How to choose your wedding floral colour palette in Melbourne
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7 Ways to Preserve Your Wedding Bouquet
1. Air Drying – The Simplest DIY Method
Air drying is the easiest and most accessible way to preserve a wedding bouquet at home. It requires no special equipment and costs next to nothing.
How to do it:
1. Remove any damaged or wilted petals before you start
2. Separate the bouquet into smaller bunches if it’s particularly large
3. Tie the stems together with twine or a rubber band
4. Hang the bunches upside down in a cool, dark, well-ventilated space – a wardrobe, a spare room, or a dry laundry area works well
5. Leave them undisturbed for two to three weeks
6. Once fully dry, give them a light spray of unscented hairspray to help hold the petals in place
Best for: Roses, eucalyptus, lavender, protea, waxflower, baby’s breath, and other hardy blooms.
Keep in mind: Air drying causes flowers to shrink slightly and colours to mute and fade. The results have a beautiful vintage, nostalgic quality, but they won’t look like they did on your wedding day. Air-dried flowers are also more fragile than other preservation methods and can be susceptible to moisture and mould over time, especially in Australia’s more humid climates. Air-dried bouquets typically last one to two years before they start to deteriorate.
2. Silica Gel Drying – Better Colour, Better Shape
Silica gel is a desiccant – the same tiny crystals you find in those little packets inside new shoes and bags. It draws moisture out of flowers much faster than air drying and does a significantly better job of retaining their three-dimensional shape and colour.
How to do it:
1. Purchase silica gel crystals from a craft store (they’re widely available in Australia and relatively affordable)
2. Pour a layer of silica gel into an airtight container
3. Place your flowers face-up on top of the gel
4. Gently pour more silica gel over and around each bloom until they are fully covered
5. Seal the container and leave it undisturbed for five to seven days
6. Carefully remove the flowers and brush off any remaining crystals with a soft paintbrush
Best for: Roses, protea, ranunculus, gerberas, anthuriums, and any flower where you want to retain bold colour and a natural three-dimensional form.
This method is particularly popular as a first step before placing flowers into resin or shadow boxes, as it produces a cleaner, more lifelike result than air drying alone.
3. Pressing – A Timeless, Elegant Technique
Pressed flower preservation is one of the oldest and most beloved methods, and it’s having a genuine renaissance right now. Talented botanical artists across Australia are turning pressed wedding bouquets into breathtaking framed artworks that work beautifully as wall décor.
How to do it at home:
1. Select the flowers and individual blooms you want to press – flatter, thinner flowers work best
2. Place them between two sheets of absorbent paper (blotting paper or plain newsprint works well)
3. Slide the sheets into the middle of a heavy book or a dedicated flower press
4. Stack additional heavy books on top to add pressure
5. Check every few days and replace the paper if it becomes damp
6. The process takes two to four weeks depending on the moisture content of the blooms
Best for: Native daisies, waxflower, flannel flowers, single-petalled roses, ferns, and flat-faced blooms.
Worth noting: Pressing flattens flowers into two dimensions, which is beautiful for framing but not suitable if you want to retain the three-dimensional structure of your bouquet. For complex, layered bouquets, professional pressed flower artists are worth considering — they have the tools and expertise to press multiple bloom types simultaneously and produce results that far exceed what’s achievable at home.
4. Resin Encapsulation – A Modern, Sculptural Keepsake
Resin preservation has become one of the most popular wedding flower preservation methods in Australia over the past few years, and it’s easy to understand why. The results are stunning, blooms suspended in crystal-clear epoxy resin, transformed into paperweights, coasters, jewellery trays, ring holders, decorative blocks, or even wearable pieces like pendants and earrings.
The flowers must be fully dried before being encased in resin (usually with silica gel, as above). Once dried, they are carefully arranged in a mould, resin is poured over them, and the piece is left to cure.
DIY resin kits are available, but many couples find the process tricky to get right without practice. Uneven pouring, bubbles, or incorrect ratios can ruin the piece. If your bouquet represents a significant emotional and financial investment, many couples choose a professional resin artist for this method.
Best for: Any flower that has been properly dried, especially roses, protea, tropical blooms, and bold, colourful varieties.
5. Shadow Box Display – Three-Dimensional and Gallery-Worthy
A shadow box sits somewhere between pressed framing and a full bouquet display. It’s a deep-framed box that showcases your dried flowers in three dimensions arranged to recreate the look of your bouquet, suspended behind glass, and often combined with meaningful mementos like your vows, wedding invitation, ribbon, or a photograph from the day.
The result is more dramatic and architectural than a pressed flower frame, and it displays beautifully on a feature wall or above a mantle.
Professional shadow box services will typically dry your flowers using silica gel or freeze-drying, then painstakingly reconstruct the arrangement inside the frame before sealing it. Many artists offer custom sizing, timber frame choices, and the ability to include personal touches.
Best for: Couples who want a true-to-life representation of their full bouquet rather than individual blooms arranged as flat artwork.
6. Freeze Drying – Professional-Grade Preservation
Freeze drying is the most advanced and most expensive of all wedding bouquet preservation methods. It works by freezing the bouquet and then slowly removing the moisture through a vacuum process, which allows the flowers to retain their original shape, colour, and even texture in extraordinary detail.
The process takes several weeks and requires specialist equipment this is not a DIY option. Freeze-dried bouquets can last for many years when properly stored and displayed away from direct sunlight and humidity.
This method is particularly well suited to delicate blooms like peonies and orchids that don’t survive other drying methods as beautifully.
Cost: Freeze drying is the premium end of the preservation spectrum and can cost several hundred dollars depending on the size and complexity of the bouquet.
Best for: Couples who want the closest possible representation of their fresh bouquet and are willing to invest in professional results.
7. Wax Dipping – A Charming, Underrated Option
Wax dipping is a lesser-known preservation method that gives flowers a soft, slightly luminous finish. Individual blooms are gently dipped into melted paraffin wax, which seals the petals and preserves their shape and colour for a period of time.
It’s a more hands-on DIY method and works best for individual flowers rather than a full bouquet. The results are delicate and beautiful, but wax preservation is generally less durable than silica gel or resin over the long term.
If you’re interested in this method, there are online tutorials available, but practise on a few less precious flowers first before dipping your wedding blooms.
“The palette isn’t just about colour — it’s about the story the room will tell before a single guest takes their seat.”
Seasonal blooms available in Melbourne
Melbourne’s four distinct seasons mean your date determines what’s in bloom. Spring
(Sep–Nov) unlocks ranunculus, sweet pea and garden roses. Autumn brings dahlias,
cosmos and dried grasses that photograph beautifully at golden hour.
Florist tip
Booking your consultation 10–12 months ahead gives access to the widest seasonal range
and lets us source rare varieties early.
Choosing a hero colour + 2 accent tones
We recommend a rule-of-three: one dominant tone (60% of florals), one complementary accent (30%), and a textural highlight — pampas, dried seed heads, or a single unexpected bloom — for the final 10%.
- How to choose your wedding floral colour palette in Melbourne - 20 June 2026
- How to preserve wedding bouquet - 20 June 2026
- How to choose your wedding floral colour palette in Melbourne - 11 May 2026
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