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There is a new shop budding in the same place where you previously handled registrations for motor vehicles, renewed your license plates, transferred motor vehicle titles and/or received handicap tags. A multitude of colors and sweet aromas now fill the space. On Friday, Oct. 13, the former license plate agency became Sun Moon and Boom, a full service florist. 

Courtney Spear wanted a fresh start after leaving the healthcare industry in Wilmington. 

“I see this as a different way of taking care of people,” Spear said. She looks forward to helping out the Washington residents by using her space as a place for community art projects, and where school supplies can be donated at the end of summer or canned food donations and toys during the holidays. 

When she still lived in Wilmington, Spear worked on the side with a  friend who owns Blossom Bay. Spear developed a passion for floristry while she trained under and learned from her friend. 

“That was the time period where I was like, ‘wow, I really have a passion for this, and I seem to have a niche and a good craft and skill for this.’ So, that’s what fueled it when I moved here before. I was like, ‘I really want to try this. I feel like I can really give this a go.’ It’s just taken time to get here,” Spear said.  

Spear moved to Washington in 2021 to work at ECU HealthBeaufort as a surgical first assistant. Surgical first assistants anticipate the needs of a surgical team as they perform an operation which includes selecting instruments, holding open incisions, stopping bleeding, closing an incision and other technical tasks, according to the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. 

In that same year, she sold flowers at the Harbor District Market under the name Sun Moon and Bloom. Spear took 2022 to travel for work, but is now operating Sun Moon and Bloom full-time. 

The name, Sun Moon and Bloom reflects Spear’s love of nature and being outdoors at either the beach or hiking. “When I was thinking of the name – all those things were really important to me – the elements and having an appreciation for nature.” 

Spear said she is “excited” to be in Washington and that it is a “great little town” with “lots of potential.” 

For now, Sun Moon and Bloom’s hours will be Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m.- 5-p.m., but Spear says that could change depending on customers’ needs. It is located at 155 N. Market Street.