Lucky Penny Floral - Flowers for brides on a budget

Lucky Penny Floral is a just the basics floral shop. They have a fun quiz on their website to help you figure out your style and voila-wedding flowers done basically! Listen in as CEO Carey tells us about her biz.

Photo credit @julies_journey for Lucky Penny Floral

Meet Carey Williams

YOUR BUSINESS

Lucky Penny Floral

How long have you been in business?

I launched Spring of 2017 , 3 years end of April

What areas do you serve?

Baltimore, DC, Annapolis, Frederick - 60 miles from Baltimore City

Why did you decide to start your own business?

I felt there was a customer base that wasn't being served in the Baltimore area. Clients that didn't require full service wedding florals but also didn't want to DIY their flowers had no alternatives. Creating a model of scaled back services also fit my lifestyle as a new at- home mom.

What's the coolest thing about owning your own business?

Calling the shots!

LET’S GET TO THE FUN STUFF!

What challenges have you had to overcome?

The biggest challenge with my personal experience has been raising a young family and at the same time raising a young business. Both are totally demanding and there are many days where I worry that I'm not doing either as best I can. Most days being an at home mom of 2 and 4 year old boys are filled with joy, but can also feel isolating (especially compared to my workforce experience in the beverage industry) and so can starting a business. Both are obviously really rewarding at times but there's a lot of potential to feel a victim of the highs and lows. I don't know that I necessarily recommend starting a business at the same time as starting a family... I know this will be a time in my life I look back on and seriously wonder how I got through it. You just have to tell yourself again and again, it's all happening as it should and neither endeavor can be rushed.

What advice could you offer to someone starting a business like yours?

The market is saturated with florists and wedding services. Don't launch until you can confidently and succinctly say how you are completely different from the competition. For example, the Lucky Penny model puts the client in control of flower buying with a convenient and straightforward online platform. Clients pick their price point and customize their palette as well as vessels and trimmings by shopping a la carte on the web. Clients select a pick up or delivery option choosing the date and time that suits their day-of timeline best. This model doesn't exist elsewhere except as a sort of streamlined 'little sister' option under a full service floral parent company; which I personally feel dilutes the brand of the parent company. If the so called parent company is maintaining an overhead, payroll and other fixed expenses, how can they afford to produce work for less? This must be confusing for their bottom line and for the customer b/c I feel that no one is served when a business tries to be all things to all people.

What's the craziest thing you've seen happen at a wedding?

Lucky Penny is a drop off service only, we don't provide set up or breakdown of events and generally speaking do not have face time with our clients. For my own experience, I got a kidney stone a few days before my wedding so that was kind of outrageous. I opted out of surgery but was on some pretty intense pain medication leading up to the big day- there were definitely some 16 candles moments that week. But I pulled through for the weekend away and faced it without the crazy morphine, and was spared pain for the main events, I think I was just running on adrenalin... but I can attest that the kidney stone was far worse pain than un-augmented child birth.

ALL ABOUT CAREY’S WEDDING

What, if anything, would you change about your wedding?

My wedding was not over the top, but the planning and financing of it required more resources than I could have predicted and took a toll on me and my fiance and family - once you get the ball rolling, it's really difficult to dial back when necessary and you sort of just keep pressing on with the planning. Looking back, I didn't really enjoy all the decision making and spending, and I feel overall the time leading up to my wedding could have been used more wisely. Of course the wedding was the best weekend of my life, having all my friends and fam in my special place with an epic live music situation - it's almost too much to grasp...but marriage is a super serious endeavor and it requires planning too, and the engagement period deserves more checking in with your partner and less divide and conquer.

How did you choose your wedding vendors?

Thankfully the choices were limited b/c I got married in a small town on VA's Rappahannock River. My flowers were designed by Crimson & Clover in Baltimore where I was employed at the time, and driven down by a co-worker who was also the photographer. A friend made the cake. The venue was a private residence. The band was an ensemble of Baltimore's most amazing band ever, The Bridge. My husband made the beer and the champagne was flowing - we met working beverage retail so the booze selection was a big deal to us. Other than that all I cared about was raw oysters and hanging out on the beach with a bonfire til the sun came up.

What advice could you offer to engaged couples planning their wedding - as both a wedding professional and a married human?

Don't suffer from buyer's remorse; aim to not over-perform with all the perishable details. Don't under-do it, but think really hard about what will matter to you about your wedding on your one year anniversary. An engagement period isn't just about wedding planning, it's to be enjoyed and lived, rather than a time to basically take on a second job. It's a time to prepare for marriage and make sound decisions to create a financially and socially healthy start to the rest of your life with your partner. Additionally, don't get wrapped up in your Pinterest wedding, stay focused on the real one. In fact, Lucky Penny doesn't accept photos or Pinterest images of bouquets to copy. As far as flowers go, obviously (thankfully) couples feel compelled to add a touch of nature to their day and want to bring in the beauty of flowers to enhance their space - but to be frank, a look can be achieved without months of meetings and communication regarding tiny details like specific flowers or debating alllll the shades of pink. Mother Nature always wins, so don't sweat the small stuff. Giving your florist flexibility to work with the best product the season has to offer will always result in the best outcome. Don't miss the forest for the trees!

What was the most important decision you made about your wedding?

The location. The location or venue informs every single decision you make when planning your wedding. The only thing I was 100% on was that I didn't want to deal with a curfew... which has kind of been a theme throughout my life, haha.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Instagram: @luckypennyfloral

Facebook: Lucky Penny Floral