Planning your wedding florals should be as joyful and beautiful as your big day itself, and that’s exactly what Poppy aims to do. With a mission to make stunning, high-quality florals accessible for every couple, Poppy takes the stress out of wedding planning by offering an easy-to-use platform, expert floral consultants, and a network of talented local designers. No more worrying about sky-high price tags or meeting impossible minimums – Poppy Flowers makes it simple to bring your wedding floral vision to life, without the hassle.
Tell us a little bit about how you started Poppy. What role were you looking to serve in the wedding and events space?
“I was Head of Merchandising at one of the country’s largest floral e-commerce companies, and noticed that a lot of our customers were looking for affordable wedding flowers they could buy online. The structure of that company was great for sending bouquets and gifts, but was not set up to do wedding flowers. Then I got engaged, and found out my wedding might be published in Martha Stewart Weddings — so I wanted the decor to look amazing, and I went all-in on flowers. To stay on budget, I bought all my flowers farm-direct and recruited local floral design freelancers in Austin where we got married to bring my vision to life. The result was incredible, and I saved more than $10,000 doing my flowers this way. A lightbulb went off for me then that I could bring a similar business model to other couples with healthy budgets for their wedding flowers, but who are priced out of the market when they’re met with $10K+ minimums.”
What makes Poppy stand out in the floral industry?
“We have a crazy business-market fit with floral designers, which in turn makes us an amazing option for couples. For a very long time, wedding floral designers have had very little in the way of technical or business support — and running that small business is hard. We are providing technical and operational infrastructure that makes it easy for floral designers of all levels to do the parts of the job they love.
For clients, we are an amazing fit for couples who are being referred to floral designers whose work is beautiful, but out of their budget. Typically, this looks like someone with $3,000 – $10,000 to spend on their wedding flowers, but are being met with order minimums of $10,000 – $15,000 or more by florists in their area. These couples can work with us, spend something like $6,000 on their wedding flowers, and get everything they want.”
What can couples expect when working with Poppy?
“Full service wedding flowers, made more affordable.
Instant online access to our catalog of 15 core floral collections based on color palette and trending styles, with transparent pricing upfront.
Instant online access to a dedicated, regional floral consultant who can customize your flowers to your vision, supported by their team of local designers.
Ability to visualize your wedding flowers on our platform, and share your proposal instantly with your planner.
Flexible, monthly payment plans with no financing fee.”
How does the process work in collaborating with Poppy?
“For couples, you take our simple, easy style quiz and check your date. If we’re available, we’ll show you a proposal based on your budget and color palette. From there, you can request customizations through our platform, and connect directly with your floral consultant.
Through a Zoom consult, your floral consultant will help you define your vision and finalize your wedding floral order. From there, our team hand-selects the perfect Poppy floral designer, local to you. We’ve hand-selected almost 900 floral designers across 60 U.S. cities to work with Poppy, and on average the majority of our designers have at least five years of experience.
Your floral team works hand in hand with your local designer to bring your vision to life on your big day. They order all your flowers from our partner farms, and hard goods from our own inventory, which are delivered by your local designer, along with meticulous instructions, inventory lists, style notes, and detailed day-of logistics information. Our team is on-call 24/7 during wedding production and delivery/installation to ensure every last detail is perfect.
To give you an idea, our team exchanged 29,000 text messages and quality control images with our designers just in the month of May. On average, we’re exchanging 500 messages a day, 7 days a week, with our designers all for coaching, quality control, and assisting with anything that comes up at the last minute — we are probably running the country’s biggest floral hotline!”
What does the future hold for Poppy?
“We are already operational in over 70 U.S. cities, but we have an exciting new program rolling out starting in August — we will be first offering exclusive access to the floral designers in our network, and the venues and planners we’ve already worked with. If you’re interested in learning more, email us at weddings@poppyflowers.com.”
Anything else we should know?
“We are actively seeking partnership opportunities with ambitious venues who want to grow their bottom and top line revenues, wedding planners who need an alternative for their clients who may not meet the typical order minimum, and premiere floral designers looking for an e-commerce solution for leads they are currently turning away due to order minimum requirements. If you’re interested, reach out via email or DM on Instagram, we’re at @poppyflowersco!”
Now, whether you’re dreaming of stunning floral arrangements or seeking ways to make your wedding planning easier, Poppy Flowers is here to help create a smooth, joyful experience for your big day. If you enjoyed learning about how Poppy Flowers is revolutionizing the wedding floral industry, be sure to check out this article, “What to Look for in a Wedding Venue to Make Your Wedding Day Stress-Free”. It’s filled with more tips and insights to help make your special day as relaxed and memorable as possible.