Planning

Cakes & Flowers

To Protect and Preserve

Who says your wedding day flowers need to die after the big day? By Lydia Parafianowicz

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Ever wonder what will happen to your W-day flowers after the ceremony? Given the time you’ve spent selecting them – not to mention the cost of buying them – why not preserve your flowers and memories with a new technique known as freeze-drying. 

Torontonian Jin Bhachu and her husband, Narinder, are the owners of An Everlasting Rose, a floral preservation company that specializes in this  procedure. Jin, whose parents owned a floral shop in Vancouver, freeze-dries flowers by extracting their moisture; they are ultimately vacuum-sealed, but kept as close as possible to the original shape.

When the process is complete, Jin creates displays in frames, jewellery boxes, or tabletop domes that combine flowers (from single roses to hairpieces to bouquets) with other wedding day memorabilia such as rings and champagne bottles.

“Whatever is special to the couple from the wedding can go in,” says Narinder.  “You can preserve favourite items in a way that’s unique and special; you can hang it on your wall and it becomes a part of your home. You don’t need to pull it off a shelf or put in a DVD photo album to look at it.”

An Everlasting Rose reflects the multiculturalism of Toronto by incorporating various ethnicities and religious backgrounds into their work. “We are doing a Japanese wedding, so we are preserving cherry blossoms to put on display at the wedding itself,” says Narinder. Other displays have included wedding bangles from Indian ceremonies and traditional floral crowns from Greek weddings.

According to Narinder, floral preservation is very popular in the US, but is just beginning to catch on in Canada. The response thus far has been “phenomenal,” he says, and newlyweds are excited to have memories preserved in a personalized way.

While it’s best to get flowers to the company as soon as possible after the ceremony, they can be kept in the fridge (not in a freezer) for a few days if necessary. Jin has even been able to freeze-dry bouquets that have hung upside down for a year. The Bhachus also accept mailed packages, so honeymooners can ship flowers if necessary.

The entire process takes up to twelve weeks and prices range from $250 to $650, depending on size, shape, casing and matting. If you protect your display as you would a photograph (keeping it out of direct sunlight), then it can last a lifetime. 

“People spend a lot of money on wedding flowers, so it’s a shame if they just go to waste afterwards,” says Narinder. “Everyone likes to be a little different when it comes to their wedding –  to do something special just for them and know nobody else has it. That you can’t replace.”