Different kind of bar blooming in Lexington with cocktail, mocktail, wine options
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- Poppy's Flower Bar opened in Oct 2024 in Lexington, offering cocktails and DIY bouquets.
- Founders Shelby White and Bryan McCoy merged event planning and floral retail expertise.
- Customers select stems priced $4-$15, add greenery, and buy cocktails at $10-$12.
A unique bar concept has bloomed in Lexington, both literally and figuratively.
Poppy’s Flower Bar, 210 Old Mt Tabor Rd A, opened in October 2024 as the city’s first and only flower bar where patrons can sip on a cocktail, mocktail or wine while putting together their own custom-made bouquets of the finest flowers around.
The venture is spearheaded by former wedding and event planner Shelby White and retail florist Bryan McCoy, who says the two were introduced to one another when they were both booked to work a mutual friend’s wedding.
“We immediately clicked together, even though she’d been doing these big, elaborate events and I was a more traditional, everyday florist that booked smaller scale weddings,” McCoy says. “We worked a couple other events together around the same time and grew really close, leading to us eventually teaming up on Poppy’s.”
According to White, the idea for a flower bar came from observing the rising popularity with mobile flower carts, an element she’s hoping to implement into Poppy’s. “I wanted to take that concept and make a retail space out of it.”
What To Expect At Poppy’s
Currently comprised of three separate rooms and two devoted flower bars, Poppy’s carries dozens of seasonal stems ranging from anthurium and orchids to roses, dahlias, thistle and more. While some flowers are sourced locally from places like Bellaire Blooms in Waddy and Calamity Blooms in Oldham County, others come from distributors like the Kentucky Flower Market and as far away as Holland.
“We try to keep flowers stocked that most florists don’t have on hand,” McCoy says. “Our roses and anthurium are the best you’ll find around. Soon we’ll be getting a bunch of mums, sunflowers and dahlias in for the fall as well.”
Stems range in price from $4 to $15 and can be bought individually or in bulk sets of seven, 12, 20 or 30. Vase arrangements are also available and start at $70.
“When you arrive you pick your stems off the wall, bring them to us and we’ll fill them out with different types of greenery and have it ready to go,” McCoy says. “Even with the bar we’re also a retail store and do everything from funerals to birthday deliveries and more. At the end of the day it all just depends on what our customers are looking for.”
Just as vibrant as Poppy’s blooms are its drinks. From cocktails ($12 each) to mocktails ($10) and wines ($11), the bar is stocked with a garden’s worth of flowery themed drinks like the Lavender French 75 (Empress gin, lemon, lavender and prosecco), the Blossom Painkiller (rum, pineapple, orange, cream of coconut and orange blossom water) and Poppy’s Punch (blackberry brandy, triplesec, raspberry, pineapple, ginger ale and prosecco.)
However, its most popular concoction as of late has been the Strawberry Montana — a mix of tequila, lime, triple sec, coconut and strawberry named for Louisville-based folk-pop singer Andrew Montana’s song “Strawberry.”
“It was a specialty cocktail we had for an event but was so popular that we’ve kept on making it,” says McCoy. “Just like we do with our flowers, we strive to have something for everybody with our drink selection.”
Events At Poppy’s
In addition to its carefully crafted drink menu and custom flower arrangements, Poppy’s also hosts a variety of public, private and pop-up events. This spans from kids’ and adult floral workshops to portrait and jewelry pop-ups, live music, private events like bridal showers, and more. White said Poppy’s gatherings have been in high demand and require a ticket purchase in advance. They also include one cocktail or mocktail of your choosing.
In particular, the kids’ programming is fitting given that the bar’s name stems from the family pet she impulsively bought her daughter four years ago.
“We named the dog ‘Poppy’ and then a few years later I found out the birth month for August (when she was born) was a poppy flower. It was a full circle moment that made it a no-brainer to name this venture after it.”
Poppy’s Flower Bar
Where: 210 Old Mt Tabor Rd A
Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday and Monday closed for private events.
Online: PoppysFlowerBar.com