What Is Freeze Drying??

Freeze drying is the method of preserving the freshness of an item when it is processed in a special machine. Freeze drying retains the color, shape, and beauty of flowers, fruits, and vegetables for a long time.

How Long Will The Freeze Dried Flower Last??

While freeze drying does not make the flowers or anything else last forever, it does extend the lifetime of flowers and with proper care the freeze dried arrangement can last to your 50th wedding anniversary and beyond.

How Is The Freeze Drying Process Done??

When we receive your flowers we take a picture of your bouquet. We take your bouquet apart, hydrating each flower and discarding most greenery. Greenery does not freeze dry well. After hydration, we pre-treat each flower with a special solution, according to the type of flower and color of the flower. This stops any further deterioration of the flower. After pre-treat solution is dry, flowers are placed in a holding chamber. It takes 14-21 days for all moisture to be removed, after which we post-treat each flower and let it dry for 24 hours. After a display is chosen, all discarded greenery is replaced with permanent greenery and the display is assembled.

Which Flowers Freeze Dry The Best??

Alstromeria, Aster, Astilbe, Baby's Breath, Birds of Paradise, Boronia Heather, Callas, Calycina, Carnation, Daffodil, Delphinium, Freesia, Gardenia, Gerbera Daisy, Ginger, Godetia, Gladiolus, Heath, Hyacinth, Hydrangea, Iris, Larkspur, Leptospermum, Liatris, Lisianthus, Lilly of the Valley, Lily, Limonium, Monte casino, Orchids, Queen Anne's Lace, Rice Flower, Rose, Snapdragons, Solidago, Statice, Stephanotis, Stock, Sweet William, Sunflower, Tuber Rose, Tulip, Wax Flower, Yarrow

Maintenance

With freeze dried arrangements, you will need to pay careful attention to their environment to ensure lasting beauty. As with anything with color, it will fade if placed in too much direct light or sunlight. Keep the display away from windows and lamps. Do not hang above a fireplace. They should also be protected from animals, moisture, dust, air vents, insects, and curious hands of all sizes. Freeze dried flowers are no longer pliable and cannot endure handling.

Maximum Protection

To extend the lasting effects of freeze drying and secure your treasure from the elements discussed above, we recommend that the flowers be protected in a display case, dome, or other enclosure. We offer a variety of case in a wide range of materials and prices.

Note: Even though we do freeze dry only and a display enclosure is not required, Beautiful Keepsakes does not guarantee the longevity of flowers once they are in the customer's possession if an enclosure is not purchased.

How To Prepare Flowers To Bring To Beautiful Keepsakes??

• To properly prepare a bouquet for transport to us, there are a few steps you must follow.
• As soon as the bouquet is no longer needed for pictures, it needs to be removed so that the flowers remain as fresh as possible and no damage is done to them.
• If there is no water source for the flowers, such as a hand wrap where all of the stems come down to make the handle, place the entire bouquet in a vase of water as soon as possible until packaging can be completed.

Packaging

• Where no water source exists, snip stems 1" from the bottom under running tepid water.
• If the bouquet is in a holder, sprinkle the bouquet generously with tepid water.
• Place bouquet in a plastic bag. If the bouquet is in a vase of water place the entire vase in the plastic bag.
• Gather the top of the bag and breathe into the bag to inflate it and twist tie the bag closed.
• Place in refrigerator. DO NOT PUT IN FREEZER.
• Remove bouquet from refrigerator and , leaving all packaging intact, and bring immediately to Beautiful Keepsakes.
• If the weather is extremely hot and you will be in the car for more than 20 minutes, take an ice pack and lay in the bottom of a cooler and place packaged flowers on top of ice pack to transport.