The Bride Diaries. Millie’s Making Confetti

This past weekend one of my best friends in the whole world got married. It was a dream wedding, incredibly chic and understated, just the way she wanted it. I was in charge of confetti for their exit and the Bride’s mother and family friends had collected flowers from their gardens to give out.

It was so lovely to collect from the guests as they left and share out amongst everyone that it got me thinking about our nuptials. Now because we are marrying in April, there are not a lot of flowers poking about in the gardens of our friends and family so I realised I would need to start collecting this summer, and ideally, right now. So I have. And I have tried out three methods of drying.

Picking and Sun Drying

This is useful if your flowers are already a little tired and some petals are falling. All you do is pick off the petals from the main stems, put them on a dish or tray and leave on a sunny window sill.

Be careful though because if you have too many in your tray or it’s not as sunny as you had hoped, this can turn into a lesson in compost making – not the desired effect although equally useful.

Oven Bake

This is a great method if you have limited time and can be done the day before your wedding. I have been using this method the most because I can store the dried petals much more easily and quickly.

Again, pick off the petals from your flowers – or if they are very little flowers like daisies they can be popped in whole – and place on a baking paper lined tray and cook at 95 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes until dry and crispy. If your flowers are from a shop, be careful to make sure they are clean of pesticides and bug free!

Upside Down Hanging

This is definitely the most stress-free option but requires at least a week’s notice.

Gather your flowers into a bunch with an elastic band at the base. Pop a peg through part of the elastic band. Peg your flowers upside down onto a curtain rail or in an airing cupboard so they have lots of air flowing around.

Pretty Packaging

Once your petals are dry you can put them all together in a basket or divide up into little pockets/envelopes – origami paper is a good choice for paper cups as its already cut down into little squares and comes in lovely bright patterns and colours.

Be warned however, should your petals get wet again once it has been dried, it has been known to bleed through paper or, heavens forbid, a wedding dress! Although this is only if the confetti is actually soggy.

Further Reading

• How To Preserve Your Wedding Bouquet
• How To Plan A DIY Wedding
• DIY Tissue Paper Tassel Garland Tutorial
• DIY Naked Wedding Cake Tutorial