Freeze drying

Modern technology gives you the option to enjoy your fresh wedding flowers for years to come by having them freeze-dried. Freeze dried blooms maintain their size and shape without being brittle. Bloom color is generally good but will antique over time, however floral sprays and sealed enclosures will help flowers keep that fresh look.
You can have your entire wedding bouquet preserved or just a few blooms to have a lasting one of a kind remembrance of your special day. Enclosure options are numerous, including ornaments, picture frames with convex acrylic domes, shadowboxes, cases, glass domes and furniture. you can add other memorabilia (pictures, invitations, music, cake top, candles, lace, handkerchief, glasses, jewelry, garters) to make your enclosure even more personal. Freeze drying and arranging is as much of an art as it is a science. Check with your local freeze drier before your wedding for information on options and pricing. Also, there are usually options for everyone's budget.
To freeze-dry an entire wedding bouquet the cost will generally range from $50.00 to $125.00. Single blooms are about $3.00. The enclosure can range from $5.00 and up, depending on what you are looking for. Many people consider additional smaller enclosures as wonderful gifts for others who helped with the wedding.

1- Wet several layer of paper toweling and place in the bottom of a large plastic bag.

2- Place flowers on top of the toweling and close with a twist tie.

3- Place bag and flowers in a cool spot. Refrigeration is good. DO NOR FREEZE! An ice chest with ice in the bottom, towel in the middle, and bag with flowers on top works well when refrigeration is not possible.

Each flower is sprayed with a chemical, according to its type and color, to help maintain color and increase durability. Next the flowers are placed in a box with a specially shreaded tissue where any drooping petals can be reformed. The flowers are maintained in a freezer( DO NOT FREEZE YOURSELF) until the freeze drier is ready. The flowers are placed in a the freeze drier's specimen chamber at -20F for several hours. Next a lower chamber is chilled to -40F and then a vacuum is drawn throughout the machine. Now the flowers surrounded by less pressure than out in space. The water in the flowers now goes directly to solid ice crystal state to a gas state. The water vapor is attracted to the colder temperature in the lower chamber, it is isolated and defrosted. During this 2-3 week process the temperature is slowly raised until it reaches 70F while the lower chamber can reach temperature of -65F. When no more ice forms the freeze drying is done. The flowers are treated with a clear plastic coating, that can not be seen or felt, to inhibit moisture reabsorption and are now ready to be designed into your remembrance.