It’s the day after the wedding. You wake up next to your betrothed and your eyes wander over to your bouquet, a mess of beautiful petals you painstakingly chose with your florist only months earlier. What a shame to throw it in the trash, you think. Enter Sera Petras.
About four years ago, the Charlottesville photographer was shooting a wedding in Charleston, South Carolina, and took a few of the couple’s centerpieces home with her to photograph alongside the invitation suite. After finishing with the papers, she carefully pulled apart the bouquets and arranged a flat lay. Problem solved: That beautiful arrangement could suddenly be enjoyed for years to come.
“It’s a fun way to capture your wedding day flowers and preserve them when they look their best in a different and unique way,” Petras says. “They become fine art pieces that you can have printed and framed.”
She takes the time to arrange multiple versions and sometimes even photographs just a single bloom or a grouping of the same type of flower. Couples then order prints to hang in their first home.
Says Petras, “It’s a creative way to have more wedding photos hung in your home that don’t scream wedding.”
