Services:
Established:	1998
Accepts:

Bridal Bouquet Preservation and All Occasion Flower Preservation are our specialties at Waterford Past-Thymes. We use the oldest, most reliable method, perfected by the newest techniques and ten years of experience. Pressing, framing and preserving your bridal bouquet (or ANY "special occasion" flowers) is a timeless way to celebrate a precious memory! 
 Waterford Past-Thymes presses, preserves and custom frames your Bridal Bouquet (which may include your invitation). We also do the attendants’ bouquets (answers the everlasting "what shall I get my attendants?" question), corsages of the mothers or grandmothers of the bride or groom or any other special wedding flowers. These are the most thoughtful and unique gifts for the Bridal Party. In addition, if you want to give a "pre-wedding" flower preservation gift, as in a shower gift, rehearsal dinner, or bridesmaid luncheon gifts..... Waterford Past-Thymes offers free personalized (to your specifications) lovely gift certificates.
We prepare the flowers with a process that presses and preserves the ENTIRE flower, we do NOT "re-build" the flower, but most importantly, this process destroys any organisms that could harm the color or integrity of the flower. One may opt to have their wedding flowers surround their invitation or photo etc. Ribbon, fabric from your dress or veil, the groom’s boutonnière etc may also be added (at no additional cost to you).
The final process layers foam core, batting, the fabric/color of choice, arrangement of choice, pressed behind preservation quality glass, in the frame of choice.  
To further customize your preservation, we lay out the client’s flowers in a few different frames, arrangements, fabric colors etc, take digital photos, and email the images to the client for "approval", before the final construction.   
Our company motto is:"The possibilities are limited only by your imagination" and we firmly endorse the concept. We are always open to all suggestions and we welcome special orders! 
Note: As you view our portfolio, you may hold the cursor over the photo for a drop-down description  

Holly Heider Chapple Flowers LTd.	I absolutely love working with Betty and Waterford Past-Thymes. Their technique and design is absolutely amazing. I am so happy to know that my brides can have their bouquets with them forever.
Black Horse Inn	Beautiful floral perservation for that special bouquet on that special day! Enoy the beauty of your wedding bouquet for a lifetime! Beautiful bouquets preserved for beautiful brides!

 Will the colors of the flowers fade?

During the pressing process the color of some flowers, particularly white flowers, soften and become a pale ivory. Some bright reds become a muted burgundy. This does not detract from the beauty of the final work, it actually enhances it. However, the majority of flowers stay the same vibrant color nature intended.  

Can I display my pressed art anywhere?

Although all efforts to reduce the harsh effects of DIRECT sunlight have been taken, as with any fine art work, it is generally considered unwise to display your pressed flowers in direct sunlight indefinitely.

 

If I am interested how far in advance do I need to place my order?

 

Ideally, we prefer to schedule your work as early as possible. However, because our process does not take months to complete, your order may be placed as late as two weeks prior to your special occasion. Although, if need be, we will try to accommodate last minute orders. Having said that...the majority of our orders are placed AFTER the event, usually by the poor mother. We HAVE NEVER turned anyone away! Although, highly not recommended, we have successfully preserved a bouquet (it was a Holly Heider Chapple bouquet!) up to TWO weeks after the wedding.  

Why is a telephone consultation necessary?

We feel strongly that there is no margin for error when we are working with items that are irreplaceable to you! Therefore, we must speak directly to our clients rather than to rely solely on written communication. Individual service is our top priority, so we find it imperative to operate on a one-to-one basis. However, for our local clients, we prefer to personally meet with them in our Waterford office, when possible.

Do you offer "freeze-dried" flower preservation?

Several different methods can be used to preserve flowers. It has been our experience that freeze-dried flowers prove to be a disappointment, as they may crumble and deteriorate with time. However, flower pressing has been a reliable way to preserve flowers since the Victorian Age! Our newly developed techniques further ensure that your flowers will become keepsakes for generations to come.

      What is the expected completion time?

Our estimated completion time is approximately three to four weeks from the date we receive your flowers and/or mementos OR from the date we have confirmed your frame choices, arrangement etc..

      Why does Waterford Past-Thymes offer a shipping box for their non-local wedding clients?

Weddings are frequently on Saturday afternoon, so, the flowers, very often, cannot be shipped until Monday and received by us on Tuesday. Therefore, we need to provide the safest possible environment for what we regard as "time-sensitive" flowers. As always, we try to make it as easy as possible for the harried bride!


Why does Waterford Past-Thymes mount the flowers on fabric?

It was actually suggested to us by one of our first clients. We were so impressed we began using fabric routinely. Combined with the batting behind it, which enables the piece to slightly "give", using fabric enables us to include items such as pearls on the stems, or trailing from the bouquet, pearls in stephanotis, and rhinestone or pearl sprays.

What is the final cost?

Waterford Past-Thymes prices are all inclusive. Every one hates to buy something for one price and by the time you actually purchase it..you find you’ve paid twice as much for "shipping and handling, labor, consultations etc.".  Our cost IS final. We require $100.00 deposit to accept the bouquet, the balance required before final delivery. The cost is determined by the size of the finished piece. Ranging from $259.00 for our 8x10 to $328.00 for our 16x20.  This includes a free gift certificate (if needed),  free consultation in our office or by phone,  free image demos for your decision-making and free delivery of the finished product. There are no hidden fees....if you decide on our 12x16 which is $288.00, you will make your $100.00 deposit and upon completion, regardless if you’ve decided on a custom frame or included your invite, boutonnière etc., your balance is still $188.00....end of statement. 

 

 

                                                      Newspaper article about us May 9, 2001:

                                                                  Preserving flowers for lifetime

Betty Franzen and daughter-in-law Melissa Franzen enjoy providing a personal touch while meeting needs for pressed and preserved flowers through their business, Waterford Past-Thymes. "One of the things we’ve noticed is we need to speak to people," she explained. "It has to be a one-on-one kind of thing, because we’re dealing with something that’s irreplaceable."

Their process requires that the flowers be received as soon as possible after the event. "It’s a two-step process we devised, but the urgency is getting the flowers quickly," she said. "Then the bride, at her leisure, often weeks later, can pick out the frame and background and tell us what she wants to include." Often brides will want a bouquet replicated in terms of shape, she said, so they photograph and print a picture of the bouquet with a digital camera. They take notes on how many of each kind of flowers the original bouquet had, as well as the colors of the ribbon, pearls etc. "Then, when you get ready to reassemble it, you have the picture beside you and you work from the picture," she explained. "You replicate almost the exact same shape. We make it look exactly as it did when it was a bouquet." Betty said that while they have looked into a freeze-drying process that allows flowers to keep their dimensions, somewhat, it comes at the cost of durability, lasting, reportedly, only about five years. We had four clients in our first year preface their order with, "I’d like to preserve my sister/friend’s bouquet as a gift...I don’t want freeze-dried...I had my bouquet freeze-dried X-amount of years ago and it’s falling apart." This was more than enough to quell our interest. "Flower pressing has been around since Victorian times, and pressed flowers last forever," she said. "We had a client, recently, that has her great-grandmother’s pressed, framed wedding bouquet! What wouldn’t you give for something like that? That’s the nice thing about the process. The flowers don’t change once you put them in the frame. Once they’re done, it lasts for generations. These are sealed unbelievably well so that no air can get to them." Melissa and Betty said they both most enjoy making people happy through their business. 
     For pre-arranged local wedding bouquet orders, the ladies will go to a location to pick up the flowers as soon after the event as possible.  In addition to wedding bouquets, they handle flower preservation and enhancements for all occasions. The business offers gift certificates in order to give a flower preservation gift for occasions such as a baby/bridal shower or wedding/attendant gift. "In all honesty, we’ll do anything," Melissa said.  Betty noted that orders are customized to the customer’s wishes. "Whatever people come up with we’ll do," she said. "Nothing’s in stone, and everything’s custom to the nth degree. We also allow people to supply their own frame, if they wish, so if they have an antique frame or whatever, we can use that. That’s what we feel most strongly about -- trying to make things easy for happy people."