Dried and Preserved Flowers for Weddings: When They Beat Fresh

Dried flowers for weddings used to mean dusty potpourri colours. Today they’re a practical choice as much as a style, especially on the coast. A dried arrangement doesn’t wilt in the sun, doesn’t need water, doesn’t bruise in the wind, and is still there on your mantelpiece a year later.

They’re not right for everything, though. This guide covers the difference between dried and preserved flowers, when they beat fresh (and when they don’t), indigenous options that dry well, how to mix dried and fresh, what they cost, and how to look after them.

Dried, preserved, pressed: what’s the difference?

“Dried flowers” covers several quite different preservation methods:

Many dried flowers are also bleached or dyed. That’s fine if you want a particular colour, but if you prefer natural tones, ask for undyed stems.

When dried flowers beat fresh

On windy beaches

On the Eastern Cape coast the wind usually picks up in the afternoon in summer, and soft fresh petals shred in it. That’s why, for beach weddings, Tarika uses dried proteas and grasses: they hold their shape when the wind blows. Our guide to wedding arch ideas covers how to anchor the structure as well.

On hot days

A fresh bouquet can spend two or three hours out of water during the ceremony and photographs, and arch flowers sit in full sun from setup to the last guest. Dried flowers don’t care. They can also be put out hours before the ceremony without wilting.

When you want a keepsake

A dried bouquet is the keepsake. There’s no rush to preserve it after the wedding, and the arrangements from the tables can go home with family.

When you need to prepare ahead

Dried arrangements can be made weeks before the wedding, which helps if you’re doing some décor yourselves or the wedding is far from where the flowers are being made.

When fresh is still better

• Scent. Most dried flowers have little.
• Soft, lush looks. Big, blowsy garden roses and peonies lose much of their softness and volume when dried.
• Near candles. Dried flowers and grasses catch fire easily. Keep them well away from open flames.
• Damp places. Dried flowers go limp and can go mouldy in damp air or rain. In wet weather, keep them under cover.

Indigenous flowers that dry well

South Africa’s own flowers include some excellent drying flowers, and using them avoids importing dried stems from elsewhere.

• Proteas. The king protea air-dries well and keeps its dramatic shape, though the colours soften as it dries.
• Everlastings (sewejaartjies). The white everlasting (Syncarpha vestita), with white heads from late October to January, is widely used in the dried-flower trade: the heads are simply hung up to dry. The pink everlasting (Phaenocoma prolifera) has bright pink papery bracts from September to January.
• Leucadendrons. Grown for their colourful bracts and woody cones; ask your florist which ones they’ve dried successfully, because varieties differ.
• Restios. The Cape reeds have sturdy stems and papery sheaths that sit naturally with dried arrangements and add height and movement on an arch.

Statice is another classic dried flower with papery heads, but it’s a Mediterranean plant rather than an indigenous one. For seasons and responsible buying, see our guide to proteas and fynbos for weddings. Whatever you use, buy it from a florist or grower; never pick wild flowers, many of which are protected.

Where dried flowers work best on the day

You don’t have to go all-dried. These are the places where dried flowers earn their keep:

• The arch and the aisle, which stand in sun and wind for longest.
• Buttonholes, which are pinned on early in the day and can’t be put back in water.
• Hairpieces and flower crowns, which wilt quickly when fresh and sit right next to warm skin.
• Welcome and signage arrangements, which go out first and come in last.
• Table runners and bud vases at an outdoor reception, where fresh stems would flag by dessert.

Fresh flowers can then go where they’re seen up close and kept in water: the bouquets until the ceremony, and centrepieces in shade or indoors.

How to mix dried and fresh flowers

Mixing gives you the scent and softness of fresh flowers with the reliability of dried. It needs a little planning, because the two have opposite needs: fresh stems want water, dried ones must stay dry.

• Use water tubes for fresh stems tucked into a dried arrangement, hidden among the foliage.
• Build the dried base first, then add the fresh flowers as late as possible on the day.
• Keep the fresh flowers on the sheltered side of an arch or arrangement.
• In bouquets, a few dried stems among fresh flowers add texture and survive if the fresh ones start to tire. Our guide to bridal bouquet styles covers shapes that suit both.

Are dried flowers cheaper than fresh?

Not automatically. You pay for the drying or preserving, good dried stems aren’t cheap, and a large arch arrangement still takes the same design time whether the flowers are fresh or dried.

Where dried flowers save money is in waste and flexibility. Nothing dies before the day, so there’s no spoilage. Arrangements can be made ahead, outside the busy wedding week. And afterwards they can be kept, given away or reused, which fresh flowers can’t.

Looking after dried flowers before and after the wedding

• Store them somewhere dry and dark. Damp makes them limp; sunlight fades the colour.
• Transport them carefully, in boxes with tissue, not loose on a back seat. Dried heads snap off easily.
• Keep them away from heat and flames, from the moment they’re set up to the end of the night.
• Dust gently with a hairdryer on its coolest, lowest setting, held well back.
• Expect them to fade. Colours soften over months and years, and many people like them better that way.

For confetti, dried petals are a better choice than paper, but check the rules at your venue or beach before you throw anything; our guide to wedding traditions and their meanings covers confetti alternatives.

Next steps

Decide where dried flowers will do the most work: usually the arch and aisle on a windy site, then perhaps the bouquets and tables. Choose a palette that suits dried colours, which lean towards cream, blush, rust and sage. Then ask your florist for samples of the actual stems, dried, so there are no surprises.

Tarika does its own flowers and uses dried proteas and grasses for windy beach sites, alongside fresh flowers where they’ll last. You can see what’s included under flowers and styling, or send us your date.