New pop up picnic business to open in Hogansville

Published 10:45 am Monday, June 7, 2021

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A Hogansville-based business is in the making. Nikki Alford, a Hogansville native, created Nikki’s Pop-Up Picnics LLC to help people set up perfect picnics and clean up after they’re done.

The business will officially open on July 2 but is already running a summer flash sale from June 1 to June 5. It will also help with a child’s birthday — its first event — on Saturday.

Alford said that by the end of the month, customers will be able to book events through the business’s website, nikkispopuppicnics.wixsite.com. In the meantime, if they’re interested in the summer flash sale, they can contact Alford through Facebook.

“We can pick a location or they can give us a location. We book the date and the time, and we go and do everything from fresh flowers to pillows to the whole unique ambiance there,” said Alford.

Alford said the package being sold during the flash sale is “really, really cheap.”

“It’s a really good deal of $135 for two people, and it gives them an hour and a half, and we’ll set up everything — basically our standard package. And it comes with the food that we offer, which is the grazing boards. We’ll have different things on there. Drinks between bottled water, and then we have a lemonade that we’ll offer. And then just the whole decor setup,” Alford said.

On the company’s new website, visitors can view packages and add ons. Packages include the Standard Kids Party Package and the Boho Pop Up Picnic for (2), the latter of which comes with pillows, fresh flowers and a low table. One of the add-ons they can choose from is a spoken word performance by “Miss Inetha,” who does poetry and motivational speaking.

Alford said she got the idea for her new business from TikTok. “I’m a TikTok fan here, and I was up [at] like 2:30 in the morning,” she said. “And a girl did something similar, but we kind of added a lot more things like the bubble tents …” She has about 15 years of experience planning events. “[I] also did daycare for 25+ years. I actually had a center right across the street from LaGrange Daily News back when I first started. And we were 24 hours, seven days a week,” Alford said.

Additionally, Alford is interested in real estate and used to own a restaurant in Opelika, Alabama. Currently, Nikki’s Pop- Up Picnics LLC can travel within the state of Georgia. “Right now, we’re just going to stay within the state of Georgia, but I did get some people to reach out as far as Texas. We’ll go as far as Atlanta and Columbus,” said Alford. At the moment, she’s looking for vendors who sell food, flowers, and decor.

Alford said that her sister, Jennifer Alford, and her cousin, Jennifer Crowder, have volunteered to help out with the business. Alford is currently running the business from home but plans to get office space. She said she started working on Nikki’s Pop-Up Picnics LLC last week.

In addition to its Facebook page and website, Nikki’s Pop-Up Picnics LLC can also be reached at nikkispopuppicnicsllc@ gmail.com.

Until the business opens, Alford said visitors should watch for giveaways on the business’ Facebook page.