Flowers have always represented the most beautiful and sorrowful moments in life. They enhance joy with their beauty and represent hope and new life in the face of despair. Because of this, we use them to honor and adorn those we love.

I created Still Meadows Boutique in 2022 with a dream to preserve not only flowers, but the memories of what those flowers represent.

In college, I remember being gently chastised by a loving roommate because I spent money on flowers instead of the million other things I should have saved that money for. The truth is, I was often sad and those flowers were my reminder that there was beauty and goodness in life. I believed my money was well spent.

Fast forward to my wedding where I had the most BEAUTIFUL flowers! Peonies and roses and shades of blush and cream adorned the tables and women. I had the most incredible bouquet, and do you know what happened to it? I threw it blindly behind myself in a spontaneous and chaotic moment right before getting into our getaway car….and it hit a brick wall. What a bummer! We all laughed then, but if I knew now that I could have preserved their beauty, you bet I would have!! They would have been proudly displayed on my mantle as a daily reminder of one of the best days of my life: the day I became Joshua Storms’ bride.

Fast forward again to 2022, when a dear friend of mine suddenly and tragically passed away. I was honored to preserve her funeral flowers, and the process gave me the set-apart time to grieve her passing while remembering her beauty- and to be able to gift something so meaningful and long-lasting to her family meant the world to me. Flowers dying can be such a jolting reminder of time passing…that the person we love has been gone longer than the flowers could live. My hope in preserving flowers that represent grief is that in some small way they might honor the life that has passed and bring hope to those who remain.

The name “Still Meadows” is inspired by the words of Psalm 23:

”The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

”Still Meadows”….my prayer for you if you choose to have me preserve your flowers, is that your memorial pieces will remind you of the One who made all things beautiful. The Giver of all good things. The Restorer of our souls.

- Anacari Storms