From the time Lucy Sandler was a child, she used to love picking wild flowers for her mother. As an adult, she officially fell in love with flowers while working at a flower shop in New Brunswick where she attended Rutgers University.
Dana Kane has always been a creative, finding beauty in every corner of her world. As a kid, Kane stood in the outfield during recreation softball games, crouching down to search for four-leaf clovers and dandelions as fly balls whizzed overhead.
It was destined that their two lives would intersect, not only in friendship, but in business.
Sandler, who comes from a family of small business owners, opened House of Blooms in 2016, catering to weddings and special events. Pivoting to subscription sales during the 2020 shutdown, House of Blooms re-emerged after the pandemic by adding a retail component to the business.
The key to her success: her partner, Kane.
“Dana started in 2018, and I realized that she complimented me well, filling in the gaps,” Sandler says. “For example, I’m good at building operational procedures and Dana excels at holding myself and the rest of our team accountable, keeping us on schedule. So, I invited her to be my business partner and we really hit the ground running.”
“We're like yin and yang,” Kane says. “We communicate constantly, it's our number one rule. Lucy is the one who gets things going and I maintain us from there. We have a great dynamic.”
In 2023 the partners set about renovations to make their Raritan storefront walk-in friendly.
“When you come into our studio or shop online, you can find a variety of arrangements for every occasion, including orchids, plants and gourmet gift baskets,” Kane says.
In addition to their bespoke and locally sourced florals, they also seek out American-made items from small businesses for their custom-made gift baskets. “These are small businesses that are a labor of love, like ours, that stay intentionally small. These are not products you can find on Amazon,” Sandler says.
Owning a small business takes hard work and dedication. These friends and business partners put a lot of effort into not just preserving the wedding and event side of the business, but also expanding House of Blooms into a local destination for retail flowers and gifts.
“We have a blast working together in the design room,” Sandler says.
“Lucy has taught me how to let go and be a little less of a perfectionist, that it’s okay to be creative and a little messy,” Kane says. “After all, that is how beautiful things start.”
View arrangements for Mother’s Day and other occasions at HouseofBloomsNJ.com.
