Meet Bonnie Hall

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bonnie Hall.

Hi Bonnie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

Thanks so much for the opportunity! I am Bonnie Hall, the founder, and CEO of Bonnie’s Blooms, a business that turns fresh flowers into framed art.

Bonnie’s Blooms started in 2018 when my husband and I got married. We spent thousands of dollars on our wedding flowers and I didn’t want them to be thrown in the trash after the big day.

Before I left for our honeymoon, I decided to take apart my bouquet and put the flower petals into coffee table books.

After a few weeks of the flowers drying and flattening in books, they were removed and were in relatively good condition. I purchased a frame and arranged the flower petals around my wedding invitation. That piece of art became a sentimental staple in our home and led to friends and family asking if I could do the same for them.

I started taking on customers and trying different pressing techniques. At one point, I was zapping flowers in my microwave to speed up the pressing process and maximize color retention. I ultimately learned that a traditional wood press yields the best-preserved flowers so I began building my own presses.

As I completed projects, I would post about them on Instagram which led to more people reaching out asking if I could preserve their bouquets. In 2021, I completed over 200 projects and expect to double that in 2022. Turns out many brides have the same thought I did back in 2018 – they don’t want the flowers that they’ve spent thousands on to go to waste.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road to building a business has certainly come with its challenges. Being a stay-at-home mom has allowed me the autonomy to create my own schedule, which is both a pro and a con.

I complete work late at night or at the crack of dawn when my toddler and baby are asleep. The unconventional hours are exhausting, but allow me to be with my kids during the day, which I am so grateful for because my role as a mother takes precedence.

Aside from having an odd schedule, I wear several hats as a business owner. I press and design the flowers, pack and ship the final product, communicate with clients, maintain the inventory of materials, manage the books, and market on social media–the list goes on!

As a solopreneur, I am accountable for every aspect of the business, and for that reason, I rarely unplug. My work has become a big presence in my personal life. Fortunately, I have a loving husband, family, and friends who have encouraged me since the beginning and support me in maintaining a good work-life balance.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?

Most of my work is focused on serving newly engaged or married couples and preserving their wedding flowers. After a bouquet is shipped or dropped off to me in North Carolina, I remove the flower petals and stems and layer them in a handmade wood press where they flatten and dry.

After 6 weeks, the flowers are taken out of the press, arranged into a unique design, and framed. The entire process takes approximately 4 months and the framed art will last for years and even generations.

I embrace the natural change of the petal and flower colors so no preservatives or color enhancements are made during or after the pressing process. Large and small frame sizes are available for purchase as well as resin ornaments.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
In regards to my business, I’ve benefited from opportunities due to being in the right place at the right time. I’ve had Instagram influencers with large following shout me out and I’ve been featured on local/regional news stations.

Putting yourself out there is scary, but luck has followed because of my consistency and commitment to growing this business.

Contact Info:

• Email: bonnie@bonniesblooms.com
• Website: https://www.bonniesblooms.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/bonnies.blooms
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebonniesblooms

Image Credits
Sara Coffin Photography