Local Florist Blooms in KC
This small business owner is making a name for herself in the community.
April 12, 2023
The owner of Love, Lilacs, Lexi Nardini, is chasing her dreams and fostering love, one petal at a time.
Nardini, who started Love, Lilacs in 2023, has seen her company bloom into a thriving business with creating and organizing floral arrangements for large corporate events, weddings and the opening of the new KCI terminal.
Floral design, however, wasn’t always the goal for Nardini. Originally going to college to be a wedding planner, she took a floral design class to fill a requirement and ended up discovering her passion.
She began as a florist with the guidance of her family who owns an event planning company, Platinum XP. The support of her loved ones allowed for her to enter the realm of floral design and find her place in the community.
“Having them in my corner and pitching me as a florist for their clients was exactly what I needed at the time to gain experience in the field,” Nardini said.
The backing of Platinum XP helped Nardini blossom into the florist she is today, However, in December of 2022, she decided to branch out on her own and start her own business.
“I don’t think I could sit and do the same job day to day,” Nardini said. “Some days I am doing [administration] work, some days I am having client consults where we dream up their flowers together. Some days I am creating lookbooks or designing. I love that it’s never the same day.”
Creating a new business is no easy venture. Nardini said she often only has one to three days to prepare the flowers, and as a one-person team, it was easy to feel overwhelmed and feel like an imposter.
“I would always say to myself ‘do I even know what I’m doing? Am I even good at this?’,” Nardini said. “It made me want to quit at times and just get a regular 9 to 5 [job] for peace of mind.”
Pushing through the hardship, Nardini has turned Love, Lilacs into a floral company that decorated over 20 weddings so far and is almost fully booked for 2023.
“What makes it worth it for me is seeing the finished result all come together. When looking at a giant ballroom, or wedding venue, or whatever it may be and knowing I created all the floral designs in there, I am so proud,” Nardini said.
Nardini has gained a lot of her audience from her TikTok with over 70,000 followers. With some videos having hundreds of thousands of views, Nardini wants to put time and effort into her online space.
“I even rebranded to Love, Lilacs because of the TikTok username and not the other way around,” Nardini said. “Without my TikTok account, I definitely wouldn’t be at the point I am now.”
Love, Lilacs is just beginning to sprout. Nardini is planning on completely focusing on weddings in 2023 and building her portfolio for her future couples.
“With the full year of weddings ahead of me, I think I will be able to really grow my community and get lots of new people interested in being a florist,” Nardini said.
To get into contact with Love, Lilacs, go to the website here or Instagram. Follow Lexi on her Instagram or her TikTok.
