Have you thought about what to do with your wedding bouquet after your big day? It doesn’t have to go to waste! Judi Gevara, today’s podcast guest, is the founder of Bloomsake—a Houston-based flower preservation company that offers an array of keepsakes made from sentimental flowers from any occasion! And Judi is here to help you make the most of your wedding flowers, even if your wedding was a decade ago! If you dried your flowers or if you are still wedding planning, let Judi help you find the best way to turn your florals into a statement piece in your home that will bring you joy for years to come!
Meet Judi.
I have a floral preservation business named Bloomsake. Basically what we do is we turn your flowers into a forever keepsake. We mainly work with brides, but of course we work with everyone. We have different options that you can choose from – anywhere from a tray of floral blog, wine, stoppers, coasters, all the fun stuff. We preserve your flowers and turn them into those little fun keepsakes.
So how did this even start? When did you even decide to get into this?
I’ve always been in the wedding industry; I used to manage a Bridal Salon and sell wedding dresses. When I was working there, chatting with brides and their moms, we would always talk about how wedding flowers are so expensive, and you spend a lot of money on them – but really only get to enjoy them for that one day. So, I wanted to find a way to help my brides with this problem. I even reached out to florists to see if anyone offered preservation services. But it wasn’t super common when I started doing this.
I went to fashion school and took a bunch of art classes. One of them was working with resin. So when I was researching ideas for preserving flowers, I realized you could make resin jewelry with flowers and I thought if that was the case, you should be able to do that with larger products. So, I started messing around and got really good at it. I started preserving my friends’ flowers. Everyone just started falling in love with their pieces and the word spread. That was around the beginning of COVID, so I decided to quite my full-time job and focus mainly on flower preservation. And here we are today!
I love it. If you hop on Judi’s website, you can see all the visuals of what she’s talking about. I’m even looking at it right now. And I’m just loving the wine stoppers. What better favors or gifts for people you love. There’s paperweights, coasters… all sorts of products we’ll talk about today.
The smaller pieces are definitely perfect for bridesmaids or groomsmen’s gifts or something for your special loved ones to have from the day of your wedding.
Take me through this process. You’ve gotten married and you’re looking at your bouquet the next day. What do we do with it
We have two options. We are in Houston, Texas so if you’re local, you can drop off your bouquet. If you’re not, that’s okay. We’ll actually send you detailed packing instructions to show you how to pack your flowers, so they’ll arrive safely to our studio.
Perfect. So, basically you can serve as anyone no matter where they’re at?
Yep, that’s correct.
Is there a certain timeframe of when a bride needs to get their flowers to you? Where’s the sweet spot when we’re dealing with fresh flowers?
Yeah, with fresh flowers, the sooner the better. I always recommend everybody to send their flowers on the Monday right after their wedding. Your flowers might sit wilting if you try to ship them over the weekend. So just send them the Monday afterwards. But, if your wedding is long over and you have the dried flowers sitting at home, you can send those too. We can work with them. As long as your flowers have dried, we can work with them.
Oh, that’s really interesting.
I always say that you’re thinking about a million things during your wedding. And after your wedding, you should just be able to focus and celebrate your new marriage. Always assign the task of packing up your flowers to somebody else, like your maid of honor so that you don’t have to stress about it.
Can you tell me a little bit about different types of products that you do like that you make with the flowers? And what your most popular options are?
We make everything – from the serving trays to coasters. Wine stoppers ring holders… But, I would say our most popular product is our gold handles serving tray. It’s a 12 by 12 square tray with these beautiful gold handles. It just looks so luxurious when it’s done, and it’s just a beautiful piece to have displayed in your living room. You can enjoy your wedding flowers every day.
Why do you think the gold handle tray has become the most popular item that you sell?
I think that the look of it is very luxurious. It’s something that is a bit more functional than just putting it on your wall. You can display it on a table in your living room or your dining room, wherever and it just has that you know added a luxurious look to it.
What about custom pieces? Have you ever had requests – what do you do with that?
I mean, everything is a custom piece, just because everybody has a different style of flowers. But I had somebody reach out to me who wanted to preserve a bagel. I think that was the most custom and fun piece that I’ve ever worked with. Her husband used to own a bagel shop. And unfortunately, it closed down during COVID. However, they had a bunch of frozen bagels leftover and for his 50th birthday, she wanted to surprise him with a bagel block. So, I think that was the most festive and fun piece that I’ve ever worked with.
So, I’m laughing right now because I was not expecting for you to hit me with a custom bagel project. The sky’s clearly the limit here!
Yeah, I mean, hey, if we can do it, then I would love to do it. I feel like that’s the fun part of my job: seeing the different pieces and products we can make out of resin.
Now, at the time, when you opened the business, you said that you were one of the only ones who was doing this. Has that changed in your industry since then?
Yeah, so at the time, I started playing around with resin, preserving flowers around the end of 2018. But I didn’t make this into a business until 2020. But when I started, I didn’t see this style of preservation around. As time went on, Tik Tok and Reels definitely played a part in expanding the art and this type of preservation. So now you do see people trying to do this more and more.
What do you think sets you apart from others doing this?
I think what sets me apart is my years of experience. I know a lot of people you know are big DIYers and DIY their piece and work with resin. But with resin is that you do need to have experience and do it correctly, otherwise it can become a hazard and a bit dangerous. If you mix too much, it can have a chemical smell. But anyway, I think that my years of experience set me apart.
What is someone looking at from a price point when it comes to preserving their bouquet?
Resin preservation isn’t cheap because resin is not really a cheap material. And it also takes a long time to finish up a piece because our process is time consuming. When preserving flowers, we have to make sure they’re fully dry before casting them in resin. Resin and water don’t mix well! So, we have to dry out the flowers first (if they aren’t already) and that can take a few weeks. Then the resin casting can take 2-3 weeks depending on the piece(s) you’ve chosen. All of that is reflected in our pricing, plus materials. For example, our trays run anywhere from $550 to $700. Our smaller pieces can go from $50-$150 depending on what you pick. Everything is handmade and made with so much love – and I think that really reflects in our pieces. But that’s why they’re priced the way that they are.
I love it, and you’re making something very special for a couple. Do you think there are flowers that preserve better than others?
So one thing about flower preservation is that we have to make sure that the flowers are dry before passing them into resin, like I mentioned. The thing about drying flowers is that a lot of flowers change colors whenever you dry them, which is really cool. For example, red roses dry out and become burgundy. They’re beautiful. Same with white roses, they actually dry into more of a cream color. So, some flowers might not be exactly the colors that you picked or how they looked the day of your wedding. But they’re still the same flowers from your wedding and now they’ve been preserved! I always love preserving peonies.
Interesting. Why are peonies your favorite flowers to preserve? I know they’re a popular flower for weddings anyway!
I think it’s just the flower itself. Personally, peonies are one of my favorite flowers. But I think the way that they turn out when they are dried and the way that they look inside a preservation piece make them the star of the show. They just stand out so beautifully, especially with darker colors or pink peonies. They just look so beautiful whenever we cast them in resin.
Is there a particular flower that you can’t work with?
I haven’t found a flower that’s an absolute no. Things like chrysanthemums or daises that have delicate smaller flower petals can be hard to preserve, because they’re such small petals. It’s hard for them to dry out and not fall apart. But we figure it out. I’ve glued petals back on, depending on how many petals came off. But I would say it’s more challenging to work with flowers that have little petals and a lot of petals like that.
You said you started in the bridal industry before doing this. Do you see any connection between wedding dress and the florals you’re preserving?
I think the connection is more of the styles. Last year, I was seeing more classic styles and those tie into the wedding dresses that bride choose. Now I’m seeing more colorful flowers. Brides are doing more of a wildflower look – more whimsical. I think that ties into the style of the dresses and wedding day they plan.
Do people see proofs of their products when working with you? How does that work?
Yeah, so we actually have that option for some pieces. For some of the smaller pieces, it’s a little hard for us to do a proof and approve, because with the molds that we use. But we do have options for proofs if customers want one. But many of them trust us because they’ve researched and see what we’ve done in the past. They understand our overall style and have an idea of how it’s going to all turn out. Most of our clients just let us do our thing.
I was going to say that I think part of the beauty is to see what you make with their flowers. I mean, it’s the same thing with a bouquet, right? I mean, I’m sure they sent all the inspiration to their florist. But ultimately, the day of your wedding is a day that your bouquets presented to you.
Yes, exactly. And we always tell our customers that we can’t guarantee the use of every single flower. Some flowers ship beautifully and some just don’t make it through the shipping process. It’s the same with the drying process. We tend to pick the flowers that look the best when we go to create the product.
Wrap-Up Question
What are some key points that couples should be asking if they are thinking about preserving their flowers to ensure that they are working with a professional company, and that they get the results that they’re looking for?
Do your research. Look at the company’s social media sites and website to make sure their work aligns with your style – and that they have experience.
Check for reservation options. Some floral preservation companies require a reservation weeks or months in advance. They only take a certain amount of work. So that’s something to pay close attention to. We don’t have that requirement but, some companies do.
Think about the timeline. Make sure that their timeline is something you can work with. Because I know there’s a lot of times that a bride purchases smaller pieces and wants to give them as gifts. If you’re wanting your final products sooner, that’s definitely something to consider.
What We Discussed
Meet Judi (1:04)
Timelines for flower preservation (7:55)
Cost of flower preservation (11:07)
Trends for flowers (19:23)
Wrap-Up Question (22:31)
Links Mentioned in the Episode
Find Bloomsake: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest
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