Sunrise Picnics in Ogunquit: Owner sets the scene for 'special experience' on the beach
OGUNQUIT, Maine — Picture this. You and your loved one are strolling on the beach when all of a sudden, you come across a picnic waiting to happen.
A few layers of blankets cover the sand. Pillows are fluffed on one end. Nearby is a small table, set for two, with plates, silverware, glasses and candles. Two inviting chairs are pulled up to the table.
Your loved one turns to you and has a surprise: this picnic is for the two of you.
Maybe you’re just there to relax. Or celebrate an anniversary. Or pop the question.
Whatever the scenario, Megan Petrus is to thank.
Last summer, Petrus started Sunrise Picnics, her new business in which she sets up picnic spots for clients for any occasion – the aforementioned anniversary or engagement, for example, or a birthday party, an afternoon tea, a family outing, a date night ... you name it. When there are kids involved, she makes sure to bring games and a basket filled with pails and other beach toys.
Petrus got the idea a couple of summers ago, after she set up a picnic site on Ogunquit Beach to surprise a friend celebrating a wedding anniversary. A local photographer happened to pass by that morning and snapped a few photos, and shared them on social media.
When Petrus saw all the favorable comments people were making underneath the photos online, she thought, “Oh, maybe there’s something more to this.”
There was.
Petrus began preparing picnic spots at the beach for friends and family. At the time, she had been working in the local hospitality industry for years and was thinking about starting her own business – something that would give her flexibility and allow her to spend more time with her family. She and her husband, Sean, a local chef, have a 9-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter.
Finally, Petrus realized she already had found her idea: she would prepare picnic sites at beaches, just like she was doing for loved ones, but now she would do it professionally for clients. She even would work with her clients to make sure they have meals to enjoy – ordering them from local restaurants and picking them up to deliver on site.
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Pop-up picnics are all the trend
Businesses specializing in “pop-up picnics” are becoming quite an attraction as any search on Google shows. For Petrus, starting her own beach-themed business made sense. She grew up in the area – she graduated from Wells High School in 1997 – and has fond memories of playing in the ocean with her mother. These days, she loves taking her son, who is autistic, to the beach.
“He loves the beach,” she said. “He is a great swimmer, and this is a true place of therapy for him ... Ogunquit is his favorite beach.”
After Sunrise Picnics officially became an LLC, Petrus joined the local chapter of the Women’s Business League – a network of local entrepreneurs that Petrus has found welcoming, friendly, and supportive. Petrus said she also got a lot of help from SCORE, a Portland-based organization that offers business advice and provides mentors and workshops to help entrepreneurs succeed.
“I believe in my company,” she said. “And I believe in the support system of the people that I have around me. That is fantastic.”
Petrus said starting her own business has been “empowering.”
“I feel stronger because of my business,” she said.
It took courage to jump into the world of self-employment, of course. In making that leap, Petrus left her job at the Cliff House in Ogunquit – employment that had provided her with health insurance and hours of work year-round. While she got Sunrise Picnics off the ground, Petrus also took shifts at a local Dunkin' Donuts.
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Sunrise Picnics ready for summer 2023
Sunrise Picnics did well during its first summer, according to Petrus.
“Last summer was wonderful,” she said. “I did well. I worked hard. I was just at my happiest, to be honest with you. I was doing my own schedule. I was bringing happiness to people. I was making core memories.”
Petrus said she is still trying to figure out how to provide her services during the wintertime, when the population drops in the region and when people do not exactly think of picnics as an outdoor activity. One time, Petrus did try to set up a heated tent, but it blew away from her. She chased right after it.
“I caught it,” she said. “That was $300 I wasn’t going to lose.”
Petrus said she will set up a picnic setting, or some kind of backdrop, for her clients any time during the year.
“For the past two winters, I’ve set up backdrops for Christmas pictures,” she said.
Petrus has promoted her business on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. A new website for Sunrise Picnics is currently under construction. In addition to her social media accounts, Petrus can be reached at (603) 380-2927 or at Sunrisepicnics207@gmail.com.
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In May, Petrus is offering her services for $125. Typically, she said, she charges $185. She said her clients usually enjoy their picnic sites for a couple of hours, but added they are welcome to stay as long as they would like.
Petrus said she has a few ideas for expanding her concept for Sunrise Picnics. She said she would like to start offering dog picnics at the canine-friendly Harbor Park in Wells, for instance. She also is trying to figure out how to put together small-scale movie nights.
Those simple picnics, however, with their views of the rolling waves, the calm, the sounds of the white-noise surf, and the whiff of salt in the air, are at the heart of the enterprise for Petrus.
“It’s just a really unique, special experience,” she said. “When you have dinner on the beach at one of the picnics I set up, it’s going to be a definite core memory.”
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Sunrise Picnics in Ogunquit: Pop-up picnics on Maine beaches
