BoCo Month Three (Copy)

October was all about second lives: wedding flowers rebuilt into bouquets, and our first popup outside Santa Barbara.

Thank you for being part of it. Here is what October looked like, from Ann Arbor to four Tuesday build sessions at SB Gift Baskets.

Volunteers building bouquets around a barrel table under string lights at dusk, buckets of gerberas in front — A Tuesday build night under the string lights at SB Gift Baskets.

Month three by the numbers

214bouquets made, wrapped and delivered

38buckets of assorted flowers to facilities

8,700donated stems

4weddings’ flowers given a second life

50mason jar arrangements delivered

4Tuesday build sessions at SB Gift Baskets

Ann Arbor

Our first popup outside Santa Barbara

On October 8 we hosted our first popup on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor. Local grocery stores donated the flowers, and student volunteers built and wrapped bouquets on site, then gave them away across campus and to community recipients.

Our first out-of-state popup taught us a lot about what it takes to make BoCo work in a new city, from lining up flowers to running the day. Those lessons are going straight into the startup guide we will be providing to other popup organizers.

First out-of-state popupShaping our startup guide

Thank you

A big thank you to Anne

We are so grateful to Anne at SB Gift Baskets for letting us hold our events in her space for the time being. Every Tuesday in October we set up there, built bouquets, and sent them out into town. Having room to work together has taught us a lot about how to run a build day well.

SB Gift Baskets4 Tuesday sessions

Volunteers working at folding tables inside the open front of SB Gift Baskets, warm lights overhead — Every table in use on a Tuesday evening.

Wedding flowers

Four Weddings and a Second Life

Aivy Floral donated the flowers from four weddings this month: 18 large centerpieces and 120 bud vases and small vases. Instead of heading to the compost the morning after, they came to us. Over the weekends, the volunteers who could make it took them apart, rebuilt them, and got them back out into the community as bouquets, six buckets of loose flowers and 50 mason jar arrangements for Valle Verde, Heritage House and others.

This is what BoCo is about: upcycling flowers that have already done one job so they can brighten someone else’s day.

4 weddings18 centerpieces rescued50 mason jars

A long row of buckets filled with rebuilt dahlia, lily, rose and solidago arrangements on the shop floor — Wedding flowers, rebuilt and lined up for their second act.

Nothing wasted

Sid’s second second life

Nothing goes to waste, not even the bits and pieces. Our volunteer Sid takes home everything that does not make it into a bouquet and arranges it in pottery she makes herself. She is a gem and an artist, and she proves there is no such thing as a flower too small to share. And just look at her collection below. Could it be any cuter?

Dahlias and calla lilies arranged in handmade ceramic bowls and vases on a kitchen counter — Sid’s bits and pieces in her homemade pottery.

Flowers out

Where the flowers went

We made 214 bouquets in October: 114 for the Cancer Center, 80 for the Infusion Center, and 20 for SBCC. Another 38 buckets of assorted flowers went to facilities around town to brighten their lobbies and common rooms.

114 to the Cancer Center80 to the Infusion Center20 for SBCC

Buckets of dahlias, mums and solidago packed in the back of a van, seen through a metal grille with round holes — Loaded up and ready for delivery.

Flowers in

Where the flowers came from

Our growers and grocery partners kept the buckets full every Tuesday, with about 8,700 donated stems over the month, plus everything from four weddings. Every one found a home.

Rows of white buckets full of donated snapdragons, chrysanthemums, dusty miller and dahlias on the floor of SB Gift Baskets — Donated flowers waiting for the prep shift.

Our crew

The best strippers in town

Roses, that is. October brought us a lot of roses, and every one of them had to be stripped of its thorns and extra leaves before it could go into a bouquet. A big thank you to the volunteers who spent hour after hour at the table doing just that. We are pretty sure we have some of the best strippers in Santa Barbara.

More than the numbers, it is the time together that we treasure. Building bouquets side by side and giving back to our community is precious to us, and we are grateful to share it with all of you.

Thorns removed: countlessFingers intact: mostly

A bucket of red spray roses with a few orange roses, more stripped roses behind — The roses in question.

Three volunteers in aprons building bouquets at an outdoor table covered in stems — Stripping, sorting and building at the outside table.

A laughing volunteer holding a large bouquet of spray roses and phlox at night

A smiling volunteer wearing a green Bouquet Collective apron with an embroidered rose

A volunteer and a smiling man holding a pink bouquet under string lights

Some of the faces behind October.

Bottles of sparkling water on ice tied with Bouquet Collective ribbon — Refreshments for the crew. Zoom in and you will see the ribbon is printed with Bouquet Collective.

Looking ahead to November

One of our biggest lessons from October: build days run best in shifts. Starting in November we are moving to three. An early shift preps the flowers, a middle shift makes the bouquets, and a final shift cleans up. If you can only give an hour, there is a shift for you.

And some big news: in October our 501(c)(3) status was approved, and we received our very first two donations. Thank you to those first donors for getting us started. Starting in November we are officially accepting donations. Your gifts will help us cover the everyday costs of running the program, from buckets and wrapping paper to supplies and deliveries, and bring us closer to a big goal: a permanent home for BoCo, so we can rescue more flowers and get them into more hands. To give, reach out to info@bouquetcollective.org. Bouquet Collective is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, so donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law, and we will send you a written receipt for your records.

501(c)(3) approvedFirst two donations receivedNow accepting donations

Three months in, more and more flowers that would have gone to waste are ending up in someone’s hands, here in Santa Barbara and now in Michigan too. None of it happens without the people who show up, drop off flowers, and spread the word. Thank you.

Want to join or refer a friend? Reach out to info@bouquetcollective.org

With gratitude,Bouquet Collective Santa BarbaraA 501(c)(3) nonprofit · EIN 42-3186092

✿ Bouquet Collective · Santa Barbara, CA