How Poppy Executes from Vision to Final Product

Photo Credit:  Jared Minnix Photography from a Poppy wedding in Floyd, VA in October 2021.

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We’re first to do this, and we know you have questions. 

Shopping online for wedding flowers is a new experience. Poppy knew that modern couples would benefit from the simplicity and efficiency of this process, and that’s why we built our model. 

With most couples spending an average of $2,300 on their wedding flowers (that’s the average Poppy wedding customer, too), they want to be sure they’re getting a product that matches their vision. There’s the real-time factor of enjoying lush, beautiful blooms that enhance the magic of your special day. And, there’s the photo-op factor of ensuring that the flowers photograph well. A floral budget encompasses personals (flowers that you carry or wear) as well as ceremony and reception decor. It’s a lot to think about, especially if you’re not knowledgeable about flowers. 

The spend includes flowers – and expertise. 

At Poppy, you get access to a floral expert who can shape your vision and guide your decision making. Plus, your spend includes beautiful wedding flowers. Many florists in major cities have minimums in excess of $5,000. The Poppy minimum is $1,500, and you might be thinking that sounds too good to be true.

We promise that Poppy flowers are the real deal. Our team is the real deal, too. We get the work done with a streamlined digital sales process and by leveraging the benefits of farm-direct flower sourcing. 

This is a glimpse into the ordering, farm-sourcing and designing processes we use so you can understand how Poppy executes from vision to final product. 

First, Your Vision

Let’s start with your introduction to Poppy. 

Maybe you came to us through an ad, or you found us through Instagram. You might start by looking at photos of our weddings, reading a blog post – just like this one – or by taking our wedding style quiz. The quiz is a helpful tool for you, the customer, to think clearly and realistically about what your wedding vision will look like when it’s interpreted in florals. 

For example, you might know that you want a blush and cream palette, or that your style is minimalist, but how does that translate to flowers? You’ll swipe through a series of images to distill your style. Once you’ve indicated what colors, shapes and vibes speak to you, one of our Poppy wedding specialists will have enough information to start a conversation about your event. 

So, yes, you’ll be online shopping – but it’s an experience powered by a real person. 

Meet Your Poppy Wedding Specialist

Your wedding specialist drafts a proposal for you that reflects your style, flower preferences, budget, date and location, and the quantities of personals and arrangements to support your wedding party and location. This part of the process is very interactive. You can place your order using the digital proposal and its comment feature, or you can talk to your wedding specialist on the phone. You might find reassurance in the person on the other end of the line, but once your major questions are answered, lean on the comments. (You: “Can I add more greenery to this bouquet?” Poppy Wedding Specialist: “Yup! Let me explain some options.”)

When you’ve booked your date with your deposit, you’ll keep in touch with your wedding specialist. This is the Poppy point of contact you’ll rely on to answer any questions leading up to your big day. We don’t expect major changes to orders after contracts are finalized, but we fully understand the tardy-to-RSVP relative who needs a corsage or boutonniere. 

For every item you order, there’s a corresponding recipe that outlines the quantities of each flower and piece of greenery within. Because Poppy orders directly from a farm, we can fulfill your order exactly. This is a major differentiator in the floral industry; most florists order through wholesalers. Poppy’s flowers are grown specifically for us.

Next, the Actual Flowers

Let’s walk through the farm-direct buying that makes Poppy so unique. 

First, we’re really proud to say that Poppy’s flowers are fair trade certified and have the distinctions of being Rainforest Alliance, Flor Ecuador and Florverde Sustainable Flowers. These flowers are of the highest quality possible, and they’re the result of honest negotiations between Poppy and our farmers. 

You’re putting your buying power behind a brand doing good for the world (and especially doing good for women!), but above all, you want your flowers to look beautiful. Here’s how our farm-direct sourcing accomplishes that. 

What Farm-Direct Buying Means for You

Your wedding flowers are harvested a week before your event and shipped directly to your designer. This means that the flowers are being touched by as few hands as possible, and they’re at peak freshness. 

Because flowers don’t pass through a wholesaler, there’s no markup on their cost and no needless bundling of stems beyond the quantities called for in your unique recipes. You pay for exactly what you order. 

What’s more, if a force of nature (yes, a literal force of nature) affects a particular crop, Poppy communicates directly with our farm to find a replacement for anything that will alter your order. And, of course, your wedding specialist communicates this to you. 

Knowing that your farm-fresh flowers are shipping directly to your floral designer takes us to the final step in our execution from vision to product.  

Last, the Final Product

Poppy has a network of 438 (and growing) freelance floral designers. They’re experienced florists with extensive design portfolios who have met Poppy’s criteria for flower preparation, care and arrangement. While your go-to is your wedding specialist, the designer has two go-tos: the wedding specialist and the design specialist. 

Here’s how that team works together. 

The wedding specialist sends your proposal with all the notes specific to your order over to the design specialist. The design specialist interprets the order specifications into recipes so that the exact order can be fulfilled from the farm, and so the designer can read the recipe to create arrangements. Those recipes are sent to the designer so she can begin studying for your wedding. 

One Week Ahead

The week of your wedding, the designer personally receives a shipment containing your flowers. She unboxes them with expert care, then trims the flowers and places them in water. Using a custom timeline she created from the recipes and the complexity of items in your order, the designer begins arranging. She’ll send photos of the finished pieces to the design specialist for review. If anything needs to be tweaked, the design specialist will communicate that; otherwise, items are approved. 

The designer then delivers all flowers to your venue and, if necessary, completes any installations onsite. 

We’re digitizing the process, but our team is real – and passionate about flowers. 

This is how the Poppy process unfolds from vision to final product. There’s an entire team working to make this line item on your wedding budget more affordable, and this to-do on your wedding list a lot more manageable.

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