How Long Wedding Bouquets Hold Up Out of Water?

I recently posted a cascading bouquet on my social media to share my 5 tips how to create a loose and airy cascading bouquet.

I was focusing on sharing the tips, rather than the types of flowers when I created this cascading bouquet, however I have received some questions about how long the flowers hold up out of water for weddings, so I wanted to share my thoughts on this today.

I used Tulips, Anemones, Ranunculus, Spray Carnations, Spireas, Poppies, and Polemonium reptans for this cascading bouquet.

Carnations, Tulips, Anemones, and Ranunculus hold up well out of water, so that we can use them for wristlet corsages or hair pieces. And if you condition Poppies and Spireas properly using burning or hot water techniques, they can stay fresh longer.

I wouldn’t recommend to use Polemonium reptans for weddings, instead, Butterfuly Ranunculus or Sweetpeas would be great alternative flowers to give a nice movement and softness.

The number of hours the bouquet can remain fresh out of water depends on the environment, weather, and how the bouquet is cared for during the event.

If the wedding is held indoors and a wedding planner or someone else puts the bouquet in water regularly when the bride is not holding it, it will definitely last longer than a bouquet left in the sun without water for a couple of hours.

When I meet with brides, I make sure to ask where the photoshoot will take place, and when the photoshoot and ceremony will start. I constantly check the weather and temperature as the wedding approaches. If it looks like it will be hot and the wedding will be outside, I will switch some of the delicate flowers to stronger flowers.

I also encourage people to keep the bouquets in water, under the shade or inside the building as much as possible when they are not in use. It’s even better if the wedding planner or a bridesmaid can help recut the stems and put the bouquets in water.

The links below have very useful information for proper conditioning each flower. Giving flowers proper conditioning will help the bouquet hold up better. If you are curious, please check them out!

1. Conditioning Flowers for Floral Arrangements from The garden club of brookfield in CT
2. This Easy Trick Is the Secret to Getting Fragile, Finicky Poppy Flowers To Stay Fresh Longer from Southern Living