Wedding Confetti

Dried petals make beautiful bio-degradable wedding confetti that most churches and venues are happy for you to use, unlike paper confetti.

I usually use rose petals as I am lucky enough to have these in great abundance, but other flower petals, like delphiniums or even dahlias can also be used.  The key thing is that you need to be careful about the colours used as the colour of a dried petal is not the same as a fresh one. White petals often dry with a brown tinge and don’t look that pretty.  And whilst some pink/red/maroon/purple roses can maintain a lot of their colour like Darcey Bussell others like Munstead Wood can end up looking very dark and brown in colour.  The key is to experiment a bit with the petals you have.

I have used predominantly Wild Edric as the main petal but also a little Gertrude Jekyll and Gentle Hermione.  Pick the rose petals from roses that are just beginning to fade, preferably in the afternoon or evening when the petals are dry.

Then spread the petals out onto a rack to dry.  I place sheets of kitchen roll underneath mine as some of the colour can come off onto the rack.  You will then need to leave them for 3-5 days depending on the temperature and humidity of the room and how many petals you have.  If you have a relatively small amount of petals or wish to speed the process up then you can place the petals on a piece of kitchen roll and microwave for 2 mins to start the drying process off. Once dried the petals can be stored in paper bags away from humidity for several months  if needed.

This is a lovely thing for children to help with, my two young children loved collecting the petals to make the confetti for my sisters wedding – a true flower girl!