flower question

[fatso.livejournal.com]

For my grandmas funeral, we made a big tropical flower arrangement from the grand kids.

I want to preserve one of the birds-of-paradise flowers, but I have no idea what method is the best for this particular flower. It has a strange shape and is extremely thick, so drying and pressing wouldn't work. I also don't want to bake it, boil it, or microwave it. From what I've heard, freeze-drying is outrageously expensive- so if you've ever paid to have flowers freeze dried, would you kindly tell me how much it cost?

Ideas? Pictures of the flower are under