New Virginia Beach-based company is putting a little more “forever” in your wedding flowers
Whether they’re minimalist bouquets and boutonnieres or a sea of roses and ranunculus, fresh flowers breathe life into any wedding style or decor. And, let’s face it, they cost a pretty penny. So why not get your budget’s worth and make that floral magic last?
While there are a variety of online options for shipping off your flowers to be professionally dried or preserved—some more trustworthy than others—one locally based company is offering a unique array of services for doing that right here in Coastal Virginia.
Jacqueline Knight and Merril Prutsman were just two friends sitting on a beach, young moms with creative ambitions, when they embarked on a professional journey that would change both of their lives. Today, their dual businesses include MJ by the Bay, which offers handcrafted epoxy décor, and Bay Blooms, which preserves flowers and creates keepsakes with them. These complementary creative endeavors each provide customers with uniquely personalized works of art.
Knight and Prutsman first started MJ by the Bay, creating beautiful, made-in-America wood cutting boards and serving boards that are partially coated with resin to resemble brilliant blue and aqua ocean waves. Then one day, a family member who was getting married asked if they might be able to use their resin technique to preserve flowers.
That challenge inspired another side to their business, and it has been blossoming ever since. Bay Blooms can preserve flowers—from whole bouquets to tiny select petals captured at the peak of freshness—including in the form of decorative blocks, ring dishes, coasters, wine stoppers, jewelry, ready-to-hang pressed frames, shadow boxes and more.
People are looking for “a simple reminder” of the day, says Knight, something to display and share that captures a little piece of that treasured memory with family and friends. They may keep it for themselves or give them as gifts—a precious bit of a mother’s corsage captured in a pair of drop earrings, for example.
The process is simple for fresh flowers. After scheduling a pick-up or drop-off, flowers are carefully chosen and placed in a climate-controlled drying environment with precisely regulated air flow ensuring that the flowers retain their colors and shapes. For flowers that become damaged, they can even work with a florist to replace certain blooms or recreate bouquets.
Once preserved, the flowers can also be used to create whatever keepsake the customer selects. There is also quite a bit Bay Blooms can do to “rescue” older flowers or blooms that have been hanging upside down for days, weeks, months, even years—within reason, of course. Got a creative idea? They’ll help you translate that imagination into a high-quality, one-of-a-kind conversation piece. That way, you can “say it with flowers” for generations to come.
Learn more at mjbythebay.com.
