Simply by attaching the word “wedding” to something, the price can go up ten-fold. Weddings are expensive, and sometimes it’s hard to cut corners and find a way around extravagant prices.
Flowers are a large part of many weddings, and it’s estimated that an average wedding could mean spending over $2,000 on flowers. The startup, Something Borrowed Blooms wants to change this, and they are offering silk flowers that couples can rent for their weddings.
The Benefits of Silk Flowers
Something Borrowed Blooms sells boutonnieres (which grooms pin to their suit), bridal and bridesmaid bouquets, corsages, centerpieces, crowns, aisle markers, garlands, and more.
The company is very detail oriented and so they hand select each of the flowers they sell. The flowers are purchased from premium suppliers that specialize in silk flowers. These flowers are meant to look as realistic as possible, so they will look great both in-person and in wedding photos.
Silk flowers are also more environmentally-friendly than traditional flowers. Because they don’t wilt, they can be reused and you never have to worry about disposing of a bunch of flowers once the wedding ends. The ability to reuse the flowers helps to keep prices well below the costs of regular flowers too.
Getting Flowers
All flowers can be purchased from the Something Borrowed Bloom website. It’s as simple as selecting the design you want and adding it to the cart. They ship anywhere in the United States and Canada.
While it is possible to mix and match flowers from different collections, the company does not currently make custom arrangements.
Couples will need to put down a 50% deposit when they initially rent the flowers online and the other 50% will be due when the flowers have been prepared for them. This will probably be around ten days before the flowers are shipped.
Any cancellations or changes to an order must be done 90 days prior to the rental date.
The flowers will be delivered two days before the day of the wedding.
If a couple really loves their bridal bouquet and they don’t want to let it go, they can choose to buy it. The price for buying a bouquet is around $200.
Starting the Business
Something Borrowed Blooms was founded in 2015 by cousins, Lauren Bercier and Laken Swan.
Both are from Louisiana and attended The University of Louisiana at Lafayette. When they came up with the idea for Something Borrowed Blooms they wanted to learn more about flowers before starting the business.
The two went to the flower district in New York, where they learned about flower arrangements and found wholesalers for quality silk flowers. When they returned to Louisiana, they began arranging the silk flowers they got from New York and eventually created Something Borrowed Blooms.
The idea to make the flowers rentable was inspired by “Rent the Runway,” an online website that helps people rent clothes and accessories online, as it can be much more cost-effective than buying.
The company is completely online and does not have a physical location or store. While both Bercier and Swan live in different parts of Louisiana, a fully-online business means they can both work together and contribute to the business.
Success and Plans for the Future
Currently, Something Borrowed Blooms supplies flowers for around one-hundred weddings every month. They plan to increase this number in the future.
In 2017, their flowers were shown in the New York Bridal Fashion Week where they caught the interest of some large bridal companies.
They were also selected for the WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Award in January of 2018, and in April 2018, the company was chosen as the winner of the Startup of the Year by Junior Achievement of Acadiana 21st Business Hall of Fame
With all the attention they are garnering, Something Borrowed Blooms is very optimistic about expanding and supporting more weddings in the future.
In the end, the flowers aren’t the most important part of anyone’s wedding day, but they are still important. Beautiful flowers can really make a wedding venue look special and they also add beauty to wedding photos. With so many things to worry about on a wedding day, Something Borrowed Blooms wants to give the happy couple one less thing to think about.
