I just love my neighborhood and can’t believe I went so long before stopping in. Meeting Lisa Conti of Floral Keepsakes for the first time is like seeing a ray of sunshine peer through the clouds on a rainy day. Her warmth and bright beautiful smile welcomes you as you enter her world of floral beauty.  Just one foot in her door and you’ll be awestruck by all the elegant details there are to experience. Lisa has created a truly beautiful space that shows her passion for preserving wedding (and other) memories that are meant to be treasured for years to come utilizing beautiful containers and shadow boxes in many different styles, shapes and colors. You’ll feel her personality shine through her post below as she’s one of a kind and very down to earth. I hope that if you’re on 7^th Street near her shop, you’ll take just a few moments to pop in and meet her—get a feel for her beautiful talent and work. Looking back on my own wedding I’m saddened that I didn’t take the time to preserve my special memories—my bouquet is gone and the one thing I remember is just how stunning it was. Had I known Lisa at the time, I’d still have it today and it would have been preserved forever. I’m honored that Lisa is a guest on our blog this beautiful Friday in October—it’s with tremendous joy and gratitude that I introduce you to the one and only, Lisa Conti of Floral Keepsakes.

Ever wonder what to do with your bouquet after the wedding? Now you can save your fresh bouquet FOREVER! Oh, “What is the process of freeze-drying?” you ask. 

Lisa Conti of Floral Keepsakes in Phoenix, AZ

Well, it’s not just for food that astronauts eat! Floral Keepsakes uses this state-of-the-art technology to preserve your bouquet’s beauty for a lifetime. Our freeze-drier, along with our talented staff of designers will transform your wedding bouquet into a beautiful work of art.

Most people are not aware that this process exists, but thanks to Kristi of Dreamcicle Studios Photography,  we will explain how it all works in this post. The art of drying flowers has been around for years. Many just hang the flowers upside down from a curtain rod or other areas of the house. The more adventurous type will dry them out using silica sand or gel. This process works okay, but nothing compared to having them freeze-dried. Freeze-drying does not change the cell structure of the flowers, therefore allowing it to retain their color and shape after being dried. How great is that? You will have your bouquet looking as fresh and beautiful as they were on wedding day.

Once dried, they can then be designed into one of our many keepsake containers. We offer a huge selection to choose from. What if you don’t want to save the whole bouquet? Perfect, you can even just preserve a few blooms and make a nice ornament or keepsake box. Our shadow boxes are the most popular with the brides, many of which display other items from their wedding with their bouquet as you’ll see in the images below.

I want it freeze-dried, what do I do?
The most important thing you can do is keep the flowers as fresh as possible until we get them. This does make for busy days on Monday mornings after a weekend full of valley weddings. You may want to designate your wedding coordinator or even an aunt to watch over the bouquet for you to help with the next steps until we receive them.

1.  You’ll need to keep them in water during the reception.

2.  That night give the stems a fresh cut, place them back in the water, mist the flowers, and keep them somewhere cool. A refrigerator is perfect, just make sure that it’s not on the highest setting or touching the sides, you do not want them to freeze.

3.  Bring them into us as soon as possible. The sooner, the better. Some brides call us last minute (as in 3 days after the wedding) in a panic wanting to preserve their bouquet. That’s still okay; we can re-hydrate them or if we need to, replace a few blooms.

Floral Keepsakes offers a pickup service the night of the wedding, or we can meet Sunday at our store by appointment, or drop them off during our regular hours Mon-Sat 10 to 5. The drying process takes about 4-8 weeks. We make this process very easy for you–no need to know what type of display you want when you drop the flowers off, go enjoy your honeymoon and we’ll decide all of that later.

Other services Floral Keepsakes offers:

We also specialize in gown cleaning and Heir-looming as well as framing your wedding gown, custom silk flower designs and our “bling bouquets”. We can’t wait to help with your beautiful Floral Keepsakes–do stop in and see us–we’re ready to preserve your memories that will last a lifetime.

–Lisa C

Here are images of some of Lisa’s amazing creations:

Please “LIKE” us on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/FloralKeepsakesBoutique

Floral Creations: Floral Keepsakes Boutique | 5022 North 7th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85014 | 602-274-3074

Photography: Dreamcicle Studios Photography | 602-625-2006

Dreamcicle Studios Photography: We’re a madly in love husband and wife photography team in the Phoenix-Scottsdale area that loves capturing love more than anything! We photograph new beginnings and completed souls; faces of anticipation, happiness, love. It’s wedding photography designed uniquely for you. We’d love to speak to you about photographing your dream wedding day! Contact us by clicking here.