How to Preserve Whole Flowers and Wedding Bouquets in Resin: DIY Guide

Before You Start: Practice and Photograph the Bouquet

Wedding flowers are one of a kind. There is no reversing a mistake once resin has cured around them. Before you touch the actual bouquet, buy similar flowers from a florist and run through the full process first: drying, arranging inside a mould, and pouring in layers. With whole flower blocks you are managing multiple layers, larger volumes of resin, and the unpredictable behaviour of dense botanical material, so practicing on flowers with no sentimental value is genuinely important, not just a precaution.

Before you begin drying, photograph the bouquet from multiple angles. Those photos become your reference for recreating the arrangement inside the mould. While you are looking at the flowers, select only undamaged stems. Resin can seep into bruised or torn petals and make them go translucent, which is especially noticeable in roses and other densely layered blooms. Cast the ones that survived the day intact.

Before working with your wedding bouquet, watch the Craft Resin flower preservation tutorial to familiarise yourself with the preparation and casting process.

How to Dry Whole Flowers and Roses for Resin

To preserve the three-dimensional shape of roses, peonies, and other wedding bouquet flowers, use silica gel rather than pressing. Pressing flattens the blooms, making it unsuitable for whole-flower resin blocks.

Place the flowers in an airtight container with silica gel crystals, gently covering the petals without crushing their shape. Drying typically takes 3 to 7 days, although larger, densely layered flowers may take longer. Make sure each flower is completely dry before casting, as trapped moisture can cause discolouration and cloudiness in the finished resin block.

Once dry, carefully remove any remaining silica gel with a soft brush. If you are not casting immediately, store the flowers in an airtight container with extra desiccant to protect them from moisture.

For detailed drying instructions, including how to check whether flowers are ready for resin, read our how to dry flowers for resin guide.

Deep Pour or Arts and Crafts for a Bouquet Block?

For a full bouquet block, Craft Resin Deep Pour is the correct formula. This is a technical requirement, not just a preference. Craft Resin Arts and Crafts is designed for layers up to 6mm / ¼ inch. Pour it deeper than that and the heat generated during curing spikes sharply, which can bleach delicate petals, cause yellowing throughout the block, or produce cracking.

Craft Resin Deep Pour handles layers up to 50mm / 2 inches in large open moulds. Its lower mixed viscosity of 600 cps at 25°C / 77°F means the resin flows freely around stems, petals, and leaves without trapping air pockets, and surface bubbles rise and pop on their own without any torching. The working time of approximately 1 hour gives you enough time to arrange flowers precisely before the resin begins to thicken.

The one exception is small whole flowers in shallow moulds where the pour depth stays within 6mm. For those projects, Craft Resin Arts and Crafts works well. Take a look at our guide to casting small flowers in moulds for that approach.

For a full technical breakdown of how Deep Pour performs with botanical material, read the Craft Resin Deep Pour formula guide.

Shop Craft Resin Deep Pour for bouquet blocks and whole flower castings.

Step by Step: Pouring a Bouquet Block in Layers

Building a bouquet block in layers keeps the flowers in position, controls the exothermic reaction, and gives you a cleaner result than any single large pour attempt.

Pour a thin base layer (Arts and Crafts)

Mix Craft Resin Arts and Crafts at 1:1 by volume and pour a thin 2 to 3mm layer into the base of the mould. Allow it to reach gel state before adding any flowers. This typically takes 12 to 18 hours. The surface should feel slightly tacky but leave no fingerprint. This base layer gives the arrangement something to rest against and prevents air from working upward through the mould base when the Deep Pour goes on top.

Arrange the flowers

Use the photographs you took before drying to recreate the bouquet inside the mould.

Start with the largest roses and other focal flowers, positioning them so their best sides face the front of the finished block. Arrange smaller blooms and foliage around them, leaving enough space for resin to flow between the petals and stems.

Check the arrangement from different angles before pouring. Large flowers may shift or float in liquid resin, so make sure they are supported and securely positioned.

Seal the flowers (Arts and Crafts)

Once the flowers are in position, brush or pour a thin covering of Arts and Crafts resin directly over the petals and stems. This seals the tiny air pockets that remain inside dried botanical material. Without this step, those pockets expand when warm Deep Pour resin reaches them and create bubbles that appear to come from nowhere. Let this layer reach gel state before continuing.

Add the Deep Pour layers

Mix Craft Resin Deep Pour at 2:1 by volume (two parts resin to one part hardener). Pour slowly from one corner of the mould, letting the resin rise naturally around the flowers rather than pouring directly onto delicate petals from height. Stay within the layer limit for your mould: up to 50mm / 2 inches in a large open mould, and less in narrower or more enclosed forms. Do not torch Deep Pour. Pop surface bubbles with a toothpick or blow gently through a straw. Cover loosely and allow 18 to 24 hours before the next layer.

Pour each subsequent Deep Pour layer during the tacky window of the previous one (18 to 24 hours after each pour, when the surface is sticky but leaves no fingerprint). Continue until all the flowers are encapsulated and the block has reached its full height.

Craft Resin Deep Pour typically cures in 48–72 hours under recommended conditions, while full mechanical strength develops over approximately 21 days.

Watch how to preserve a dried flower using Craft Resin Deep Pour to see the pouring technique in action.

Expert Tips from Simona, SimosArts

We asked Simona, the resin artist behind SimosArts, to share what she has learned from preserving whole flowers and wedding bouquets. Simona runs her handmade business from Italy together with her husband Elio. She started working with resin during the pandemic, and her focus is transforming flowers with sentimental value into permanent pieces that people can keep and treasure. You can find her work at @simosarts.

1. Start drying immediately. Begin the drying process as soon as possible, before petals have a chance to wilt or turn brown. Drying preserves whatever condition the flowers are in when you start, and it cannot reverse damage that has already happened.
2. Choose the right silica gel setup. Gently cover the flowers without crushing the petals. Use an airtight container and silica gel that is ready to absorb moisture. This makes a real difference to colour and shape retention compared to leaving flowers to air dry.
3. Be patient with drying. Residual moisture is the main cause of cloudiness and discolouration. Drying times vary by flower type and size, so do not rush. Store fully dried flowers in an airtight container with extra desiccant until you are ready to pour.
4. Test colour before you commit. Flowers can shift shade during drying and may look darker or more translucent inside resin than you expect. Test a spare petal first, especially with dyed flowers, as strong colours can bleed into the resin.
5. Protect the finished piece. Keep finished resin blocks away from direct sunlight to help slow fading and protect the colour over time.

Common Problems with Whole-Flower Blocks

Flowers floating to the surface. Large roses and other whole flowers can float, tilt or move out of position as liquid resin fills the mould, disrupting the original wedding bouquet arrangement. To reduce movement, position the largest blooms on a tacky Arts and Crafts base layer and make sure they are adequately supported before adding Deep Pour. Pour slowly around the flowers rather than directly onto the petals. Check the arrangement from the front and sides between layers, especially if the finished block will be displayed from multiple angles. Do not add the next layer until the flowers are stable.

Bubbles around petals and stems. Dried flowers still hold tiny air pockets inside their structure. The Arts and Crafts seal coat over the flowers before the Deep Pour layer closes those pockets before they can expand. For more on managing bubbles, read how to achieve bubble-free epoxy resin projects.

Cloudiness throughout the block. Deep Pour cloudiness is usually microbubbles caused by resin that is too cold before mixing. Warm both bottles in a warm water bath for 10 minutes before you begin. Some artists working with large flower castings also use a pressure pot to release microbubbles before casting.

Flowers going dark or brown. This almost always means moisture was still present when the flowers were cast. There is no fixing it once the resin has cured. Read the how to dry flowers for resin guide for how to check flowers are fully ready before casting.

Yellowing or cracking. Using Craft Resin Arts and Crafts for a pour deeper than 6mm causes excessive heat during curing, which produces yellowing and can cause cracking. Always match the formula to the depth of the project.

Memorial and Funeral Flowers

The same preservation method can be used for funeral flowers and memorial arrangements, allowing meaningful blooms to become lasting resin keepsakes. Begin drying the flowers as soon as possible to help preserve their shape and colour, then follow the same layered casting process using Craft Resin Deep Pour. For more ways to create personalised remembrance pieces, explore our memorial resin projects.

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