By Alesha Damerville

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS– With 2020 around the corner, reducing waste is at the forefront of a lot of our minds. Our current obsession in this movement? The inspiring creations designed by those trying to do better by the planet. 

When HollyAnn Bruns started Hop Rabbit Flowers, a luxury-wedding-focused floral company in Steamboat Springs, she had no idea she’d eventually expand her business tap into a rare market that many are yet to explore. 

“The idea and the name just kind of popped into my head one day,” Bruns says. “It’s blunt and we’re calling it what it is … Pretty Dead Flowers.”

Instead of throwing out flowers following an event, Pretty Dead Flowers dries them for long-term display. “The whole reason I started Pretty Dead Flowers was because I was creating all this waste with Hop Rabbit. It really started wearing on me how much product was going into the trash at the end of each wedding,” she says. 

Thirty percent of the trash in landfills consists of organic waste, and Bruns is doing her part to help lower that number. She came up with the idea before the start of the last wedding season, which gave her the whole summer to play with the flowers and see what dries well. The flowers that hold their colors the best make the cut. She occasionally buys product that’s already dry to add in, but her goal is to use what she has to create beautiful bouquets and home décor. 

The dark yet whimsical energy found in these arrangements is intriguing and inviting. Pretty Dead Flowers creates conversation pieces that break from the traditional flower arrangement. 

The flowers are preserved while still fragile – if you can manage to keep from touching them too frequently, they can last for years. “I think there is so much beauty in the fact they’re going to sort of naturally decay over time,” Bruns says. “You might have a little piece fall off something, but I’m conscious of that when I create these arrangements. There is enough going on that it won’t be missed.”

Brun’s ideal client is someone who will find beauty in that as well. The witchy inner goddess living inside every woman can rejoice: the spooky and beautifully preserved flowers at Pretty Dead Flowers add that missing element your home or wedding has been begging for. 

For more information on Pretty Dead Flowers, visit HopRabbitFlowers.com