Re-purposing a Summer Wedding Bouquet Part 1
Here are a few steps and tips to re-purposing a dried wedding bouquet. This project was for my sister who had a classical summer garden wedding. I love the idea so much that I'm planning on doing it for my own bouquet from my winter wedding, so stay tuned for that post!
The 8"x 10"shadow box she bought was from Homesense, and on sale for a really good price. This specific one might not be available anymore in stores, but I always recommend Homesense for one-of-a-kind items (after thrift stores of course!).
1. Colour
Because her bouquet was extremely dried out, a lot of the vibrant and balletic colours faded. I tried to bring the colours back to life as much as I could using boiled water, food colouring and salt. I also used very diluted ink to add more vibrancy. I found it difficult to just use the food colouring, but maybe it'll work better for you!
2. Placement
I played around with placement then pinned down the leaves exactly where I'd want them to be. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to create movement with her bouquet, because her bouquet (when it was alive) had a very nice flow and wasn't structured. As a memorial of the day, I wanted to keep that.
3. Ribbon
Next I added the ribbon. Originally I didn't even think to add the ribbon, but the colour matched how the roses looked like and I felt it brought more life to the dullness. Also, because my sister is a ballerina, I think it adds a personal touch to it as well.
4. Invitation
I really had no specific plan on how I was going to create this (like most things I create), and I had no intention on using the invite. But I'm glad I did. It adds more balance in the composition.
5. Boutonnière
Again, this whole process was very spontaneous with no real plan, so using the boutonnière was a later idea. Deciding on where the placement would be was also the most difficult part. I played around with different variations.
Click the arrows to view a couple of options
6. Right Before the Glue!
I settled with the boutonnière framing the introduction on the invite. Thankfully the
boutonnière still has a stable shape, so it was easy to move around and re-position. Make sure to always put the frame down to examine before gluing anything down! It's important to never make permanent decisions without seeing it from every angle.
7. The Final Product
MY TIPS ON CREATING A BOUQUET SHADOW BOX
+ If the shadow box has a price sticker on the glass, get rid of the residue first! I didn't and now I regret it.
+ Dry your bouquet properly! While your bouquet is dying, hang it upside down in a cool, dark place. I hang mine in the garage. This will preserve the shape and colour.
+ Don't try to cram every part of the bouquet in (unless you have the room). Sometimes less is more.
+ Buy a shadow box with a neutral frame and backdrop. If your bouquet is soft in colour, a bold frame can take away from it. I think the mirror frame my sister chose works perfectly with her bouquet.
+ You can use a spray fixture to hold the flowers in place. Some suggest hairspray as a cheaper option, but I would invest in a proper flower fixture as it is meant to last through generations to come. For my sister's bouquet, it is already extremely dry and dead that I'm confident the leaves will be just fine without.
+ Dead flowers and foliage get really crummy! To get rid of the crumbs, I tilted the frame to one side and gathered the crumbs on masking tape along the edges.
+ Get opinions! Get a fresh pair of eyes to examine and critique.