The Faces Behind Sweet Peony Florals & Gifts

How It Started

It was the end of October (2025), and we were lingering over our brunch with a couple of friends. For context, I guess I should go back a little farther than October.

Laura and I (Lizzy) first met back in 2010—on the day of her wedding. Okay, maybe that’s too far back. I’ll just say we’ve been friends since 2010. (But yes, we actually did meet for the first time at her wedding!) We’ve remained friends through the years, even through a couple of cross-country moves and a lot of life in between.

Now let’s fast forward to this past October. The conversation shifted to Laura’s idea of gift baskets that feature local businesses. She had a few years of wedding/special event florals under her belt, and the idea of trying something new kept coming up. Never one to turn down a challenge (rather, always being one to jump without thinking first), I said, “Let’s do it! I’ll help!” That was October 23. On November 28 we were officially open for business!

How It’s Going

We learned so much during those first few weeks! Here are some highlights from January:

• Added 2 new vendors—both local artists!
• Launched our first pre-order for Valentine’s Day
• Delivered 5 gifts to local realtors (our gift items are the perfect closing gift!)
• Delivered our first corporate gifts for a local non-profit (more on that soon!)

Who We Are

Okay, now to the faces (the ones previously mentioned in the title), along with some interview questions just for fun:

Pictured Above: The Lovely Laura

 

Pictured Above: Lizzy and her family—enduring heat exhaustion and the flu at the most wonderful place on earth. (IYKYK)

How long have you been a local?

Laura: I have lived in Wheaton since I started at Wheaton College in 2006.
Lizzy: I’ve been living in Wheaton for 4 years now. Before that I was in Georgia for 5 years, and before that I was in Naperville. So, sort of local for a total of 9 years. 

What are a couple of local spots that you frequent?

Laura: The places that I frequent are Moveable Feast (servers know my beverage order without me asking), the tent on Hale St. during the summer months, and I really love the new French Market pavilion. It’s such an iconic look. Downtown Wheaton has done such a great job making the area beautiful and more friendly for families and for people to just walk around. I love all the different seating arrangements and places where people can sit and just connect. Wheaton has done a really good job of creating those spaces and making the entire area beautiful.
Lizzy: You can often find me meeting up with friends at Adams Park, The Guild, or Moveable Feast; supervising my kids either at The Wheaton Public Library or The Little Popcorn Store; or dreaming of my next purchase at MION Artisan Soap.

Describe the “A-ha!” moment that sparked Sweet Peony Florals & Gifts.

Laura: There are 3 things that sort of converged in the last few years to bring me and Sweet Peony to this point. In the winter/spring of 2023, it was really dark outside all the time and I was coming out of a particularly hard season. I walked into the cooler at the flower wholesaler, and seeing all the vibrant colors was just so life-giving. It took my breath away. Also, within the last few years, I’ve realized that I am a creative, so that means when I don't do creative things, I don't feel well. So, I'm leaning into the fact that that's how God made me. I’m also realizing how much of a relational person I am, specifically when it comes to collaborating with other people and bringing people together. A dream started to form inside of me that fused all of these things together—beauty, creativity, and collaboration. There are so many little moments along the way of discovering things about myself that were important to me, that I've dreamed of, that I've enjoyed doing, and they have all come together as gift baskets that celebrate local businesses and artists. I want every part of this experience to be beautiful and special—down to the cards that we write and how we present things. I want every detail to be beautiful and thought out so that not only is the item that the person receiving special in itself, but the way it’s presented is, in a way, like an extra gift.
Lizzy: I don’t often have big ideas of my own; my speciality is to be the enabler of somebody else’s ideas. And that’s true in this case too. I love the challenge of a new project, figuring out a way to make it work. This has been a special endeavor because Laura and I have been able to ride the highs and lows together and support each other along the way. 

What is a skill you’ve always wanted to learn?

Laura: Dance! I would love to be able to do ballroom dancing
Lizzy: So many. Orienteering, along with other outdoor skills; I would love to learn to play an instrument; would take up any sort of auto racing if anyone gave me a chance; any of the equestrian sports. I’ll stop there. 

What is the most beautiful place you’ve seen in person?

Laura: Hawaii. I love the greens and blues with the contrast of the white sand. Those colors are really calming.
Lizzy: Adelboden, Switzerland—a picturesque town nestled in the Swiss Alps.

 

Until Next Time

Next time, I'll give you a behind-the-scenes look at some unique corporate gifts we put together for a client. People tend to have a love/hate relationship with corporate gifts—too impersonal, not practical enough, too practical, too cheap, etc. My research led me down a Reddit rabbit hole, and I survived to tell the tale!

-Lizzy