#dryingpetals

Pinterest, ladies, may be a cave of wonders when it comes to wedding ideas and whimsical decor, but you have to remember that thousands of other brides-to-be will be wanting and probably using the exact same things as you. 

It’s a tough pill to swallow but I’ve seen it first hand just in my first year of running weddings. I normally get lost in Pinterest for some time, looking through ideas, photos and simply stunning floral arrangements that make you get giddy. Then the next month I’ll turn up to work and see that this week’s bride has had some very similar ideas. 

The most commonly used accessory to weddings last year was the “Pick a seat, not a side” welcome sign, often written in rustic chalk, painted or stuck to a wooden frame. It’s a great idea so it’s no surprise it was used so much, but for me it’s a little old hat now. 

That’s why I’ve chosen to do little extras for my wedding plans that will hopefully set it apart from the rest and leave a lasting impression on my family and my guests. After all, I don’t want a Pinterest wedding, I want our wedding to stand out because we made it totally ours.

So, that’s why with 10 months to go before my wedding I started making dried rose petals to keep for confetti and to put inside my bridesmaids boxes, invitations and other decorative items.

It’s a super simple but fairly time consuming activity, but it’s totally worth it when you see the results, especially when you can buy a 250g box of the same thing for £2.99 from Waitrose. Insane!

The materials you will need for successful petal drying are: - a Microwave, x2 rolls of standard kitchen roll, as many flat baking trays as you have, a few microwavable plates and storage space to leave petals to finish drying overnight.

Right, first things first, gently pluck all petals from a rose that is fully opened and slightly past its best, beginning with the outside petals and working in. They should come off in your hand quite easily, but be careful not to pull too hard or the petals will easily rip. Do this for all the roses that you have to dry.

Once you have gone right to the inside of the rose you’ll notice how tiny the inside petals are and these ones are perfect for confetti. These tiny little petals also dry differently to the big petals so separate these from the others.

Once you have finished plucking and separating your petals, it’s now time to arrange them for drying. So, get out your first plate and line it with kitchen roll. Then arrange similar sized petals in rows with a little space in between so they don’t get stuck together. I had to use baking paper for mine, which worked well, but I can imagine kitchen roll will work much better.

When that plate is full, plonk it in the microwave on high for 1 minute. While that minute ticks away, carefully arrange another plate with kitchen roll and petals like the first one so it is ready to go in the microwave next.

Once that first minute is up, carefully remove the plate from the microwave using an oven glove (hot!) and set it on a heat proof surface. You will see that the petals have started to dehydrate and will look a bit wrinkly. Check that they aren’t stuck to the kitchen roll and pop them back in for 1 more minute. Afterwards they should be crunchy to touch and smaller in size than their original form.

Repeat this process for the rest of the petals, but remember their size dictates how long they will need to be microwaved for. Smaller petals take longer to dry than larger ones. Always test a couple of petals in your microwave first to make sure that the timescale for microwaving them is correct for your appliance, as they do vary.

As well as that, you’ll need to change your kitchen roll pieces every other time you put it in the microwave as they will eventually stop soaking up moisture from the petals.

Once you’ve finished you will need to leave the petals to dry for another 24 hours on their kitchen roll on baking trays in a cool, dry area in your house. Then you can pack them into air tight containers and they will last until your wedding day.

I used Peach and White roses as you can see, and the colour came out so much better than I expected. I would advise against using very dark colour roses such as blood red or purple as they will most probably turn out black once dried. Light coloured roses or other flowers would look the best using this method.

I hope I have given you some inspiration for personalising your wedding day. It seems silly that you have to personalise your own wedding when you’ll be there, but you have no idea how many weddings come and go that all seemed very similar and very samey, so just bear that in mind ladies - you’re all unique in your own way so show it at your wedding!