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Floral Preservation Process
***Please note that the entire floral preseration process from start to finish will take approximately 4-5 months, depending on how many items are in your order as well as the time of year.
1. DEPOSIT
Fruit Of The Bloom Boutique would love nothing more than to preserve your special botanicals, but we have limited space in our studio. Please contact us via the "book your preservation" page on the website to make sure your date is available. Provided your date is available, we'll ask that you make a $100 deposit (nonrefundable) to officially reserve your special day!
2. DESIGN FORM + CONTRACT
Fruit Of The Bloom Boutique will then send you a vendor contract as well as a design form / questionnaire to learn more about you, your flowers and your unique aesthetic and help us pull together an accurate quote for your order. Changes can be made to your preservation order until your event date.
If you’re unsure of what preservation items to choose, contact us, and we’d be happy to make recommendations based on your flowers and one-of-a-kind aesthetic. And feel free to explore our Instagram for inspiration!
3. DROP OFF, PICK UP SERVICE OR SHIP
Most of our clients are local and prefer to drop off their bouquets at our home studio in North Hollywood at a previously arranged day and time. If you live in or near Los Angeles, Ventura or Orange County (within 50 miles of 91606), we can arrange for a flat-rate of $75 to pick up your flowers.
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If you would prefer to ship your flowers, Fruit Of The Bloom Boutique will send you detailed instructions on how best to package and send us your flowers so they stay hydrated and safe. The fresher the better, but flowers should be overnighted or sent next day. Please note: shipping your flowers is an added cost.
Regardless of how we receive your flowers, your balance must be paid in full by your event date before we can move forward with your project.​
4. DECONSTRUCT & DRY
Once we receive your flowers, we will select and trim the freshest blooms and greenery to dry and preserve.
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Next, your fresh flowers will carefully be buried in silica sand, where they will remain for an average of 4 weeks, depending on the type of flowers.
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Please note that unless specifically requested, we do not save any leftover flowers from your bouquet.
5. DESIGN
Once your blooms are unearthed from their “slumber” in the silica sand, they are cleaned, and any petals that may have fallen off during the drying process, are reassembled and reattached.
Fruit of the Bloom’s expert designer will then create and share with you two mock-ups for each Bouquet Block, based upon the design preferences selected in your order form. We do not provide mock-ups for Artwork Additions as many of them are designed upside down. Dried flowers are fragile, so it’s important we limit the amount of handling and back and forth on layouts. You have commissioned Fruit of the Bloom Boutique based on our previous work, so please allow our artists to do what they do best.
6. CAST & CURE
Your flowers will then be placed in their mold(s), and Fruit Of The Bloom Boutique's high-quality epoxy resin is slowly and carefully poured over them every other day, layer by thin layer, until the blooms are completely covered. This process is calling "casting."
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Your pieces are then removed from their molds and left to finish curing for a couple of weeks.
7. FINISH
Once curing is complete, your items are trimmed, sanded, wet-sanded, topcoated, flood-coated and/or polished over a period of a couple of weeks. This step can be tedious and time-intensive, as sometimes we'll need to repeat a top or flood coat a few times - perhaps due to a speck of dust or an unforseen bubble.
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This step is what really sets apart professional preservation artists from hobbyists and cannot be rushed. It is what will make your floral keepsake truly (and literally!) shine.
8. ENJOY
Then, your stunning floral artwork is photographed, cleaned one final time carefully boxed up in Fruit Of The Bloom’s custom-designed, eco-friendly packaging. We will reach out at this stage to arrange a pick-up appointment time at the Fruit Of The Bloom Boutique studio.
Alternatively, we can deliver your order for the flat rate of $75, provided you live within 50 miles of 91606.
If you prefer we ship your order, we will send you a separate invoice for the cost of shipping (with insurance), which will need to be paid before we send through your order.
9. SHARE
Word of mouth is SO important to a small business, and we would greatly appreciate your reviews. Contact us, or tag us on Instagram @FruitOfTheBloomBoutique and show us how you are displaying your floral keepsakes, reminding you of your special event and/or person every single day.
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Better yet: refer us to your friend and/or submit your review with photos to our Google Business profile lined to below... Thanks so much in advance!