One of the staples of fall wedding decor are beautifully colored leaves. Using real leaves as decor can quickly cause a crunchy mess. While you can use fabric leaves, the downside is that their price adds up quickly and you’ll be left wondering what to do with a bunch of leftover fabric leaves after the celebration. A good compromise is to fortify real leaves by covering them in wax. Once dry, these beautiful leaves can be tossed by flower girls, decorate the ceremony area on strings, and be central to the centerpieces at the reception. Get a few friends together and spend a fun afternoon making these lovely leaves in four simple steps.
Step 1 – Gather Strong and Flexible Leaves

To really get the most benefit out of your leaf-waxing experience, gather a wide variety of leaves. Focus on leaves that are still strong and flexible?not leaves that have already begun to crumble or show signs of disease. By using leaves from a variety of trees, you can get a nice diversity of color and shape. Or, you can choose to focus on iconic leaves, from trees like maple or oak. Regardless, make sure you have a good grouping of whatever fits the color scheme you want most at your wedding. Step 2 – Melt the Wax Gently (Or Try the Wax Paper Pressed Method)

The more common way of making wax leaves that preserves their shape is to use paraffin or beeswax, heated gently via a “double boiler” method. This can be accomplished without a double boiler by placing chunks...