Our Story
Santa Monica Picnic Co was founded in July of 2020 with our first picnic taking place on Labor Day Weekend 2020. At the time this piece was written, November 17, 2021, we have hosted over 600+ events with roughly 85% of these events through being direct bookings and 15% through our customized picnic experience exclusively offered to Shutters on the Beach and Hotel Casa del Mar guests. Out of these 600+ events, we have maintained a 5 star review on Google and Yelp, received national recognition on NBC, Forbes and countless additional publications, and have welcomed and pleased guests from every corner of the planet.
Rewinding back to very beginning, our journey started during a rough period of the pandemic in July 2020. We felt the Santa Monica community struggling daily with stay at home orders and wanted to figure out a way for people to get outdoors and enjoy quality time with their loved ones in a safe socially distanced fashion, while also feeling pampered, loved and thoughtfully taken care of. Restaurants were closed, grocery stores were scary and our friends and family were starting to get a little stir-crazy! Around this time, our other favorite picnic company, Denver Picnic Co, had a couple of months under their belt and were seeing a lot of success, happy clients and inspired us to launch our own variation on the beach in Ocean Park. We decided to invest in high quality inventory and strong local partnerships with like-minded businesses and the rest was history!
While deciding what to include in our picnic experience and how it should look and feel, we decided to work with one of the most professional and world class designers in Los Angeles, Fragments Identity. We knew the Fragments team shared the same morals and values as us and are hyper focused on providing attentive service and truly understanding their clients needs. From day 1 working with Fragments, we had goosebumps seeing the elevated picnic experience that was developing before our eyes; the experience they’ve obtained working with high-profile clients across the country, countless well know Angeleno’s and mentions in most top interior designer publications was displayed in full through their consultative designing of the aesthetic and vibe of our picnic experience.
Once we had the foundation of our picnic experience professionally styled by Fragments Identity, we started partnerships with other local business that we thought would take our offering to the next level. After meeting with many vendors, we were beyond excited to partner with Andrew’s Cheese Shop, Broadway Baker, Fleurs du Jour and John Kelly Chocolates. In all honesty, we still have not received a single complaint on the chef’s choice charcuterie boards we receive from Andrew’s Cheese Shop, the delicious baked goods from Broadway Baker, the elegant handmaid floral bouquets from Fleurs du Jour and truly irresistible salted chocolates from John Kelly. Our partners never miss a beat and always go above and beyond to make sure their contribution to our picnic experience exceeds the high threshold of quality we have put in place.
After getting our fundamental vendor partnerships in place, we began including fun add-ons for clients that wanted to spice up their experience. Clients can add beach games including corn hole, bocce ball, ladders, volleyball, spikeball; professional photography sessions, live music ranging from acoustic guitar/violin from Evyn Charles to a private DJ session from local legend DJ Claudio CXP, private sound bath guided mediation sessions from spiritual goddess Kiki and take-home succulents offered by local vendor Botany Box.
Around December 2020 when we had our core offering and add-ons ironed out, we started to get recognized by most of the hotels in Santa Monica and our in box was flooded with requests to start partnerships and curate custom experiences for their guests. When we heard from brand consulting studio With a Net on behalf of Shutters on the Beach and Casa del Mar, it was one of the easiest decisions we’ve had to make to date and we have loved every second of working together. They are the 2 top Santa Monica hotels for obvious reason and consistently display perfection around every corner of their properties. Their executive team sets an extremely high bar of success and it trickles down to every last staff member stepping up to it, resulting in an unparalleled experience for their guests.
When we partnered with the Shutters and Casa, our first step was engaging Fragments Identity to put together a custom aesthetic that matched their brand and interior decor. Once this was in place, we put together a custom picnic menu with their executive chef and optimized the booking process through their online platform and concierge. The menu includes world class food offerings such as lobster rolls, crab bruschetta, charcuterie and much more and is served family style with large portions.
After we got our process running smoothly and Shutter’s bookings optimized, we scaled the team, bought a cargo van, 2 motorized wagons and recently moved into an office space on 11th and Broadway. Over the year, we’ve had a lot of time to contemplate why so many lovely people keep choosing our picnics and why every weekend we are fully booked… we’ve learned people choose us and rate their experiences so high for many reasons and there’s no quick answer; but we truly believe the majority of praise stems from our relentless attention to detail that starts the moment we begin to interact with a new client. No amount of time spent planing the perfect event is too much for our team! We are responsive, present and always lean in to provide a true 5 star experience. We have grown our brand and following organically and via word of mouth with little to no marketing spend, sticking to the old fashion way of developing a business based on strong service and consistently delivering week in and week out.
