From Big Plans to Micro Weddings: Poppy's Adaptation

When stay-at-home orders went into effect, emails flooded our inbox. Weddings were postponed or cancelled, and, just like that, our busy season came to a halt. I actually had to pull down some social media posts we had planned, one captioned… “heading into wedding season like…” 😬 Busy season suddenly didn’t exist, and we didn’t know where this wild ride was going to take us.

Before COVID hit, investors were predicting an economic downturn in general, and I believed Poppy would actually thrive in a recession, which is why I pressed ahead. It’s fundamentally true that people, regardless of the economy, have gotten married and celebrated with weddings for thousands of years. Flowers have been an important part of weddings (and all celebrations) for nearly as long. And in a recession, weddings, and flower budgets, tend to become more modest. Our business is structured to cater to that customer exactly.

It was one of you who helped us see beyond the corona fog. That really, we Poppy was built for all weddings, including small intimate gatherings, even a quick 2-person courthouse celebration. Caroline, a Poppy bride, inspired us to create The Micro Wedding Package when she kept her wedding date, got married in an intimate ceremony, and wanted flowers to commemorate the day. She handled a monumental change in her wedding plans with utter grace and kindness, and she’s gone on to send many Poppy At Home kits to friends and family across the country. (We ❤️ you, Caroline!)

When you strip it all away, stop agonizing over seating charts, and maybe cancel that spray tan you were going to test out for the first time for your wedding… you see what matters. I know how stressful planning a big wedding can be firsthand, because I’ve been right in your shoes -- through many long nights, pull-out-your hair type stress, desperate to please everyone (sometimes forgetting yourself), and feeling like suddenly you’ve taken on a second full-time job.

Even though it was more than three years ago now, I still remember the Tuesday before my wedding like it was yesterday. Somehow, I’d completely neglected to realize that we’d need a crew to break down our floral decor (it was my first big wedding flower production, and also my wedding week...stressful). I was scrambling, texting, DM’ing, emailing, desperate to find someone to come to our venue at midnight to tear down thousands and thousands of flowers. Then, looking at my budget spreadsheet, the enormity of how over-budget I went came crashing down on me. I was so overwhelmed, underslept, and anxious, that I called my dad sobbing saying I thought we should just call the whole thing off and elope. (Not the first time this suggestion had been made during the course of wedding planning.) Of course, we didn’t call it off, and the wedding was beautiful and so fun, but I wish it had come without the crushing stress of that week.

But I’m not the only one who has a “Oh, sh*t” wedding planning story, so, Rachel, take it away...

Hi everyone 👋I think I take the cake here. I am recently married, just a few months into marriage so wedding planning is fresh in my mind – the special sweet moments, and the not so sweet moments. Like Cameron, my husband and I discussed eloping on a number of occasions when stress would peak.

As the wedding grew closer, my stress exponentially increased – steeply. One fateful evening, while my husband was on a work trip in Malawi, I discovered that the hotel had accidentally charged us a higher rate for one of the rooms. Before I tell you what I did next, I have to give you some context. We had a few disagreements with our hotel/venue, and there were at times some miscommunication and perhaps some tension. Finances weighed heavily on our shoulders and making sure we were pleasing our loved ones made that feel just a touch heavier. SO – upon this discovery, I reached for my phone at 1am to fervently text my now husband… “these bitches are charging us $480 when they told us it should be $345… I HATE these people.” Yeah – I accidentally texted our contact at the hotel, not my husband, who politely replied with, “Hey – was this intended to be sent to me? Anything I can do to help?” 😳 I was so embarrassed. Our wedding did go according to plan, and my sweet contact at the hotel accepted my apology. Luckily, we can all laugh at it now, but if I could go back in time and tell myself to chill, I would.

Please don’t misunderstand us. We want you to have that party. Celebrate it up, pop those bottles of champagne, and live in that post-wedding glow for days and weeks to follow. But, maybe you’ll get to avoid those pull-out-your hair stress moments, and “OMFG, I just texted the venue, ‘I HATE THESE PEOPLE.’”

I know you’ve heard this, your love is all that really matters, blah blah blah. Some relate, some don’t, and all are just disappointed - we get it. But, even a global pandemic will not keep love from winning because love always wins. Our “covid couples” have told us they still get that butterfly knot in their stomachs, feel the purest joy they’ve ever felt, and live in that wedding glow for days and weeks after they say I do.

2020 couples deserve the party more than anyone. But, for now, we’re still here for you. Whether you’re getting married at the courthouse, by the romantic glow of a zoom chat room, or in your backyard, you can count on your Poppy pals for the beautiful bridal bouquet of your dreams.

You can take away the party (for now!), but you can’t take away the feeling ❤️

Poppy was built for micro weddings 💐

Build your custom proposal.

Poppy was built for micro weddings 💐

Love this story?

Build your custom proposal.