What actually goes into preserving your flowers

It's not paper towel and a stack of books. It's a slow, hands-on process that takes months, and every flower in your bouquet is treated a little differently. Here's what happens after you drop yours off.

Red rose petals on a flower press on a wooden surface

Prepping Your Flowers

Depending on the flower, I'll pull each petal off and press them separately, or slice the flower in half lengthways for a side profile. Bulky flowers like snapdragons get fully deconstructed, stems halved, pollen removed where needed.

The trickier flowers need different absorption materials, for example, Orchids need blotting paper, while Lilies need bamboo sheets. Knowing exactly how to press each flower is necessary, otherwise they can brown, lose colour, and in the worst case - get mouldy.

person standing on top of a full flower press

Into the Press

Once your flowers are prepped, they go into a professional flower press.

In my early days I tried the book method, the flowers lost their colour and shape immediately - you couldn't even tell what the flower was.

A professional press gives even, consistent pressure across every petal, and it's strong enough that I can stand on it to compress everything down. The result is drier flowers that maintain their colour and shape.

Stacks of paper with white petals on a flower press

Changing the Papers

Once your flowers are in the press, the papers get changed by hand on a schedule that depends on the flower. High-moisture blooms like lilies and orchids get changed daily for the first 7 days, then sit in the press for another 8-10 weeks. Each round of paper changes can take up to an hour.

Pressed yellow gerbera with petals separate to center. Three petals are stuck back on the flower

Reconstructing the Flowers

Some flowers, like roses and gerberas, get rebuilt petal by petal at the artwork stage. Their centres are too thick to press whole, so I press the petals separately and stick them back together one by one. It's slow work, but it's what keeps the flower looking like itself.

dusting powder onto white rose to correct it from a light brown to bright white

Colour Correcting

White flowers will always brown. I use Pan Pastels to brighten them up again - applied with the lightest brush over each petal, to bring back their brightness without painting over the delicate veining. Every frame also includes UV protection, though all pressed flowers will fade in colour over time.

Person arranging pressed flowers on a white surface with a green cutting mat in the background.

Designing Your Frame

The way I press your flowers depends on the design style you choose at drop-off. A Bouquet Recreation is pressed mostly front-on, keeping each flower as close to its original shape as possible. More artful styles use more side-profile flowers to create movement and flow. You can swap between artful styles after pressing, but it's not possible to switch between a Bouquet Recreation and an artful style once your flowers are in the press.

Once everything is pressed, I'll lay out a general design and send a photo through for your approval before anything is glued down. The finishing accents are left to my creative licence.

Three framed pressed flower artworks, in sizes A2, A3 and A4 on a white surface with a white background

Framing & Delivery

Frames are custom ordered from a local Australian framer, and everything is glued with archival, acid-free glue so the petals stay protected over time. Once your piece is complete, Sydney clients are welcome to collect from the studio, or I can ship Australia-wide.

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