Caring For The Bouquet

The main thing to remember is that flowers are fragile. Excessive handling and heat are the greatest adversaries of an excellent preservation. As we've said elsewhere on the site, preservation can't improve the looks of the flowers -- we can only preserve what's there when the bouquet arrives at our shop. Here are some basic tidbits of advice:

Hand-tied bouquets, like flowers from the garden, rely on you to put them in water. During the reception, have a vase with 2 or 3 inches of water so the flowers can get a drink. If the bouquet will not be delivered until the next day, keep it in water, in the refrigerator if possible, but in water. Don't worry about the wrapping ribbon getting wet. It will dry. A second factor is that round bouquets have no way to be laid down except on the flowers. Everytime you lay it down, flowers are bruised a little, so during the long picture sessions don't lay your flowers down - give them to someone to hold.
If your bouquet is in a traditional oasis (a plastic holder with green foam in the bottom):
- Refrigerate all of the flowers you wish to have preserved as soon as possible. If possible, cover them lightly with plastic wrap. Make sure that there are no apples or onions in the refrigerator with the flowers! As weird as this seems, apples and onions will cause the flowers to turn brown.
- The flowers can be lightly misted, but do not drench them with water -- this will rot the flowers! The foam that forms the base for your bouquet can be soaked with water -- but keep the flowers and leaves themselves dry.
Do not put the flowers in the freezer instead of the refrigerator.
Do not throw your bouquet as you leave the reception! We know that this is a fun and traditional ritual -- so get your florist to make up a small nosegay for you to use for the "toss" (which also means you don't have to beg to get it back!).
If something does get lost or damaged, don't fret. We can selectively replace almost anything.



	The main thing to remember is that flowers are fragile. Excessive handling and heat are the greatest adversaries of an excellent preservation. As we've said elsewhere on the site, preservation can't improve the looks of the flowers -- we can only preserve what's there when the bouquet arrives at our shop. Here are some basic tidbits of advice: Hand-tied bouquets, like flowers from the garden, rely on you to put them in water. During the reception, have a vase with 2 or 3 inches of water so the flowers can get a drink. If the bouquet will not be delivered until the next day, keep it in water, in the refrigerator if possible, but in water. Don't worry about the wrapping ribbon getting wet. It will dry. A second factor is that round bouquets have no way to be laid down except on the flowers. Everytime you lay it down, flowers are bruised a little, so during the long picture sessions don't lay your flowers down - give them to someone to hold. If your bouquet is in a traditional oasis (a plastic holder with green foam in the bottom): Refrigerate all of the flowers you wish to have preserved as soon as possible. If possible, cover them lightly with plastic wrap. Make sure that there are no apples or onions in the refrigerator with the flowers! As weird as this seems, apples and onions will cause the flowers to turn brown. The flowers can be lightly misted, but do not drench them with water -- this will rot the flowers! The foam that forms the base for your bouquet can be soaked with water -- but keep the flowers and leaves themselves dry. Do not put the flowers in the freezer instead of the refrigerator. Do not throw your bouquet as you leave the reception! We know that this is a fun and traditional ritual -- so get your florist to make up a small nosegay for you to use for the "toss" (which also means you don't have to beg to get it back!). If something does get lost or damaged, don't fret. We can selectively replace almost anything.