Jess launched The Soirée Planner in the UK after starting out with balloon displays before moving into something she was more passionate about: luxury faux floral designs for weddings and celebrations at accessible prices.
Today she rents out lifelike faux floral centrepieces and candles to engaged couples, birthday celebrants, and small businesses, offering the look of premium florals without the premium price tag. Running the business solo, Jess needed a way to manage bookings that didn’t rely entirely on her being available to respond. That’s when she found Booqable.
Removing the need for consultations
Before Booqable, Jess was fielding enquiries across WhatsApp, email, and social media DMs. Every customer needed a conversation before anything was confirmed, a process that worked, but ate up time and added friction for customers who already knew what they wanted.
The Soirée Planner now has a Booqable-powered online store that customers reach through her Linktree, linked from her social media. From there, they can browse her collections, check availability, and place an order entirely on their own. As Jess puts it, customers can “order what they like smoothly without interaction, perfect for busy people who know what they want.” For a solo operator, this matters a lot:
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Customers can book at any hour without waiting on a reply
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The consultation step is removed for customers who don’t need it
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Enquiry volume through DMs and WhatsApp has dropped
Jess no longer needs to be the bottleneck in her own booking process. Customers who know what they want can get it done, and her time is freed up for everything else.
A back office that cuts admin in half
With bookings coming in on their own, the next challenge was staying organised behind the scenes. Booqable’s back office brings together inventory management, availability tracking, order management, a calendar, customer records, and automated documents and emails, all in one place.
For Jess, the product availability and collections features stood out most. Rather than manually tracking what was booked and when, the system handles it automatically:
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Availability is always accurate, so there’s no risk of double-booking
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Orders are tracked centrally rather than scattered across messages and inboxes
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Day-to-day admin takes up significantly less of her time
Jess says that since switching to Booqable, “time is a lot more manageable now,” which for someone handling rentals, marketing, and fulfilment all on her own, is exactly the kind of shift that makes a real difference.
Consistent bookings for half the work
Jess’s vision for The Soirée Planner is simple: “blooming with consistent bookings.” With a booking process that no longer depends on her being available for every enquiry and a back office that keeps her organised without extra effort, she’s well on her way. For any solo business owner who’s ever felt like they’re spending more time managing their business than actually running it, Jess’s story is a good reminder that the right tools can give you that time back.
