November 24, 2023 • 22 mins
Ever dreamt of a budget-friendly, sustainable, and no-hassle solution for your wedding flowers? Meet our guest Lauren, the co-founder and CEO of Something Borrowed Blooms, a game-changer in the wedding industry. They've brought the revolutionary concept of renting wedding flowers to life, saving couples up to 70% on their floral arrangements.
This concept is a GAME CHANGER for our industry and such a budget-friendly way to have a gorgeous day. And so great for your other wedding celebrations too (Really! It's not just about weddings, their service can be utilized for rehearsal dinners, welcome parties, engagement parties and more).
Something Borrowed Blooms has already been a part of over 25,000 weddings. From bridal bouquets to corsages, centerpieces and decor, they offer an assortment of over 17 different collections, all delivered to your doorstep three days before the event. Plus, with prepaid shipping labels, all you need to do is pack it back in the box and ship it back after your big day.
Special series season in partnership with Coded Agency
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Something Borrowed Blooms was founded in 2015 with a mission to revolutionize the wedding flower industry. Recently married, we knew how expensive and complicated the fresh flower market could be. Since then, we’ve been dedicated to providing the highest quality and on-trend floral designs and decor to couples from coast to coast . With our rent-and-return system, you’re guaranteed to have the flowers you love without the high price tag of traditional wedding flowers. Our constantly expanding rental options include bouquets, boutonnieres, garlands, flower combs and crowns, centerpieces, aisle markers, and so much more for your special day.
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sbblooms/
Places to go - People to see:
Kelly's Site: http://www.kellymcwilliams.com
Kelly's Blog: https://www.kellymcwilliams.com/blog
Instagram: @kellyamcwilliams
About Kelly:
Kelly knows how incredible a well planned wedding can be. Every moment counts and every decision plays a part. Wedding planning should be fun and as easy to do as possible. Besides planning weddings, Kelly travels the globe as an industry speaker. Kelly is a Martha Stewart Top Wedding Planner & this podcast won Brides magazine and WeddingWire's best podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hello and welcome to this versus that making wedding
decisions with Kelly McWilliams.
This podcast is for you ifyou're making a wedding decision
and want to know what toconsider before saying I do to
all the things that will makeyour wedding experience a great
one.
I'm your host, kelly McWilliams, and I'm so glad to be a part
(00:30):
of your wedding planning journey.
In each episode, you can counton me and my expert wedding
co-hosts to give you everythingit takes to make the best
decisions for the wedding thatyou're dreaming of.
Hey, it's me.
We're back to this mini seriesthat we are recording in the
middle of New York Bridal MarketFashion Week at Melange de
(00:53):
Blanc.
We're brought to you by CodedAgency, which built this
incredible studio for us.
Okay, so this is the.
I think it's the one interviewthat wasn't just designers, this
is Something Borrowed Blims andI had the pleasure of speaking
(01:15):
with Lauren, who blew my mindduring this interview.
You guys, I had no idea, likenone.
So enjoy, be inspired, lookthem up, push all the buttons,
say yes, I really.
I was just blown away by thebrilliance of these two ladies.
(01:37):
Lauren was with us during theepisode just as a again as a
reminder.
Hundreds of people walking byyou guys.
There's even a coffee stationlike 15 feet right outside, and
so you might hear like it soundslike hammers, but it's really
like the espresso gettingpressed in and coffee beans
(02:02):
being ground.
It's insane here, but it justfeels the vibe.
So, but I'm so excited for thisepisode.
Okay, I'm so glad you're herewith me today, because we were
supposed to be remote doing thisand now we get to do it in
person I know so much better.
Everything happens very recently.
Yeah, except for now, we'resharing a microphone and, like,
our faces are like three inchesfrom the microphone.
(02:25):
So, guys, as you know, we're inMilan, st Blanc, in New York,
at the bridal market, and therewill likely be lots of noise
that you're hearing in thebackground, as we've heard all
morning and all day yesterday,but I'm so excited to have you
in the show because you havesomething so different from
everything else.
So, if you want to telleveryone kind of just like, well
(02:47):
, let's talk about what it isthat you have available to
engage couples, and then I wantto talk about you specifically
and how something borrowed frombeing something borrowed blooms.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Okay, perfect Can you repeat.
Yes, so happy to be here withyou.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Thank you, I'm.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Lauren, I am the co-founder and CEO of something
borrowed blooms, and wespecialize in rent and return
wedding flowers, so that meanswe use premium silk flowers to
build up collections that weoffer to couples for the weekend
of their wedding, saving themabout 70% off of fresh, warm
prices.
Oh my gosh, that much, yes,like mega savings.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Oh, I didn't know you'd come at me with that.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Everyone's ears just perked up, wait what?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yes, so we are helping couples save thousands
of dollars in the wedding budget.
In fact, an average order withsomething borrowed blooms for
the wedding is about $500 to$600.
Yeah, it's mega, mega savings.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
See, this is the one thing I hate about podcasts,
because no one can see my facewhen.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
I do things like that .
Speaker 1 (03:45):
But what you heard, my face also gave that.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yes, okay.
I know right.
So, yeah, I mean really, whenwe started this company, that
was like our mission was tooffer more affordable but also
convenient and sustainablesolution for wedding flowers.
So we're just really proud ofwhat we offer and how it all
works, and also the fact thatwe've been part of over 25,000
weddings at this point, andcouples all over the country are
(04:10):
just really resonating and justappreciating this option of
renting flowers rather thanspending so much on these
beautiful florals but at thenight they literally end up in
the trash.
So just the more, I think, justoverall, better solution to
something that has been verysegment for a while.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
I had no idea first of all, 25,000 weddings.
So how?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
long have you guys?
We've been in business foralmost eight years.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Oh, really, yeah, we have so first few years I know
right.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
So first few years that it was very much like.
Is this going to work?
Is anybody going to want torent their wedding flowers?
And since then we've beengrowing pretty crazy.
So we're doing about 1200weddings a month right now and
we ship them all throughout theUS and Canada.
Are they all coming from oneplace?
Yes, we are actually located inSouth Louisiana.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Oh get out of town.
I know another one of thosereactions.
Who would have thought?
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yeah, okay, yeah.
So we're based in Louisiana,but we're able to ship
nationwide and the process issuper simple.
So couples are able to go tothe website.
We have over 17 differentcollections to choose from.
Each collection has everythingyou need for the wedding day.
So you have bridal bouquets,bridesmaids bouquets,
boutonniers, corsages, flowergarbles, dog collars,
(05:24):
centerpieces and the threedifferent sizes garlands, and we
have a full line of decor.
So like think candlesticks andlanterns and all the other
beautiful things you want.
But what do you even do with 24lanterns after your wedding day
?
So you rent them for you knowmuch better pricing and send
them back, and so everythinggets delivered to the customer
three days before the event date, so they have it for the
(05:45):
weekend of the wedding.
We include prepaid shippinglabels, so all they do is put it
back in the box and show itback to us on the following
business day.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
So Okay, that sounds so easy.
Yeah, right, and it just I'mthinking, not only can you do it
for your wedding day, you cando it for a rehearsal dinner or
a welcome party.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
engagement parties, all the things, all the events.
Exactly that's what we'reseeing, a lot more.
We've been super focused onweddings, but now we're seeing
people say, hey, I want to usethis for my bridal shower or
after the wedding day, andthey're now hosting a baby
shower for a friend and theywant to use it for a baby shower
.
So definitely lots of ways youcan use it.
We've been, like I said, veryfocused on weddings.
You know we have a big goal ofcapturing 10% of the US wedding
(06:26):
market.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
That's like what we're going after that's a great
goal, I know right, but I thinkabout it all the time and I
keep telling myself.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
If we had 10 brides in this room right now and give
them all the options for weddingflowers, I guarantee one of
them would say yes.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Oh, for sure, For sure.
So that's what we're changing,even if, like I said, even if
you approach it from maybe youdidn't think that you could have
florals for all of yourweddings, this would allow you
to do that.
Yeah, absolutely, it's like100%.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Or, if you know, we also see a lot of couples
renting like mixing, like freshand fresh.
So you know they have a sizablebudget, they know where they
want to prioritize fresh florals.
But they're realizing, hey, Ican like still maximize my
budget.
Get like maybe the larger grandand centerpieces or maybe a lot
of garland for a beautiful archinstall.
That, would you know if youwent fresh, would cost you about
(07:17):
tens of thousands of dollars.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Whereas you can rent it and it'll call you, cost you
maybe like a couple hundred,maybe $1,500, most you know.
And I think that's the way thatpeople are kind of realizing
like wait, okay, I have, this ismy budget.
How can I make it go further?
Right, and you can make it gofurther by renting from
something Barre Blooms, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
That is so cool.
Okay, so can you explain thewhole process?
Sure, just like start to finish.
Okay, someone goes to thesomething Barre Blooms website
and then what happens there?
There's like oh, you pick acollection and is it that you
like?
It's like one package like itjust comes automatically with
all these things, or do you pickthe pieces that you need?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
You can pick and choose.
So everything's rentedindividually.
Oh, okay, so we believe thatevery bride has different needs
and we don't want to fit anybodyinto a box, so it's really
meant to be curated to exactlywhat you want.
No more, no less.
So that means every single itemis individually, like,
available for rent, or someitems are purchased.
So when you go to the website,you can look at all the
(08:16):
collections we offer.
But even if you're still kindof getting familiar with this, a
great place to go is ourInstagram page at.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
SB Blooms.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
We have so much content from like real weddings,
you'll see the collections thatlike stand out to you, so you
kind of get a feel for what weoffer.
And then we also have a privateFacebook group called SB Blooms
Insiders where we have a ton ofbride to bride collaborations
that brides posting questionsbrides posting wedding pictures
from their own weddings, andit's a really, really good
community.
So if you go to the website andyou want to like just kind of
(08:45):
get started, you can browse.
That way.
You can also take a BloomStyler quiz and we have this
little quiz where it asks youlike what's your theme, what's
your color palette, and you gothrough all the questions and
answer those and then, based onyour answers, we recommend what
we believe would be like yourtop collections that you should
consider.
Yeah, and it also builds atyour cart, depending on how big
your wedding party is.
(09:05):
So you like tell them how manybridesmaids do you have, like
how many guests do you have, andit'll suggest like a certain
number of centerpieces, acertain number of boutonniers or
Christages or whatever it mightbe.
So that's a good way to kind ofjust get started.
Like, if you are kind of like Ihave no idea what I want, don't
know where to go, that's a goodlike starting point.
And then, once you kind of getfamiliar with the collections,
you also can rent a preview packif that's something you wanted
(09:27):
to do, so you can see the itemsin person ahead of time.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
I really wish everyone could see my face right
now, because I can feel my facelike that's so smart.
Yeah, I feel so much betterjust to like, because you only
hear silk flowers and they can'treally be good Exactly, but
then to be able to see it inperson and be like oh no, this
is better than that.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, that's awesome, yeah.
So Preview Pack is any twoitems you can choose from,
either Bridesmaid Spokasus orCinderpieces, and you can mix
and match collections or pickone from the same each one.
And it's a good way to get themin person, get your hands on
them, kind of get comfortablewith.
Ok, it's the style, the quality, the color I was expecting.
It's also great to use as theplanning tool.
(10:10):
So if you have, likeBridesmaid's dress color
swatches and you're trying tofigure out, your florals with
your colors.
that works.
You can also use a centerpiece,like make a mock tablescape and
like take photos and like handit off to your day of
coordinator and say this is howI want my tables to look.
You know, it's a really goodplanning tool for that as well.
And then, if you do the PreviewPack, you also get $20 and
rewards points to use towards awedding flower order.
(10:31):
So once the Preview Pack's doneyou haven't thought of it all,
yeah.
I mean, look, we're trying tomake this like super, like
convenient and stress free forcouples.
That's obviously the goal.
So, yeah, we're trying to doeverything we can to make it
easier.
So Preview Pack is definitelysomething that you can do if you
want to kind of see it ahead oftime, but then, once you're
ready to place your order, youadd items you want to your cart.
We have a lot of couples whoalso mix and match among
(10:53):
collections, so it's a lot ofcollections that kind of like
coordinate with each other.
So, for example, if you wantedan all white bouquet for
yourself, you could go with,like, the Eloise Blanc bouquet,
and then if you wanted morecolorful centerpieces, you could
go with the Marlowecenterpieces, you know, and they
kind of work together.
So it really allows a couple toreally feel like they're
(11:15):
getting you know somethingreally custom and really what
they want, and not having tostick within just one collection
.
However, if you are someonewho's like I don't know, just
like, tell me what I need andyou stay within one collection,
then you know that every singlepiece will coordinate
beautifully and you canabsolutely do that and you'll
have a very cohesive, beautifullook as well.
So you add the items to yourcart, we place you, you want to
(11:36):
check out, you are a charge of afew percent deposit that holds
your items for your event date,and then we also have a feature
where couples are actually ableto edit their order up until 10
days before their event date.
This is something we're superpassionate about.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
We know things change .
Speaker 2 (11:51):
You know you have a bridesmaid that drops out or oh,
now you need an extra tablecounter, whatever it might be,
and rather than having to emailsomebody or, you know, make sure
that the vendor knows you needmore product, you can just log
into your customer portal, addthe items to your cart or delete
items or change collections orwhatever you need to do, and you
have, like, full control overyour order during that time and
(12:13):
then, once it's time to shipyour order, you're charged the
remaining balance and then theorder gets shipped and delivered
to you three days before theevent date and then, once you
receive those products, we'llhave a prepaid return label
inside.
You can also select to haveyour florals scented, if you
want, for your wedding day.
What so?
When you open the box, itsmells like beautiful florals.
The whole experience is reallyamazing.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Okay, I need to know how that came to be.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Okay, is there a story behind that I mean it's
not very amazing, but yes.
So the first time I ever wentto Dallas Market to source stems
, like to go to look for florals, I was walking through the temp
section and there was this guythere selling drawer liners like
in these boxes, like drawerliners and I just happened to
smell one.
I'm like, oh my God, thissmells amazing.
I'm like we could use this toscent the flowers.
(12:59):
It was just like one of thoselike aha random moments and then
I've been buying from him forlike eight years and now we have
them branded with our logo andit's a whole thing.
Wait, so do you just put it atthe bottom of the box?
Yeah, it's actually at the topof the box.
When you open it, it just likesmells like flowers.
It's so great we get so muchviewer customers like, oh my God
, I wish I had this like scentin a bottle or something like
that.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
I have goosebumps and that is not where I thought
this interview was going to go.
Like that is so smart?
Yeah, because it makes you feelmore real.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Even Exactly we never wanted this to feel like this
is something that you weresacrificing.
You know we wanted this to belike An amazing decision that
you felt so good about, and thatyou know you were getting the
same experience, if not better,than you would have gone with a
traditional florist, and so thatwas the part that we wanted to
make sure we got right.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Oh, my gosh, I'm so blown away.
Okay, so tell me how this wholething Really came to me.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Okay, so I started the company of my cousin Lincoln
so we're first cousins and westarted about eight years ago
and we were really just inspiredto start a business together
and originally rent the runwayis what just like kind of really
Got us motivated aboutsomething that was different and
that was just taking off at thetime, and we love the idea of
being able to rent a high ticketitem for a fraction of the cost
(14:10):
.
And we're like, how can we applythis concept to a different
industry and what this point inour lives we were going to
weddings every other weekendfelt like and we were seeing
friends and family trying tosave money in the wedding budget
and a lot of times that fell inthe floor on florals, but the
outcome was never really great.
You know, it's like maybe somebaby's breath and like a little
mason jar or something like thatjust wasn't a good outcome and
(14:33):
so we started talking about thatand that's kind of how this
idea collided.
And then I reflected on my ownwedding day and I had a really
bad wedding flower experience.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
You know, oh dear.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
I had to, like.
You know the whole thing liketake him off of work to meet
with multiple florists to getseveral quotes and you finally
just slide on one and then youshow her the pictures and you
assume you're on the same page.
And then they have.
The wedding shows up with thisbox of flowers that were not
what I expected, and you know bythat point it's hours before
you're walking down the aisle.
So what are you gonna do?
(15:02):
nothing, there's nothing exactly, and you've spent the thousands
of dollars and then at the endof the night they literally get
thrown away.
And I had major buyers remorse.
I was like this has got to bebetter, we have got to fix this.
And so it's kind of likereflecting on that and the
written return concept in theweddings and it all just like
collided and we're like we'regonna do, we're gonna rip
(15:24):
wedding flowers right, and Ithink that you know the main
thing was like we have to makesure they're beautiful and on
trends and they aren't like yourcraft store.
How do you want to be flowers?
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
So that's been like part of our main mission to like
sourcing the highest qualitybeautiful florals.
We also employ a lot ofactually trained florist.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Put the products together and refresh them
between every rental, so theylook just like you would expect
a fresh bouquet to look so andyou said something earlier that
Takes me off like okay, this isnot just exactly what you said,
like hobby lobby, right?
I mean nothing, I guess I'd belike yeah right immediately.
That was what was in my headexactly.
But then you said I want toDallas, yeah, to pick the blooms
(16:02):
of the stems, yeah, oh, likeyou really work on this.
Yeah, it is not just so.
Can you tell me how all of thatlike, how do you come up with
your collection?
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Yes, yeah, so we usually we usually launch one
new collection every year, okay,and it's usually about an 18 to
24 month like process in the inthe making.
So, wow, it's like we start, youknow, kind of conceptualizing
either a gap that we have in ourcurrent offering, like what are
we missing that our customersare asking for, or what are we
seeing trending that we thinkcan be popular, you know, for
(16:33):
the next few years.
And so we really spend a lot oftime just kind of researching
and deciding, like what it is wewant to offer.
And then from there We'll go tomarket, we'll source the stem.
So we'll spend a couple dayssourcing like maybe 10 different
individual stems, like not alot of products, but we spend
that much time, wow, scouringevery potential option.
And then we also work with ourvendors to customize those Stems
(16:57):
for us specifically, so we'llhave exclusive designs, like
we'll, you know, change thecolor or the petals shape or the
material type, whatever itmight be, to make it sure it's
exactly what we need.
Now this is something we'vebeen able to do as we've grown.
We've already.
We weren't buying that yeah,much product, so we didn't have
that much buying power, but nowthat we do, we can get really,
(17:18):
you know, a lot more involvedwith the Whole process of like
creating that, the product,which is really great.
And so we'll do that.
And then we'll come back andwe'll have our design team start
building out designs For eachproduct.
So it's like the bouquets, theboutonniers, like every single
item in the product line or inthe category it's built, and
then, once those are approved,then the recipes are in place
and then we start like producinglike several hundreds,
(17:41):
sometimes thousands of thosepieces, so, and then we get them
ready for lunch and then welaunch it.
In your relationship, I'mdumbfounded.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Did you know that was gonna happen?
Is it?
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yeah, is this everyone's reaction yeah, if you
, I can tell, like if they, ifthey really aren't familiar with
who you are, what we did.
When I start talking about itlike wait, what?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (18:00):
I just didn't realize it was that expensive.
Yeah, like this.
Yeah, this feels so cultured tome.
At the same time, like I did, Ithought something completely
different.
I'm blown away.
I cannot wait to like, divemore into this yeah.
And you can have a snipe andjust flowers, like there's like
Full line decor.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
So I mean like centerpieces, we have like lots
of different candlestick optionswith LED, beautiful LED candles
that look so realistic.
You rent all of those.
We have lanterns, we have likeneon signs, we have I'm trying
to think all the things Budbases oh my gosh.
Yeah, we have greenery garland.
(18:40):
You know different kind ofproducts like that as well, and
so everything gets like okay,let's take your like your
average order.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Yeah, Is it like one big box or several boxes?
Just want to give everyone kindof heads up Like this usually
looks like An average order isabout three boxes, okay, and our
box sizes are normal.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Our average, our wedding box size, what we call
it, is 2020 by 16.
Okay, and we have a centerpiecebox size which is 26 by 20 by
16.
So it's a little bit bigger,but that's about.
Average is like three boxes.
Now we also have orders thatare like 40 boxes.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
But you know what?
It's those weddings thatthey're able to have that
wedding Absolutely, becausethey're able to do it.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
This way Absolutely Like.
If you look at an order thatwould be 40 boxes, you're
probably looking at a four to$5,000 order with us, but that
literally would have beenprobably $25,000.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Exactly so.
That's the difference, you know, and so, yeah, it's insane.
It's crazy how much people cansave and it's crazy how much
product you can get for like areally reasonable amount of
money.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
And beautiful too, Absolutely.
I mean, I was just able to lookat the website a little bit,
but everything looked so prettyand I'm excited for everyone
listening to like.
Go on your Instagram and belike what is happening right now
.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Yeah, check out Instagram at SV Blooms.
And then also like one of thethings that we hear from so many
of our customers which to me,like just makes my heart like
explode, is that they say thatusing something for our blooms
was their best wedding decision.
Really, and we know how manydecisions brides make along the
wedding planning process.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
So many, I made a podcast about it.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Yes, and if you were ranking something for our blooms
as number one, like to me,there is no higher compliment
Like I'm like.
My work here is done.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
I can die now.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
This is fantastic.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Don't stop.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
I know.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
This is absolutely amazing.
I am so, so happy that you camein Thank you.
I just really didn't have anyidea, and if I didn't have any
idea that I know that everyonelistening did yeah, a few of
them are.
But this is like game changer.
Yes, I'm so excited about this,and that I mean, you know, when
the brand's been built upenough, where there's so much
(20:50):
available to choose from,they're really very excited.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Thank you me too.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
All right, thanks so much.
I'm so glad to be able to sharemy wedding experiences and
expertise with you, and that myco-hosts are so giving it theirs
.
We truly do want you to havethe best time at your wedding,
and our hope is that thispodcast is helping you to make
your engagement time whileplanning your wedding that much
(21:14):
easier.
May I ask a favor of you?
If this is the case, would youjust take a moment to leave a
review of this podcast on yourlistening platform?
It helps people just like youto find the podcast and to also
find out their answer so theycan make decisions.
I would also absolutely lovefor you to give this versus that
(21:36):
podcast a shout out on yoursocial media.
You can find us at this versusthat wedding podcast on
Instagram, and if you would likeme to help you with a specific
question, a wedding decision,please by all means ask, send me
a DM.
I would love to hear from youand maybe, just maybe even have
(21:57):
you as a wedding guest on afuture episode.
How fun.
We'll see you soon at anothergreat wedding.
Hello and welcome to this versus that making wedding
decisions with Kelly McWilliams.
This podcast is for you ifyou're making a wedding decision
and want to know what toconsider before saying I do to
all the things that will makeyour wedding experience a great
one.
I'm your host, kelly McWilliams, and I'm so glad to be a part
(00:30):
of your wedding planning journey.
In each episode, you can counton me and my expert wedding
co-hosts to give you everythingit takes to make the best
decisions for the wedding thatyou're dreaming of.
Hey, it's me.
We're back to this mini seriesthat we are recording in the
middle of New York Bridal MarketFashion Week at Melange de
(00:53):
Blanc.
We're brought to you by CodedAgency, which built this
incredible studio for us.
Okay, so this is the.
I think it's the one interviewthat wasn't just designers, this
is Something Borrowed Blims andI had the pleasure of speaking
(01:15):
with Lauren, who blew my mindduring this interview.
You guys, I had no idea, likenone.
So enjoy, be inspired, lookthem up, push all the buttons,
say yes, I really.
I was just blown away by thebrilliance of these two ladies.
(01:37):
Lauren was with us during theepisode just as a again as a
reminder.
Hundreds of people walking byyou guys.
There's even a coffee stationlike 15 feet right outside, and
so you might hear like it soundslike hammers, but it's really
like the espresso gettingpressed in and coffee beans
(02:02):
being ground.
It's insane here, but it justfeels the vibe.
So, but I'm so excited for thisepisode.
Okay, I'm so glad you're herewith me today, because we were
supposed to be remote doing thisand now we get to do it in
person I know so much better.
Everything happens very recently.
Yeah, except for now, we'resharing a microphone and, like,
our faces are like three inchesfrom the microphone.
(02:25):
So, guys, as you know, we're inMilan, st Blanc, in New York,
at the bridal market, and therewill likely be lots of noise
that you're hearing in thebackground, as we've heard all
morning and all day yesterday,but I'm so excited to have you
in the show because you havesomething so different from
everything else.
So, if you want to telleveryone kind of just like, well
(02:47):
, let's talk about what it isthat you have available to
engage couples, and then I wantto talk about you specifically
and how something borrowed frombeing something borrowed blooms.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Okay, perfect Can you repeat.
Yes, so happy to be here withyou.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Thank you, I'm.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Lauren, I am the co-founder and CEO of something
borrowed blooms, and wespecialize in rent and return
wedding flowers, so that meanswe use premium silk flowers to
build up collections that weoffer to couples for the weekend
of their wedding, saving themabout 70% off of fresh, warm
prices.
Oh my gosh, that much, yes,like mega savings.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Oh, I didn't know you'd come at me with that.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Everyone's ears just perked up, wait what?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yes, so we are helping couples save thousands
of dollars in the wedding budget.
In fact, an average order withsomething borrowed blooms for
the wedding is about $500 to$600.
Yeah, it's mega, mega savings.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
See, this is the one thing I hate about podcasts,
because no one can see my facewhen.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
I do things like that .
Speaker 1 (03:45):
But what you heard, my face also gave that.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yes, okay.
I know right.
So, yeah, I mean really, whenwe started this company, that
was like our mission was tooffer more affordable but also
convenient and sustainablesolution for wedding flowers.
So we're just really proud ofwhat we offer and how it all
works, and also the fact thatwe've been part of over 25,000
weddings at this point, andcouples all over the country are
(04:10):
just really resonating and justappreciating this option of
renting flowers rather thanspending so much on these
beautiful florals but at thenight they literally end up in
the trash.
So just the more, I think, justoverall, better solution to
something that has been verysegment for a while.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
I had no idea first of all, 25,000 weddings.
So how?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
long have you guys?
We've been in business foralmost eight years.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Oh, really, yeah, we have so first few years I know
right.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
So first few years that it was very much like.
Is this going to work?
Is anybody going to want torent their wedding flowers?
And since then we've beengrowing pretty crazy.
So we're doing about 1200weddings a month right now and
we ship them all throughout theUS and Canada.
Are they all coming from oneplace?
Yes, we are actually located inSouth Louisiana.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Oh get out of town.
I know another one of thosereactions.
Who would have thought?
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yeah, okay, yeah.
So we're based in Louisiana,but we're able to ship
nationwide and the process issuper simple.
So couples are able to go tothe website.
We have over 17 differentcollections to choose from.
Each collection has everythingyou need for the wedding day.
So you have bridal bouquets,bridesmaids bouquets,
boutonniers, corsages, flowergarbles, dog collars,
(05:24):
centerpieces and the threedifferent sizes garlands, and we
have a full line of decor.
So like think candlesticks andlanterns and all the other
beautiful things you want.
But what do you even do with 24lanterns after your wedding day
?
So you rent them for you knowmuch better pricing and send
them back, and so everythinggets delivered to the customer
three days before the event date, so they have it for the
(05:45):
weekend of the wedding.
We include prepaid shippinglabels, so all they do is put it
back in the box and show itback to us on the following
business day.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
So Okay, that sounds so easy.
Yeah, right, and it just I'mthinking, not only can you do it
for your wedding day, you cando it for a rehearsal dinner or
a welcome party.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
engagement parties, all the things, all the events.
Exactly that's what we'reseeing, a lot more.
We've been super focused onweddings, but now we're seeing
people say, hey, I want to usethis for my bridal shower or
after the wedding day, andthey're now hosting a baby
shower for a friend and theywant to use it for a baby shower
.
So definitely lots of ways youcan use it.
We've been, like I said, veryfocused on weddings.
You know we have a big goal ofcapturing 10% of the US wedding
(06:26):
market.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
That's like what we're going after that's a great
goal, I know right, but I thinkabout it all the time and I
keep telling myself.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
If we had 10 brides in this room right now and give
them all the options for weddingflowers, I guarantee one of
them would say yes.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Oh, for sure, For sure.
So that's what we're changing,even if, like I said, even if
you approach it from maybe youdidn't think that you could have
florals for all of yourweddings, this would allow you
to do that.
Yeah, absolutely, it's like100%.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Or, if you know, we also see a lot of couples
renting like mixing, like freshand fresh.
So you know they have a sizablebudget, they know where they
want to prioritize fresh florals.
But they're realizing, hey, Ican like still maximize my
budget.
Get like maybe the larger grandand centerpieces or maybe a lot
of garland for a beautiful archinstall.
That, would you know if youwent fresh, would cost you about
(07:17):
tens of thousands of dollars.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Whereas you can rent it and it'll call you, cost you
maybe like a couple hundred,maybe $1,500, most you know.
And I think that's the way thatpeople are kind of realizing
like wait, okay, I have, this ismy budget.
How can I make it go further?
Right, and you can make it gofurther by renting from
something Barre Blooms, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
That is so cool.
Okay, so can you explain thewhole process?
Sure, just like start to finish.
Okay, someone goes to thesomething Barre Blooms website
and then what happens there?
There's like oh, you pick acollection and is it that you
like?
It's like one package like itjust comes automatically with
all these things, or do you pickthe pieces that you need?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
You can pick and choose.
So everything's rentedindividually.
Oh, okay, so we believe thatevery bride has different needs
and we don't want to fit anybodyinto a box, so it's really
meant to be curated to exactlywhat you want.
No more, no less.
So that means every single itemis individually, like,
available for rent, or someitems are purchased.
So when you go to the website,you can look at all the
(08:16):
collections we offer.
But even if you're still kindof getting familiar with this, a
great place to go is ourInstagram page at.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
SB Blooms.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
We have so much content from like real weddings,
you'll see the collections thatlike stand out to you, so you
kind of get a feel for what weoffer.
And then we also have a privateFacebook group called SB Blooms
Insiders where we have a ton ofbride to bride collaborations
that brides posting questionsbrides posting wedding pictures
from their own weddings, andit's a really, really good
community.
So if you go to the website andyou want to like just kind of
(08:45):
get started, you can browse.
That way.
You can also take a BloomStyler quiz and we have this
little quiz where it asks youlike what's your theme, what's
your color palette, and you gothrough all the questions and
answer those and then, based onyour answers, we recommend what
we believe would be like yourtop collections that you should
consider.
Yeah, and it also builds atyour cart, depending on how big
your wedding party is.
(09:05):
So you like tell them how manybridesmaids do you have, like
how many guests do you have, andit'll suggest like a certain
number of centerpieces, acertain number of boutonniers or
Christages or whatever it mightbe.
So that's a good way to kind ofjust get started.
Like, if you are kind of like Ihave no idea what I want, don't
know where to go, that's a goodlike starting point.
And then, once you kind of getfamiliar with the collections,
you also can rent a preview packif that's something you wanted
(09:27):
to do, so you can see the itemsin person ahead of time.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
I really wish everyone could see my face right
now, because I can feel my facelike that's so smart.
Yeah, I feel so much betterjust to like, because you only
hear silk flowers and they can'treally be good Exactly, but
then to be able to see it inperson and be like oh no, this
is better than that.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, that's awesome, yeah.
So Preview Pack is any twoitems you can choose from,
either Bridesmaid Spokasus orCinderpieces, and you can mix
and match collections or pickone from the same each one.
And it's a good way to get themin person, get your hands on
them, kind of get comfortablewith.
Ok, it's the style, the quality, the color I was expecting.
It's also great to use as theplanning tool.
(10:10):
So if you have, likeBridesmaid's dress color
swatches and you're trying tofigure out, your florals with
your colors.
that works.
You can also use a centerpiece,like make a mock tablescape and
like take photos and like handit off to your day of
coordinator and say this is howI want my tables to look.
You know, it's a really goodplanning tool for that as well.
And then, if you do the PreviewPack, you also get $20 and
rewards points to use towards awedding flower order.
(10:31):
So once the Preview Pack's doneyou haven't thought of it all,
yeah.
I mean, look, we're trying tomake this like super, like
convenient and stress free forcouples.
That's obviously the goal.
So, yeah, we're trying to doeverything we can to make it
easier.
So Preview Pack is definitelysomething that you can do if you
want to kind of see it ahead oftime, but then, once you're
ready to place your order, youadd items you want to your cart.
We have a lot of couples whoalso mix and match among
(10:53):
collections, so it's a lot ofcollections that kind of like
coordinate with each other.
So, for example, if you wantedan all white bouquet for
yourself, you could go with,like, the Eloise Blanc bouquet,
and then if you wanted morecolorful centerpieces, you could
go with the Marlowecenterpieces, you know, and they
kind of work together.
So it really allows a couple toreally feel like they're
(11:15):
getting you know somethingreally custom and really what
they want, and not having tostick within just one collection
.
However, if you are someonewho's like I don't know, just
like, tell me what I need andyou stay within one collection,
then you know that every singlepiece will coordinate
beautifully and you canabsolutely do that and you'll
have a very cohesive, beautifullook as well.
So you add the items to yourcart, we place you, you want to
(11:36):
check out, you are a charge of afew percent deposit that holds
your items for your event date,and then we also have a feature
where couples are actually ableto edit their order up until 10
days before their event date.
This is something we're superpassionate about.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
We know things change .
Speaker 2 (11:51):
You know you have a bridesmaid that drops out or oh,
now you need an extra tablecounter, whatever it might be,
and rather than having to emailsomebody or, you know, make sure
that the vendor knows you needmore product, you can just log
into your customer portal, addthe items to your cart or delete
items or change collections orwhatever you need to do, and you
have, like, full control overyour order during that time and
(12:13):
then, once it's time to shipyour order, you're charged the
remaining balance and then theorder gets shipped and delivered
to you three days before theevent date and then, once you
receive those products, we'llhave a prepaid return label
inside.
You can also select to haveyour florals scented, if you
want, for your wedding day.
What so?
When you open the box, itsmells like beautiful florals.
The whole experience is reallyamazing.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Okay, I need to know how that came to be.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Okay, is there a story behind that I mean it's
not very amazing, but yes.
So the first time I ever wentto Dallas Market to source stems
, like to go to look for florals, I was walking through the temp
section and there was this guythere selling drawer liners like
in these boxes, like drawerliners and I just happened to
smell one.
I'm like, oh my God, thissmells amazing.
I'm like we could use this toscent the flowers.
(12:59):
It was just like one of thoselike aha random moments and then
I've been buying from him forlike eight years and now we have
them branded with our logo andit's a whole thing.
Wait, so do you just put it atthe bottom of the box?
Yeah, it's actually at the topof the box.
When you open it, it just likesmells like flowers.
It's so great we get so muchviewer customers like, oh my God
, I wish I had this like scentin a bottle or something like
that.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
I have goosebumps and that is not where I thought
this interview was going to go.
Like that is so smart?
Yeah, because it makes you feelmore real.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Even Exactly we never wanted this to feel like this
is something that you weresacrificing.
You know we wanted this to belike An amazing decision that
you felt so good about, and thatyou know you were getting the
same experience, if not better,than you would have gone with a
traditional florist, and so thatwas the part that we wanted to
make sure we got right.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Oh, my gosh, I'm so blown away.
Okay, so tell me how this wholething Really came to me.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Okay, so I started the company of my cousin Lincoln
so we're first cousins and westarted about eight years ago
and we were really just inspiredto start a business together
and originally rent the runwayis what just like kind of really
Got us motivated aboutsomething that was different and
that was just taking off at thetime, and we love the idea of
being able to rent a high ticketitem for a fraction of the cost
(14:10):
.
And we're like, how can we applythis concept to a different
industry and what this point inour lives we were going to
weddings every other weekendfelt like and we were seeing
friends and family trying tosave money in the wedding budget
and a lot of times that fell inthe floor on florals, but the
outcome was never really great.
You know, it's like maybe somebaby's breath and like a little
mason jar or something like thatjust wasn't a good outcome and
(14:33):
so we started talking about thatand that's kind of how this
idea collided.
And then I reflected on my ownwedding day and I had a really
bad wedding flower experience.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
You know, oh dear.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
I had to, like.
You know the whole thing liketake him off of work to meet
with multiple florists to getseveral quotes and you finally
just slide on one and then youshow her the pictures and you
assume you're on the same page.
And then they have.
The wedding shows up with thisbox of flowers that were not
what I expected, and you know bythat point it's hours before
you're walking down the aisle.
So what are you gonna do?
(15:02):
nothing, there's nothing exactly, and you've spent the thousands
of dollars and then at the endof the night they literally get
thrown away.
And I had major buyers remorse.
I was like this has got to bebetter, we have got to fix this.
And so it's kind of likereflecting on that and the
written return concept in theweddings and it all just like
collided and we're like we'regonna do, we're gonna rip
(15:24):
wedding flowers right, and Ithink that you know the main
thing was like we have to makesure they're beautiful and on
trends and they aren't like yourcraft store.
How do you want to be flowers?
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
So that's been like part of our main mission to like
sourcing the highest qualitybeautiful florals.
We also employ a lot ofactually trained florist.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Put the products together and refresh them
between every rental, so theylook just like you would expect
a fresh bouquet to look so andyou said something earlier that
Takes me off like okay, this isnot just exactly what you said,
like hobby lobby, right?
I mean nothing, I guess I'd belike yeah right immediately.
That was what was in my headexactly.
But then you said I want toDallas, yeah, to pick the blooms
(16:02):
of the stems, yeah, oh, likeyou really work on this.
Yeah, it is not just so.
Can you tell me how all of thatlike, how do you come up with
your collection?
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Yes, yeah, so we usually we usually launch one
new collection every year, okay,and it's usually about an 18 to
24 month like process in the inthe making.
So, wow, it's like we start, youknow, kind of conceptualizing
either a gap that we have in ourcurrent offering, like what are
we missing that our customersare asking for, or what are we
seeing trending that we thinkcan be popular, you know, for
(16:33):
the next few years.
And so we really spend a lot oftime just kind of researching
and deciding, like what it is wewant to offer.
And then from there We'll go tomarket, we'll source the stem.
So we'll spend a couple dayssourcing like maybe 10 different
individual stems, like not alot of products, but we spend
that much time, wow, scouringevery potential option.
And then we also work with ourvendors to customize those Stems
(16:57):
for us specifically, so we'llhave exclusive designs, like
we'll, you know, change thecolor or the petals shape or the
material type, whatever itmight be, to make it sure it's
exactly what we need.
Now this is something we'vebeen able to do as we've grown.
We've already.
We weren't buying that yeah,much product, so we didn't have
that much buying power, but nowthat we do, we can get really,
(17:18):
you know, a lot more involvedwith the Whole process of like
creating that, the product,which is really great.
And so we'll do that.
And then we'll come back andwe'll have our design team start
building out designs For eachproduct.
So it's like the bouquets, theboutonniers, like every single
item in the product line or inthe category it's built, and
then, once those are approved,then the recipes are in place
and then we start like producinglike several hundreds,
(17:41):
sometimes thousands of thosepieces, so, and then we get them
ready for lunch and then welaunch it.
In your relationship, I'mdumbfounded.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Did you know that was gonna happen?
Is it?
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yeah, is this everyone's reaction yeah, if you
, I can tell, like if they, ifthey really aren't familiar with
who you are, what we did.
When I start talking about itlike wait, what?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (18:00):
I just didn't realize it was that expensive.
Yeah, like this.
Yeah, this feels so cultured tome.
At the same time, like I did, Ithought something completely
different.
I'm blown away.
I cannot wait to like, divemore into this yeah.
And you can have a snipe andjust flowers, like there's like
Full line decor.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
So I mean like centerpieces, we have like lots
of different candlestick optionswith LED, beautiful LED candles
that look so realistic.
You rent all of those.
We have lanterns, we have likeneon signs, we have I'm trying
to think all the things Budbases oh my gosh.
Yeah, we have greenery garland.
(18:40):
You know different kind ofproducts like that as well, and
so everything gets like okay,let's take your like your
average order.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Yeah, Is it like one big box or several boxes?
Just want to give everyone kindof heads up Like this usually
looks like An average order isabout three boxes, okay, and our
box sizes are normal.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Our average, our wedding box size, what we call
it, is 2020 by 16.
Okay, and we have a centerpiecebox size which is 26 by 20 by
16.
So it's a little bit bigger,but that's about.
Average is like three boxes.
Now we also have orders thatare like 40 boxes.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
But you know what?
It's those weddings thatthey're able to have that
wedding Absolutely, becausethey're able to do it.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
This way Absolutely Like.
If you look at an order thatwould be 40 boxes, you're
probably looking at a four to$5,000 order with us, but that
literally would have beenprobably $25,000.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Exactly so.
That's the difference, you know, and so, yeah, it's insane.
It's crazy how much people cansave and it's crazy how much
product you can get for like areally reasonable amount of
money.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
And beautiful too, Absolutely.
I mean, I was just able to lookat the website a little bit,
but everything looked so prettyand I'm excited for everyone
listening to like.
Go on your Instagram and belike what is happening right now
.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Yeah, check out Instagram at SV Blooms.
And then also like one of thethings that we hear from so many
of our customers which to me,like just makes my heart like
explode, is that they say thatusing something for our blooms
was their best wedding decision.
Really, and we know how manydecisions brides make along the
wedding planning process.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
So many, I made a podcast about it.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Yes, and if you were ranking something for our blooms
as number one, like to me,there is no higher compliment
Like I'm like.
My work here is done.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
I can die now.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
This is fantastic.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Don't stop.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
I know.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
This is absolutely amazing.
I am so, so happy that you camein Thank you.
I just really didn't have anyidea, and if I didn't have any
idea that I know that everyonelistening did yeah, a few of
them are.
But this is like game changer.
Yes, I'm so excited about this,and that I mean, you know, when
the brand's been built upenough, where there's so much
(20:50):
available to choose from,they're really very excited.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Thank you me too.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
All right, thanks so much.
I'm so glad to be able to sharemy wedding experiences and
expertise with you, and that myco-hosts are so giving it theirs
.
We truly do want you to havethe best time at your wedding,
and our hope is that thispodcast is helping you to make
your engagement time whileplanning your wedding that much
(21:14):
easier.
May I ask a favor of you?
If this is the case, would youjust take a moment to leave a
review of this podcast on yourlistening platform?
It helps people just like youto find the podcast and to also
find out their answer so theycan make decisions.
I would also absolutely lovefor you to give this versus that
(21:36):
podcast a shout out on yoursocial media.
You can find us at this versusthat wedding podcast on
Instagram, and if you would likeme to help you with a specific
question, a wedding decision,please by all means ask, send me
a DM.
I would love to hear from youand maybe, just maybe even have
(21:57):
you as a wedding guest on afuture episode.
How fun.
We'll see you soon at anothergreat wedding.
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