My Wedding Bouquet, on Display

My husband and I got married in a small, intimate ceremony at our town court house.  At our age, a story-book romance was infinitely more important that a story-book wedding and I opted for cozy gathering with close friends and family rather than a full-blown soiree.  It was a decision that was easy for us - spending tens of thousands of dollars on a wedding that only lasted a few hours, or saving tens of thousands of dollars for the purchase of our dream home.  It was a no-brainer.  I didn't need to be a princess for a day, if you've found the right person as I have, you should feel like a princess every day.

Long Island weddings are notoriously expensive and we would've had to save for years to even have a mediocre wedding.  We just wanted to get married and we didn't want to spend a lot of money to do it.  However, the morning of my wedding I awoke and realized no matter how economical we were trying to be with this wedding, I didn't want to be a bride without a bouquet.  It just didn't feel right. I've always loved flowers and the absence of them at my wedding was something I knew I would regret.  I headed to the florist around the corner from my house a few hours before my wedding, and the wonderful woman at the florist put together a beautiful bouquet for me in record time.  It was simple and classic and exactly what I wanted. She generously completed my request with a complimentary boutonniere for my husband and a beautiful, dainty corsage for Moo. She was so kind and gracious - that bouquet wound up being one of my fondest memories of the day, besides my vows, of course.

 

After the wedding, I left the bouquet on the table in my front foyer, unsure of what I wanted to do with it.  For months, I shuffled it from one room to another in an effort to keep it intact and out of harms way.  The more I shuffled it, the more it deteriorated.  The flowers were now dry and crumbly, but I refused to part with that bouquet. It held a great deal of sentimental value because it was the one and only thing I splurged on for myself for my wedding.

One day, as I was looking for something in the attic, I came across a box of glass 'eggs' that my mother had used as favors at her wedding.  That box of beautiful, delicate eggs had endured nearly 5 decades of storage and two huge moves, and every single one was perfectly unscathed.  Then inspiration hit me!  These glass eggs had survived all these years for a reason and I knew exactly what I was going to do with my bouquet.

I gathered all my supplies and set out to preserve my bouquet.

 

First I disassembled my bouquet, carefully cutting the buds from their stems.  I then attempted to salvage as much of the baby's breath as I could, taking only the pieces that still had flowers.

 

Then I began to arrange.

And re-arrange.  And arrange some more until I was pleased that all the buds were facing outward and it looked good from almost any angle.
 

 

All in all, I'm very happy with the way it turned out.  I may still embellish the outside of the egg, but I have yet to find exactly what I want to complete it.

It is proudly displayed in our bedroom, atop a chest of drawers and I smile every time I see it.  It reminds me of one of the happiest days of my life, and of the generosity and graciousness of a stranger who helped make my wedding day even more memorable.
 

 

I also recently began to keep flowers from the random flower arrangements and bouquets that my husband gives me.  Once the flowers have passed their prime, I hate just throwing them out like they never existed.  So I'll grab a flower from the arrangement, hang it upside down for a few days and cut it from it's stem.  I'll place it in the bowl to be admired for years to come.  It's a little bowl of happy memories.

 

I hope either of these simple ideas inspires you to preserve a memory, or to go out and create a memory worth preserving.

(*A quick shout-out to the amazing Town Florist, to whom I owe a debt of gratitude.  If you live in the area, give them a visit!)

xoxo Kristen