5 Ways To Recycle Your Wedding Flowers

It’s the end of your reception and the venue staff are cleaning up, but the tables are strewn with beautiful roses and baby’s breath – where do these blooms go? Unfortunately, instead of looking at ways to Recycle Your Wedding Flowers, all too often the answer is the rubbish bin.

Unlike other styling elements, you can’t simply hire flowers for the night, but with a bit of planning, you can find a way to give your blooms a second life.

Written by Lucy Mackay

1. Give Them To Your Guests

A simple way to maximise the use of your luscious bridal bouquet and wedding centrepieces is to send them home with your guests. Depending on the sort of floral arrangements you have, your wedding guests might simply be able to take a bunch on their way out. If you have wedding flowers that aren’t so portable, consider nominating one of your more creative guests to break down larger bouquets into easily-carried posies. You can even set up a small flower-making station near the wedding reception door with some wet paper towels, wax paper and string. This way, your guests can take home a little piece of your wedding.

2. Make Someone’s Day

Everyone loves to receive a gift of flowers, and a very wholesome way to recycle your wedding flowers is to donate them to a nursing home or a hospital. This requires a little bit of planning, because you’ll need to check ahead about the rules and restrictions of your chosen institution. Designate one of your bridal party to parcel up the flowers and drop them off the next day. Just be sure to check they’re in good condition – and most wedding flower arrangements will be if they were prepared fresh.

3. Make Them Last 

Many Perth brides choose to preserve their wedding bouquets, and there are so many ways you can do this, including freeze-drying, casting in metal or resin, or encasing in glass. An easy way to do it at home is tie the stems tightly together and hang your bridal bouquet upside down in a dry, dark environment for a few weeks. You can also select a some of your favourite wedding blooms to press. If you don’t have a flower-press, don’t worry; just put the flowers in a few layers of paper towels and sandwich them between heavy books.

4. Sweetly Scented

If your wedding flowers are of a variety that will dry well, consider making a few batches of potpourri. Don’t worry if your bridal bouquet isn’t overly fragrant, as you can add vibrant scents with essential oils, cinnamon sticks, or other aromatic elements.

5. Nature’s Way 

Sometimes there’s just no need for wedding flowers anymore, and if this is the case, simply safeguard that they end up in a compost heap. Ensure you remove any traces of plastic or wire, then let nature take its course – you’ll save several bags of rubbish from landfill!