BE INSPIRED
Meet The Guest List: To The Moon Hartlepool
BE INSPIRED
Meet The Guest List: To The Moon Hartlepool
As every bride will know, your heart and soul is poured into planning your wedding day; from finding the venue, to picking the perfect dress, and choosing the right colour and selection of flowers for your bouquet that will tie the whole thing together.
Now imagine if you could freeze that day, or at least freeze part of it, to have a forever physical reminder in the form of a coaster, trinket, ornament or even wall decoration. To The Moon Hartlepool makes that possible.
We catch up with To The Moon owner Chloe, to uncover the creativity and magic that goes into each resin floral preservation…
Tell me a little bit about your background. How did you get into what you do?
After leaving teaching to stay home and look after my young family I realised I still wanted to work and do something for myself. I have always been creative and decided to use this creativity as a source of income as well as something that I love. Teaching art had allowed me to try many different mediums and techniques, however, epoxy resin was something I had never used and wanted to try. Its messy and temperamental but a few weeks later I was hooked. After lots of experiments and research I finally took the plunge and preserved some flowers I was given as a gift, and that has led me to where I am today.
In a sentence, explain why you love what you do...
When a bride collects their flowers that have been preserved, it reminds them of the best day of their life all over again; their reactions are priceless.
THE FIVE STEP TO THE MOON PROCESS
- The bride hands over her flowers as soon as possible after the wedding.
- The flowers are dried in silica powder for around 7 to 10 days.
- The flowers are taken out of the silica powder and arranged in a silicone mould, checking the bride is happy with the arrangement.
- Resin is then added in layers over the coming week or two.
- The piece is then taken out of the mould once the resin has fully set, sanded and polished before being wrapped and handed back to the bride.
How do you hope your creations are used? Lifelong heirlooms?
The beauty of flower preservation is that there are so many options and each individual will choose to do something totally different with their items. Some pieces used simply as a decoration in the home, For example our hearts and hexagon's. Some pieces such as our drinks coasters are functional and are used everyday. Then we have smaller items such as key rings that are used as gifts. I just love that the bride and groom have a little piece of their perfect day encapsulated forever.
What is the feeling you hope a bride has when she sees her preserved flowers?
I know that there can sometimes be a quiet time after the wedding where a bride doesn't really know what to do with herself as all the planning over the past year or two has come to a close. I always hope that when a bride collects her items they feel all of the emotions of their big day all over again.
Your favourite flower and why?
My favourite flower is a ranunculus. I had never even heard of this flower until I started preserving them, they look almost like a smaller version of a Peony and have the softest petals. They don't bruise very easily and always preserve beautifully, rarely loosing any petals.
Sum up why a To The Moon Hartlepool creation is the perfect wedding gift.
It is always difficult to find a wedding gift that is something the bride and groom don't already have. Flower preservation is something that not many people even think of and is a lovely surprise for them to be able to have a keepsake from their big day. Giving a gift voucher from us also gives the bride and groom a chance to pick something personal to them.
To find out more about To The Moon, head to their dedicated Guest List profile and be sure to give them a follow on Instagram!
