'Bloomerent' Finds Wedding Flowers At A Discount, But There's A Catch -- They're Used
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It's spring, and love is in the air -- which means it's also wedding season.
An average wedding in the U.S. costs more than $26,000 -- $1,220 of which is spent on flowers.
As CBS2's Jessica Moore explained, a new company is helping people nip growing wedding costs in the bud.
On a day when a bride needs something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue, a new startup is offering all of the above at a discount.
'Bloomerent' is an online marketplace that pairs up brides willing to recycle their roses -- or any other flower for that matter -- in the name of saving some cash.
The first bride picks out her flowers and gets a 10 percent discount for sharing them with a second bride. The second bride saves 40 to 60 percent for sharing them with a second bride. That second bride saves 40 to 60 percent by using those same flowers in her wedding a day or two later.
One bride paid just $850 for flowers that cost the first bride $1,700.
Danit Zamir and Julia Capalino developed the business after seeing beautiful flowers tossed out at the end of their wedding.
"We share our cars, we share our clothing, we even share our beds, Air BnB. So why not your, you know, event flowers?" Julia said.
Keija Minor is editor-in-chief of Brides Magazine.
"At first I thought, 'I don't know if every bride is going to love the idea of sharing flowers,' but I quickly realized for some people it is not one of their biggest priorities," she said.
A beautiful wedding, and flowers at a drastically reduced rate -- that seems like something every bride can agree on.
Bloomerent makes money by collecting a fee every time a customer books an event with a participating florist.
The company is already in New York and is looking to expand to Chicago, San Francisco, and Miami in the next few months.
