Wedding Ideas

Wedding Flowers

How to make DIY Natural Petal Confetti: Eco-Friendly Wedding Ideas at Upwaltham Barns

At Upwaltham Barns, we cherish the tradition of celebrating newlyweds with a shower of natural petal confetti. This eco-friendly, biodegradable confetti not only align with our commitment to sustainability but also adds a touch of natural beauty to your wedding day.

An age-old tradition

The tradition originated in Italy, where small sweets were often thrown at carnivals. ‘Confetti’ in Italian refers to sugar-coated almonds, which are often given as favours to wedding guests. The throwing of seeds and grains over newlywed’s dates back centuries in England, traditionally thought that it will make the marriage as fruitful and abundant as the grains. We love the history but think that beautiful dried rose petals are lovelier!

Where to find dried petals

You can find a number of companies selling freeze-dried petals online, or you can ask your florist for a basketful of petal confetti. Most can supply it and in colours to coordinate with your bouquet.

Making your own confetti

Alternatively, you can make your own using a microwave, air fryer, or dehydrator.

If stored in a cool, dry place, dried petals will last for up to a year, so you can make it over a period of time. It’s a great excuse to be given flowers regularly too!

We have used roses here, but feel free to experiment with different flower varieties. Delphiniums and hydrangeas work well too!

2. Free the petals from the stem.

3. Line a microwave safe plate with a piece of paper towel.

4. Place the petals onto the paper towel in a SINGLE layer. Any over lapping will stick together so give them some space!

5. Cover the layer of petals with a second piece of paper towel.

6. Place the plate in your microwave and heat on high until the petals are no longer damp to touch.

7. You will need to experiment with timings as each microwave is different. For us and our 800 watts microwave, it took about a minute and 30 seconds. We ‘cooked’ our petals in 30 second increments until we found the perfect drying time.

8. Remove the plate from the microwave, check your petals are all dry and store in a sealed container. Keep them in a dark cool place until your wedding day!

How much do you need?

We measured ours in a one litre measuring jug.

One litre provides about five or six large handfuls. Therefore for 60 guests you will need 12 litres, 100 guests 20 litres and 140 guests 28 litres. It’s worth noting that this measurement is for dried rose petals. Smaller flowers such as delphiniums will probably require a smaller volume.

If you want to scatter dried (or fresh) petals along the 14-metre aisle of the East Barn, you will need around half a litre per metre.

One last word of warning, be aware of red petals when you make your biodegradable confetti as the colour can sometimes stain clothes if they get damp.

For more inspiration for your wedding at Upwaltham Barns. Their natural confetti throw photo is a beauty!

Host your wedding at Upwaltham Barns

If you’re looking for a barn wedding venue in the West Sussex countryside, why not come and visit Upwaltham Barns? Our family-owned venue provides a relaxed, friendly atmosphere for your unforgettable wedding day.

Book a visit today to explore.

Video transcript

How to make confetti in your air fryer. Mine is a Ninja air fryer but obviously you can use any make that you have. I have an old bouquet of white roses here that are past their best and I’ve also bought flowers that have been marked down in price at the supermarket.

I’m filming this in March so I don’t have many flowers in my garden but later in the year I can make confetti from flowers I’ve grown myself.

Start by removing the petals from where they join the stem and pull them apart so they are all separated from each other and not in a big clump. You do this with any type of flower you have.

Keep going until you’ve filled a plate up with all your petals and they’re nicely separated. For drying, it’s probably best to try and use the same type of flower for each batch, but it does work with mixed bouquets too.

You’ll just have to keep checking them while you’re air frying them so they don’t overcook, so to speak.

Make sure your air fryer is clean and grease-free. Then pop your petals into the bottom of your air fryer, just like this. Separate them out and just make sure that they’re nice and loose and free so the air can get around them.

You then need to put the crisper plate very gently on top of your petals like this. This prevents them from flying around and getting caught in the fan of your airfryer. I then use the air fryer function at a temperature of 160 degrees and start off by frying for three minutes.

This batch actually took four minutes to dry. Subsequent batches might take less time as your air fryer warms up. Once they’re nice and dry, you can tip them into a kilner jar for storage.

Another tip is to put a bag of rice in with your petals in the jar. This is a bag that I had that I think some soap came in and it’s slightly porous. Fill it up with a few tablespoons of rice. Do it up at the top and then pop it in with your confetti. If any of your petals are not completely dry, this should help prevent them from going mouldy.

You can then obviously keep topping up your jar over the course of months as you have flowers that are past their best and you can just keep air frying in small batches. Then on your wedding day, you’ll lots of beautiful real flower petal confetti, which is just so gorgeous.