HONOLULU (HI Now) - Art meets memory at Prince Waikiki with a fresh take on floral preservation that’s as beautiful as it is meaningful. As part of the hotel’s Art Redefined initiative — a series celebrating art through various forms like food, sound, and sight — guests can now experience Second Bloom, a pop-up floral art installation by artist and founder Kristen Moux of Modern Bouquet Preservation.
Born out of a simple but profound idea, Second Bloom gives discarded or post-event flowers a second chance to be admired. Kristen, a seasoned wedding planner, saw a gap in the local market when her clients wanted to preserve their wedding bouquets but couldn’t find a Hawai’i-based option. “I’ve always loved flowers,” she says with a laugh, “but I couldn’t grow them to save my life. Now I preserve them — I guess that’s my way of keeping them alive.”
Every flower featured in Second Bloom was once destined for the trash — left behind after weddings or set aside by florists as too old or damaged to sell. Through Kristen’s eye for design and deep reverence for second chances, these florals have been transformed into captivating pieces of preserved art.
The centerpiece of the exhibit, La Promenade des Fleur — French for “The Walk of Flowers” — is an immersive floral tunnel made up of over 6,000 preserved blooms. Kristen’s husband, a general contractor from Tahiti, built the structure, and the installation itself was inspired by Rebecca Louise Law’s Awakening exhibit at the Honolulu Museum of Art. What took Law over 15 years to collect, Kristen and her team — including her teenage daughter and a few close friends — gathered in just six weeks. Over 300 hours were poured into stringing and drying the florals, turning Kristen’s office into a tangle of color, texture, and care.
The exhibit also includes standout pieces like Flower Dreams, a milky-hued table sculpture made from delicate flowers that are almost too fragile to touch, and Flowers in the Wind, a three-paneled piece inspired by Robert Frost’s poem Wind and Window Flower — a continuation of a love story finally united in spring.
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Every member of Kristen’s team contributed to the exhibit, designing framed floral pieces to showcase their individual style and creativity. These pieces, along with several client-favorite items like pressed flower coasters, jewelry trays, and magnets, are available for purchase — just in time for Mother’s Day, graduation, or a one-of-a-kind summer gift.
For those looking to get hands-on, Kristen is also planning an on-site workshop teaching guests how to dye silk using local O’ahu botanicals — another creative method of floral preservation used by her company. Follow @modernbouquetpreservation and @princewaikiki on Instagram for workshop dates and updates.
Whether you’re a newlywed looking to preserve your bouquet, a flower lover searching for a unique gift, or simply someone who finds joy in artful experiences, Second Bloom is not to be missed.
Catch the exhibit on the Lobby Level of Prince Waikiki now through Sunday, August 10. Stop by, take in the beauty, and maybe even bring home your own second bloom.
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