Your wedding bouquet is one of the most symbolic pieces of your wedding day, next to maybe just your rings and your dress! Everyone can recognize a wedding bouquet and it’s often the most thought-through floral piece planned for your big day.

A lot of my brides wonder what to do with their bouquet after the wedding, so today I wanted to share some tips for bouquet preservation, both from my own experience in the wedding industry and also from my friend Sarah at Blushing Rose Floral, a wedding florist I recently got the chance to interview.

Sarah shared some beautiful insights into the “life” of a bouquet during our interview that I wanted to share:

It’s pretty common knowledge that flowers are delicate things. Unfortunately, in the midst of a busy wedding day, we don’t always remember just how fragile they are! Not long before that special day, they were growing in a field with sunshine, water, and an entire root system. After being cut from this place of comfort, they go through a lot of different processing stages before they make it into your hands to be carried down the aisle.

I just love how she put that! Your bouquet is such a special part of your day; what if you could increase the joy brought from those pretty blooms by making them last just a bit longer? Sarah shared some more tips I’ll paraphrase below:

She suggests placing your bouquet in its vase of water anytime you’re not using it during your wedding day so the blooms can rehydrate! This also keeps the bouquet upright so the blooms don’t get dirty or smashed.
Never leave your bouquet in your car without the air conditioning running if it’s above 70 degrees outside. If it’s too hot for a dog in your car without A/C, then it’s definitely too hot for your flowers.
During winter, you shouldn’t leave your flowers too close to a heater. Even if you’re taking photos in freezing weather, be aware of your bouquet as you jump in the car to quickly warm up — leave the bouquet in the trunk!
Just like children, blooms can get overtired in the hot sun. Leave them in a shaded spot without direct sunlight if you’ll be waiting outside for an extended period with your flowers.
If you’re going to receive your bouquet the night before your wedding or bridal photos, keep them somewhere cool but not in the fridge. Fridges often have cold spots or uneven temperatures that are too cold for your delicate petals and cause them to freeze or turn brown.

Beyond these day-of preservation tips, Sarah recommends listening to your florist to learn what sort of flowers you should avoid during your wedding season. And for after the big day, Sarah offers an incredible bouquet preservation service. She has several options of ways to preserve the happiness of your flowers, even if some of the beautiful blooms didn’t quite make it through the day looking their best! Check out her beautiful ideas for preserving this sentimental piece of your wedding on her website.