Owners of a new event venue are inviting you to the grand opening to check it out
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IDAHO FALLS — The owners of a new event venue in downtown Idaho Falls are inviting the community to its grand opening this weekend.
The venue, called The Poppy Collective, is located at 635 North Park Avenue. It’s in the old Bonneville Hotel.
The owners, Carli Bodily and Emilee Sanchez, said the space is available for events like birthday parties, baby showers, bridal showers, work events, photography, and more.
The grand opening will be on Saturday, Aug. 29, from noon to 6 p.m. at the venue.
“We have people selling baked goods, tattoos, piercings, Botox, candles, cake pops, and there’s a slime bar for the kids,” Sanchez said. “We want to get the small businesses in the community altogether.”
There will be raffle prizes too.
“When you come to the grand opening, each person will get three tickets, and you can pick which raffle you would like to put your name in. We will draw at the end of the night,” Bodily said.
Bodily and Sanchez have been friends for almost ten years. Opening a venue has been one of Sanchez’s dreams for a while. It’s a place where people can host, gather, and make memories with friends and family.
“My house is not big enough for all of my family and friends, and so I’ve always been looking into other spaces, and I don’t necessarily need a wedding venue for my kid’s birthday party. I needed a space that can host everybody. So, that is where the dream came from,” Sanchez explained.
Bodily and Sanchez love the party business. They have a balloon business together called Poppy Party Co. and have enjoyed meeting new people.
“We both had our kids about the same time. We just felt like we needed a creative outlet, and that’s why we started our balloon business,” Bodily said. “We’ve really liked being able to host with people. We’ve liked connecting with everybody.”
They heard from a lot of people that they wish there were a smaller venue for events, rather than a wedding venue.
“Idaho Falls has quite a few venues, but they are all for weddings. Being in the party business, we constantly see people asking for a smaller place. That was our goal to be different than other venues that are in town,” Bodily said.
The Poppy Collective is 1,700 square feet. A lot of remodeling was done. It used to be an office space with many walls. They knocked down the walls, took out the carpet, and repainted. There are hardwood floors, and they added a kitchenette.
On their Instagram, they posted, “We have had a vision of bringing something local to our community that would be a good fit for everyone. Small, but not too small. Big, but not too big. Just the right size.”
It’s an open space meant to be aesthetically pleasing to everyone, and anyone can use it.
“We’ve hosted yoga and Pilates classes so people who are looking for maybe not getting into a full-time studio but just wanting to teach on the side also have the option to utilize the space,” Sanchez said.
As stated on the business’s Facebook page, it’s “The perfect space for any occasion!”
There’s a four-hour minimum to rent the space, which costs $260. There’s a half-day rental for six hours at $350. A full-day rental (12 hours) is $700. There are packages, rental add-ons, and even opportunities to buy balloon arches.
If you’d like to learn more, you can contact The Poppy Collective at (208) 313-0220 or poppydesignco25@gmail.com.
“We’ll be doing more community-involved events coming up. My goal is to try and do at least one a month where we have vendors come in, and people come out,” Sanchez added.
