Fresh Rose Petals

Fresh rose petals can be a great way to add color to your ceremony or wedding. They do have some drawbacks though.

Making

You can obviously get your own petals if you have roses to work with. However, it can be tedious and time consuming, not to mention you need a lot of flowers. For this reason, its usually best to order them from a florist or nursery.

Color and Beauty

If properly refrigerated, they should retain their natural color until they are laid out. After that, they may get 24-48 hours of good color and texture, long enough for most ceremonies. They generally look much better than freeze dried, which can be a little lifeless and pale in some cases.

Another nice thing about fresh is that they will actually float in water much better than dried. Keep this in mind if you have a water centerpiece or other accessories in mind.

Longetivity

You should plan on receiving these no more than two days before your scheduled event. Any earlier, and they will start to wilt and fade. Keep them refrigerated as long as possible and wait until the last possible second to put them out. Since the timing is critical, make sure you have a reliable source. The petals have to be picked, packaged and shipped in order to get to you at the optimum freshness point. Order at least 10 days out to make sure they have the order and can process it in time.

Scent

One of the best parts of these is the scent. They will retain their fragrance for a few days after being plucked.

Cost

They tend to cost much more than dried flowers, up to 3 times as much. This is probably the biggest drawback. Its up to you whether the beauty of fresh petals is worth the cost.