How to Preserve Your Wedding Bouquet in a Frame

Here’s an easy way to press wedding flowers by drying flowers in the microwave, then displaying your pressed bridal bouquet in a frame.

Are you looking for how to preserve your wedding bouquet?

If you are getting married anytime soon, you may be wondering what to do with your bridal bouquet after the wedding. Here is a great resource with some creative things to with dried flowers from your wedding.

Luckily, I found a quick and easy way to press and frame your entire bouquet so that it looks almost exactly like it did when you were walking down the aisle!

This is an easy way to press your flowers that you can do a day or two after the wedding so that they will last forever. I pressed my bouquet the next day, but I didn’t frame my bouquet until after our one-year anniversary.

This method truly preserves your wedding bouquet.

 I DIYed every aspect of my wedding including making all the bridesmaids’ bouquets, boutonnieres for the groomsmen, and floral arrangements. Not only did this save a ton of money, (we were on a budget to save for a house) but it also gave me full creative control of the vision for my wedding.

After putting in all of this work, I searched for creative ways to display my wedding flowers, and found an easy way to dry and frame them. This would also make a great bridesmaid or gift for your mother since it only takes a few minutes to dry the flowers.

This post probably contains affiliate links, but only on items that I use or would recommend. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclaimer here.

Steps to preserve your wedding bouquet:

Step 1: Photograph your bouquet

If you have decided to press your wedding arrangements, you must start the process before your flowers start to dry. The earlier the better, but I’d say not to wait longer than three days.

Since it’s only a day or two after your wedding, you probably do not have any professional photos of your bouquet yet. Lay your bouquet on the table and take a photo so that you can reference it while drying your flowers.

Photograph your wedding bouquet just as you carried it.

Step 2: use this quick method to press your flowers

Cut ribbon or any rope that is holding the flowers together. You are going to start the drying process, layer by layer.

Dry the back layer first.

Remove the tray from your microwave and place a paper towel on it. Lay the back layer of flowers on it, exactly the way that they were positioned in your bouquet.

Cover the layer with a paper towel and place the tray back in the microwave.

Put a casserole dish or a plate over the flowers. It doesn’t need to be heavy to flatten the flowers, the heat from the microwave will do the pressing for you.

Microwave the flowers in 60-second increments. When the paper towels are dry, the flowers are pressed. Be careful not to burn your flowers- I think the max time I microwaved a layer was around 2 minutes.

Step 3: Photograph the dried flower layer

When the layer is dry, carefully lift it out of the microwave and remove the top paper towel. If you are waiting awhile before you frame your wedding flowers, go ahead and take a picture so that you can remember how to place the layer in the frame. 

Step 4- Press the rest of your flowers in the microwave

Repeat step 3 with the rest of your wedding bouquet, working in layers.

Step 5- Preserve your wedding flowers until you are ready to frame

You probably have a bunch of post-wedding events to attend, so put your dried flowers in a box, or somewhere where they won’t be disturbed. Since the flowers have already been pressed in the microwave, they will be just fine until you are ready to frame them. As I said, I waited over a year to put my bouquet in a frame.

My box of dried flowers went through a move and got batted around by my cat, but the pressed flowers remained perfectly intact.

How to frame pressed flowers

Step 1. Get supplies to preserve your wedding bouquet

Get a floating frame that has at least a quarter-inch depth. You want a frame that isn’t totally flat, but you also don’t need a deep shadow box.

I got the this one from Target.

Here are a few I like, along with other supplies you’ll need:

Supplies for Pressed Flowers

Step 2: Glue the flowers to the back of the frame

To do this, you are going to work in the same layers that you used when you pressed your wedding bouquet.

I put the frame insert behind the glass and used it as a guide to keep my flowers centered.

Look at the photo you took of the back layer of your bridal bouquet. Glue the back layer to the back piece of glass, in the same way that they are positioned in the photo you took when you were drying your flower arrangement.

I really like fabric or tacky glue for this because it dried clear and doesn’t make a mess. All you need is a TINY drop of glue.

 Hot glue can be tempting to use because it dries quickly, but my suggestion is not to use it any more than you must. It leaves little clear strings of glue that are easy to see once you display your dried flowers in a frame.

I had to take the frame apart after I hung it because the little hot glue strands were driving me crazy.

Keep adding your layers one by one, referencing the photos throughout the process.

Don’t worry too much about the stems. The main thing is gluing the dried blooms in the correct position.

Step 3: Trim any unruly stems.

After all your flowers are in place, break off any stems that are sticking out to the side. You can glue them down straight once you put the ribbon back on.

Kepp reading to see how to preserve your dried wedding bouquet in a frame.

Step 4: Add the ribbon from your original wedding bouquet

This is where the hot glue comes in handy. Gently lift the stems and place a vertical line of hot glue under them to secure one end of the ribbon. Trim the ribbon so that the other end will be secured right next to the start of the ribbon you just glued down.

If the stems are stacked too thick, the frame won’t close, so break them off. They shouldn’t don’t stack too much under the ribbon. Glue down the ribbon and add another overlapping layer of ribbon so that it looks more realistic.

Step 5. Add in more dried flower stems

You’ll probably need to add in some of the stems you broke off earlier, so that your dried bouquet looks more natural. Glue the stems back down flat so that they are coming out of the bottom of the ribbon. The ribbon will disguise this, hiding your glue and the broken stems.

Look at how much better mine looked after I glued the stems back in!

Step 6: Display your dried flowers in a frame

Sandwich the flowers between the two pieces of glass and carefully flip them over so that you can close the frame. My flowers were pretty thick, so I couldn’t close all of the clasps, but it worked out fine.

If you can’t get your frame to close at all, you can get this piece of acrylic to put on the back instead. Since it has some flexibility to it, the frame should close without the risk of cracking the glass.

Step 7: Enjoy your framed wedding bouquet

Thanks for reading this wedding DIY post! As always, please email me if you have any questions!

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How to preserve your wedding bouquet and dry flowers in the microwave