St. Charles Parish natives Laken Swan and Lauren Bercier are the founders of Something Borrowed Blooms.
Five years ago Laken Swan and Lauren Bercier were first to market with their wedding flowers for rent concept, and their success just keeps blooming – the duo recently announced a $1.5M Series A funding round led by Callais Capital for their company Something Borrowed Blooms.
This investment brings the total raised by the company to just over $2M since 2015 amid its growth rate of 35% last year.
Bercier and Swan are St. Charles Parish natives and graduates of Hahnville High School. Swan resides in Luling, while Bercier lives in Lafayette.
“After we graduate from Hahnville we both went to UL in Lafayette,” Swan said. “After school Lauren stayed there and I moved back home. Five years ago we wanted to start something different and do something that’s never been done before.”
Swan said the cousins personally enjoyed using Rent the Runway – an online clothing rental company – and tried to draw inspiration for their start-up from there.
“We really liked how you could invest a small portion in a luxury item and use it and then return it,” she said. “We started to think where else the concept could be applied, and we landed on wedding flowers … just because there’s so much expense there especially just with a few hours of use. We thought, ‘Hey, we can give a bride the same exact full-service experience from a florist but with silk flowers.’”
Bercier said while the duo founded Something Borrowed Blooms on the foundation of cost savings, they immediately saw a need to modernize the industry by offering a stress-free and transparent e-commerce solution for wedding flowers.
“In doing so, we’ve created a business model that’s truly unique and provides value to today’s consumers looking for more sustainable and eco-friendly options for their wedding day,” she said. “Partnering with Callais Capital will enable Something Borrowed Blooms to reach a larger audience and further innovate our services.”
The latest round of financing will support a 10,000 square foot warehouse expansion for the company’s headquarters in Lafayette, Swan said, and will also fund expanding product offerings and tech solutions to meet the needs of their growing customer base.
The company currently has 25 employees, many of whom are professional florists who assist in the design, creation and refreshing of the company’s floral offerings.
“The plans are to grow and expand the business,” Swan said. “Coming out of COVID we’ve seen just a tremendous demand for weddings and there’s going to be a huge increase this year and next year as the wedding scene catches up.”
Swan said Something Borrowed Blooms are the floral choice for an average of 700 weddings a month across the US and Canada, and that the fact that she gets to run marketing for the company while living in Luling is something she treasures.
“I say this all the time and I really do mean it … it’s been fulfilling and rewarding to be able to be in my small hometown and still be able to build and run a national and successful operation,” Swan said. “I hope it can inspire people to take that leap of faith and try something that hasn’t been done before … and to stick true to their roots.”
For more information on Something Borrowed Blooms, visit www.somethingborrowedblooms.com.
