Sarah Woehleke, owner and artist at Wild Petals Boutique, has carved a unique niche in the flower preservation industry. Specializing in preserving wedding bouquets, memorial flowers, and other sentimental blooms, Woehleke’s business offers services across Canada. Inspired during her maternity leave, she began with floral jewellery before expanding to custom bouquet preservation.
What is your business called and what does it do?
Wild Petals Boutique offers flower preservation services Canada-wide. Specializing in wedding bouquets, but also memorials, or any other flowers that hold sentimental value.
What made you want to do this work?
I’ve always loved being creative and making things, so when I was on maternity leave with my first child I was searching for a craft to do so I had something to focus on that wasn’t just baby related. I first discovered resin and floral jewellery and I couldn’t stop brainstorming and was excited by the prospect of creating my own. I made jewellery for a number of months before I discovered I could offer custom orders for wedding bouquets on a larger scale and I immediately began pursuing this option.
What problem did you want to solve with the business?
I got married in 2017 so I know exactly how much effort, thought, and money goes into every little detail, you want it to be a beautiful, memorable day but it can be discouraging to think it’ll all be gone after one day. So the thought of being able to hold onto something as sentimental as your wedding bouquet long after your wedding day has passed is very special. Also, fresh flowers are expensive but so beautiful. So knowing you can spend the money on those flowers you’re dreaming of and you can have them preserved so you can hold on to and enjoy their beauty for longer than a couple of days is exciting.
Who are your clientele/demographics?
Most of my clients and who I typically market to are brides to be planning a wedding. However, I do offer flower preservation for memorial services, or any other flowers as well.
How does your business make money? How does it work?
When a bride to be discovers my work and decides she would like to book to have her flowers preserved she will book on my website to save her date.
All of my work is custom, so when somebody books a 50% deposit is required, the final 50% is due before I begin pouring resin.
Where in the city can we find your profession?
I am located about 25 minutes south of Calgary, but I accept bouquets from all across Canada.
What is the best question a prospective customer could ask a member of your profession when comparing services? Give the answer as well.
“What are common problems that can arise while working with resin and what do you do to prevent or deal with them?”
Bubbles
You want resin that is virtually bubble-free. In the last 6 years of working with resin, I have adapted a number of techniques to minimize and deal with bubbles.
-First is ensuring the resin is at the correct temperature before mixing to ensure bubbles are released effectively. If the resin is too cold the resin will be more viscous and bubbles are more likely to become trapped.
-Second I use a vacuum chamber after mixing the resin which will remove many of the bubbles.
-Third is good old hard work- if there are bubbles stuck along the side of the mould or in amongst the flowers I use a toothpick to remove them. Also if there does happen to be an obvious bubble along the side of the piece that I missed, once I take it out of the mould I will fill that hole with resin and then sand and polish it so it is no longer visible.
Premature ambering
All resin will yellow to some degree over time, however, improper technique can cause the resin to amber prematurely.
Preventing excess heat
-Maintaining a stable temperature within the acceptable range in the room where the resin is being poured is imperative for not only preventing ambering but also proper curing of the resin.
-Ensure the resin doesn’t sit mixed for too long before being poured as this will create excess heat.
-Pouring layers in the correct depth- too deep of a pour and the resin will overheat.
-Ensuring the resin is the correct temperature when you begin mixing.
-Allowing each layer sufficient time to cure and checking the temperature to ensure it has returned to room temperature before pouring the next layer.
-Not adding excess heat to the resin with a heat gun or torch which can be used sometimes to help release bubbles.
Control humidity levels
-Ensure humidity levels of the room are within an acceptable range because excess humidity can lead to ambering as well.
Resin drips or imperfections on side of piece
Resin can be messy- when I do topcoats I first coat the sides and back with white glue so that if there are spills down the side they will peel off easily, however, sometimes there can be small spots of resin that still get on the sides or edges. Or there can be small scratches or imperfections that are transferred to the resin piece from the mould.
It has taken me 6 years to learn and perfect how to sand resin and polish it back to a perfect shine so I can effectively make these imperfections disappear. Not many resin artists have perfected this skill, as it takes a lot of time and patience.
What makes your work stand out from other artists?
If there is something that can be done to make your flowers or final piece look better but it’s time consuming- I do it anyway. Whether that’s while drying the flowers, during the resin process, or finishing the resin by sanding and polishing.
What is the best part about what you do? What is the worst part?
There are a lot of aspects of my job that I love, but one of my very favourite parts of what I do is seeing the final piece after all of the long hours and hard work that I put in to see it was all worth it.
The hardest part of what I do is managing it all on my own. I am the only person doing all the work behind Wild Petals Boutique. Flower preservation is a multifaceted and lengthy process, so trying to manage all the different stages of many different projects all at once and getting it all done, can be overwhelming at times.
What is your favourite joke about your own profession?
“I professionally kill flowers for a living”
Where can we follow you?
Instagram is the best place to follow along to see more of my work @wildpetalsboutique
PAY IT FORWARD: What is another local business that you love?
One of my very favourite local businesses is Sweetgrass Skin Co. In particular, their Gatherer balm is a life charger. Working with Resin, silica gel, and flowers, I wash my hands often and my skin can sometimes become irritated and extremely dry from the frequent hand washing, but with the gatherer balm, this is no longer an issue.
