  • Combination of above options

Add-ons

Once I receive your form from the top of this page, I will send you an additional form asking the following:

Preservation Preference: actual bouquet or recreation from photo? (estimate around $100 for cost of flowers-will charge actual)

Style: bouquet style with ribbon or artistic style? (no impact on price)

Final size and orientation of artwork

  • 16×20 portrait orientation

  • 16×20 landscape orientation

  • 20×24 portrait orientation with 2” mat overlay

  • 20×24 landscape orientation with 2” mat overlay

Framing Option (general option either metal or wood)

  • metal 16×20 portrait orientation with

  • metal 16×20 landscape orientation

  • metal 20×24 portrait orientation with 2” mat overlay

  • metal 20×24 landscape orientation with 2” mat overlay

    or

  • wood 16×20 portrait orientation

  • wood 16×20 landscape orientation

  • wood 20×24 portrait orientation with 2” mat overlay

  • wood 20×24 landscape orientation with 2” mat overlay

Other Questions

  • calligraphy wording (see below)

  • specific frame style (see below)

  • to buy/use a custom wax seal or not (see below)

A custom wax seal featuring an icon of your choosing. We will use your personal custom seal to add a finishing wax detail to your piece, but the seal itself and additional wax will be part of your deliverables and can be a great way to seal those “Thank you” cards too!

Price starts at $125

Pricing

There are 3 key factors impacting the core price:

  1. Size of Artwork (whether you choose 16×20 or 20×24)

  2. Frame of Artwork (whether you choose a wood or metal frame)

  3. If we are preserving original bouquet or recreating off of photo (adds approx. $100)

From here the price can incrementally go up based on add-ons such as wax seal or additional calligraphic labeling.

Below show the example core pricing. You do not click to buy, you will be invoiced once we determine your preferences.

NOTE: Style of artwork (bouquet or artistic) nor artwork orientation (portrait or landscape) has any impact on pricing.

16×20 metal

from original bouquet

$555.00

16×20 metal

recreated from photo

$655.00

We estimate $100 for fresh but you will be charged for actual cost. TBD.
from original bouquet

16×20 wood

$595.00

recreated from photo

16×20 wood

$695.00+

We estimate $100 for fresh but you will be charged for actual cost. TBD.

20×24 metal

20×24 metal

from original bouquet

20×24 wood

$705.00

recreated from photo

20×24 wood

$805.00

We estimate $100 for fresh but you will be charged for actual cost. TBD.
from original bouquet

$665.00

recreated from photo

$765.00

We estimate $100 for fresh but you will be charged for actual cost. TBD.