Preservation Process:
Proper vacuum freeze drying is a science demanding focused commitment to produce life long memories. A customer visiting Valley Freeze Dried Memories witnesses this commitment daily as its owners, Julann & Michael Gray, carefully preserve the floral memories that have been placed in their trust. Environmental control of both the studio and design area is important and monitored several times a day. Humidity level monitoring is critical. It must not be over 35% while the temperature is kept at a constant 68 to 70 degrees.
In order to produce a high quality product, our process is a deliberate 10 step process to both understand each customer’s desire and transform that desire into a finished product. However, that desire can only be achieved by using highly advanced freeze drying equipment. Our experience has shown that by using proven technology, we can produce a fully preserved flower with the beautiful color and original shape.
Our 10 step process:
1. Free consultation with client explaining process, via phone or e-mail. In some cases viewing and touching samples of freeze dried flowers at our studio or perhaps a show. Contract for service is signed. (can be downloaded and printed from our website and mailed or faxed) A non-refundable deposit is collected, which is applied back to your encasement choice. Arrangements decided on for bouquet delivery to our studio, shipping (see shipping instructions on our site) or pick up within a radius of our studio.
2. After the bouquet or arrangement is ether delivered to us or we pick up at the reception, funeral home, etc. (a nominal fee for pick ups); a digital picture is taken for redesign purposes.
3. Bouquet is then taken apart carefully and flowers are inventoried along with bows, ribbons, pins, & other accessories.
4. Flowers are then fed and hydrated so they are in the best possible condition before pre-treatment of each individual flower.
5. Pre-treating is an essential part of processing freeze dried products. In using the pre-treatments available to Valley Freeze Dried Memories, you can expect your flowers to retain more of their natural color, be more durable, and more shatter resistant. Added UV inhibitors help to make the flowers more fade resistant.
6. Flowers are then placed in the specimen chamber of high-freeze drying machine. The flowers are flash frozen, all the moisture is removed during this process which takes 14 days in the machine, running 24 hour each day.
7. Post-treatment of each individual flower helps to protect the product from the harmful effects of humidity and re-absorption of moisture. As in pre-treating, each flower color and form requires a different chemical solution.
8. Notification of customer, FREE consultation, choices of encasement options and redesign discussed, and then decided upon.
9. Redesign in frame, shadow box, mirrored glass prisms, rounded domes, keepsake glass encasements, etc. combined with personal memorabilia or wedding mementos
10. Pick up, shipping and in some cases delivery.