How did it all begin?...........well it all stems from when I married Richard. I love flowers and had been on many flower arranging courses and always regretted throwing away my wedding bouquet after such a fantastic day.

I wished I had found some way of preserving some of the flowers from the bouquet as a memento. I searched for anyone that would do it but found no one. I was given a pressed flower picture from a friend and loved it so, as a hobby decided to learn how to press and preserve flowers myself.

In 1980 – 1987 I left teaching to have my children Felicity (Fliss) second from right on above photo and Matthew (Matt) right on photo. With a little spare time on my hands and a firm belief that brides would like to preserve their bouquets I formed Remember the Occasion, where I made personalised pressed flower wedding pictures and Jan, a friend, wrote the wedding details on each one. To promote these I exhibited at local wedding fairs which were very much in their infancy at that time! It was all going very well and I was lucky enough to be written about by Joan Stephens in the Leicester Mercury, in the Northampton Herald and Good Housekeeping magazine.

I completed orders for many midlands cricketers’ wives and for Gary and Michelle Lineker (maybe I could do his next one) I also had the honour to be asked on behalf of the Princes Trust to produce ‘bonbon bouquet baskets’ which were presented to Princess Diana and other dignitaries and on a later occasion one was presented to Sarah, Duchess of York.

However, in those days it was hard for very small businesses to get support and as Richard (right on photo) was also starting his own company and with a young family I made a conscious decision (which I do not regret for a minute) to put my family first and return to teaching. However, I continued to make pictures for family and friends the requests never stopped.

With my family all grown up I decided I wanted to spend more time preserving flowers but see if I could find a way to do it that was more modern and of course see if people still wanted it doing! I researched the market of preserving bouquets world wide and found that there were only two main methods of flower preservation and that there were few people doing it. Pressing and framing the flowers which I have been doing for years but feel is very old fashioned and freeze drying the flowers which is usually incredibly expensive.

So I logged onto the internet and talked to many people on wedding blogs where prospective brides wanted it, but needed it to be affordable. This drove me on.

After two and a half years of intense experimenting! driving the family mad including the dogs and cat! and nearly killing us all I managed to develop a method of preserving fresh flowers and memorabilia in a clear acrylic based resin gel which keeps their colour, stands up on their own, looks like glass and sets solid and one that I believe would look great in any setting and any home. Get me!! In January 2008 with the full support of all my family and Jo (Matt’s partner, centre of photo) I decided to take the plunge and launch my idea. I set up Jellybrations and called the products Jell sculptures, which soon became shortened to Jelpics which we have kept.

The Jellybrations tour began and Matt, Jo, Fliss and I exhibited at Wedding Fairs around the East Midlands.

The response we got was fantastic and we listened carefully to what was said by you
brides, your families and fellow exhibitors who specialised in the wedding market as to what you want.

At the wedding fairs we were asked whether we could make Jelpics for:
– Table decorations.
– To preserve cake decorations.
– To buy them ‘Ready Made’.
– To include memorabilia with the flowers.

The answer is of course Yes, Yes, Yes! Table decorations are not a problem just give me plenty of notice, click here to order now.

Cake decorations It wasn’t easy but I carried out test after test and now there is no need to hide those beautiful decorations in a tin out of the way. As the moulds need to be much deeper I ask that you contact us to let us know the cake decoration dimensions and we will let your know mould availability and cost. Click here for more information.

Jelpics for gravestones Some brides told us that they were putting their bouquet on the graves of a loved one, which got me thinking, it’s a shame as they perish. So I set to work on a Jelpic that would withstand the English weather! I worked with the local council to cover the bye laws and have linked with a local adhesive company to provide the adhesive to bond them to the grave to prevent them being taken. Click here for more information.

Civil Partnerships Civil Partnership memorabilia and flowers make good Jelpics too holding more mementoes from that special occasion. The range doesn’t end there. I am always producing ready made Jelpics - for Valentines day, Mothers day etc. Jelpics using more memorabilia - popular at the moment are the ‘tools of the trade’ Jelpics, where items like scissors, combs, hair etc are included for a hairdresser which look very funky and I now make Jelpics using funeral flowers. Click here for more information on civil partnerships.

2008 for me was a very busy one, a massive learning curve and one I have thoroughly enjoyed. My aim this year now that I have improved my website is to exhibit at as many shows as possible across the country.

So look out for Jellybrations and if I am in your area exhibiting please come and speak to me. Let me know how I can help you preserve your flowers and memorabilia from your special occasion.