My Love For Antique Wax Flower Crown Restoration
Restoring wax flower crowns is a tedious and delicate process, and the older the headpiece, the more challenging it is. Bringing these antique beauties back to life for a bride’s wedding day is a love of mine.
Photo by Ray Jade Photography
My bride, Chelsea, sent me her great-grandmother’s wax flower headpiece, knowing little of its history. There were no family wedding photos or evidence of the exact date she was married. Chelsea estimated the date between 1920 and 1940. From my experience, I knew her gorgeous triple vine of wax was most likely from the 1920s, possibly the 30s.
This is the headpiece in its original condition.
Every flower was broken or cracked.
All of the actual wax flowers on her great-grandmother’s headpiece were broken. We planned to restyle this piece into a more modern style, only using the pearl-like buds and embellishing it with natural gemstones. However, I surprised Chelsea by repairing each wax flower to incorporate into her final design.
Restoring An Antique Wax Flower Crown
While I have restored and restyled many vintage wax flower pieces from the 1940s and 50s, it is rare to work on a piece as old as the 1920s with documentation of its lineage. My bride, Sanna, knew the full family wedding history of this gorgeous and fragile crown, and that made it so much more exciting to work on it.
“When Sanna sent me this photo of her great-grandmother on her wedding day, I knew I was all in. This beautiful antique crown wasn’t just a restoration project for me. It was a story that I wanted to be in.”
February 16th, 1924, Bertha Alvera Torkelson married William A. Olson
February 3rd, 1951, Lola Mae Gough married William Paul Gough
August 10th, 1985, Laurie Susanne Gough married Mark Christiano
“My aunt showed me the crown for the first time about eight years ago, and since then, I’ve always pictured wearing it on my wedding day. I loved how classic it looked, beautiful in every era it was worn. I loved the connection it gave me to my family.”
Restoring My Bride’s 1920s Wax Flower Crown
After our virtual consultation, Sanna sent me the headpiece for a hands-on evaluation. As we discussed during our meeting, many of the flowers were broken.
“I found Headpiece.com through a Google search. It stood out to me how much care and attention Marie takes with each restoration. I enjoyed reading the different blog posts about prior wax flower restorations she has done, and how well Marie got to know each bride’s story and vision. Her many years of expertise and excellent reviews also helped me feel comfortable reaching out.”
I discovered that many of the white stamens were melted together. The piece had collected dust and dirt over the years, causing it to look dingy. Another major issue with her great-grandmother’s wax flower piece was that the wire frame had become weak, losing structure and stability. Somewhere along the way, someone decided to DIY and wire the piece back together.
Dirty wax flower stamens, melted together
DIY repair to the heirloom wax flower crown
Every tiny wax flower with broken petals was repaired, and the melted buds separated.
Sanna wanted to keep the headpiece true to its original design but wished to eliminate the floral clusters at the sides of the crown. I suggested we add some clear crystals and freshwater pearls to add some richness to the crown.
1924 Wax Flower Crown BEFORE
1924 Wax Flower Crown AFTER
Sanna’s Heirloom Wax Flower Crown
Wedding Photography by Lunalee Photography
VENUE / Callonwolde Fine Arts Center ANTIQUE CROWN RESTORATION & WEDDING VEIL / Headpiece.com GOWN / Truvelle BRIDAL SALON / The Sentimentalist BEAUTY / Jolie Artistry & Co FLORIST / Araiza Florals PLANNER / Jackson & June Events
Sanna dreamed of wearing her wax flower headpiece with a drop veil on her wedding day.
“The crown was what I designed my entire wedding day around, and seeing it all come together was magical. It made me feel absolutely beautiful!”
“The overall look was exactly what I wanted!”
“My hope was to style the crown as more of a modern headband, while remaining true to the original piece.”
“What I loved most was how true Marie stayed to the original piece. Her restoration work is real artistry! I am also very glad that she talked me into the crystals and freshwater pearls. They helped fill out the headpiece where older flowers had been lost and made for a beautiful accent.”
“At the wedding, we displayed photos of family members wearing the headpiece at their weddings. The crown is so beautiful all on its own, but sharing the history and meaning behind the piece with our guests made it that much more special.”
“This was definitely worth the investment! My hope is now that it’s been restored, we can continue using it for many generations to come.”
“Marie truly got to know me, my wedding day vision, and the history behind the piece. Her attention to detail clearly showed through in how beautifully the piece turned out.”
The Reason I Love Restoring Old Wax Flower Crowns
I have a love affair with restoring and restyling vintage headpieces, but there is something special about working on the very old pieces. I often find my mind adrift, imagining what it was like to get married in the 20s, 30s, and 40s. My imagination gets lost in the allure of old-fashioned romance, wax flower crowns, and handmade bridal fashions. And for brides like Chelsea and Sanna, I wonder how many more generations will wear their family heirlooms revived to their original wedding beauty. I have given their crowns a chance to be worn again, even for those who aren’t yet born. What an incredible story to be a part of!
See you next month on the Fourteenth