We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Reni Papalexiou. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Reni below.

Alright, Reni thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

In Short,  I decided to leverage my career background in Architecture and Design, and utilize my creative skills and knowledge, paired with my passion for entertaining and gifting to start an experience centric business.

See Bio below for more details and info on my background and experience and how it serves a purpose on my current endeavors.

Reni Papalexiou, owner of Sun Served Bespoke Picnics, is a creative entrepreneur with a focus on designing, creating, and curating memorable and unique experiences that leave lasting impressions for the customer. With over 14 years of professional experience in Design and Architecture, Reni has taken her passion for visual design and translated it into an entrepreneurial business in the Sarasota and greater Gulf Coast region. She takes a fresh approach to the bespoke experience, creating a sense of place for her clients. The brand’s exclusive line of products, Bespoke Gifts, is an additional service that elevates any occasion, whether as part of a picnic set-up or as a standalone gift that will impress the recipient. Now, having established Sun Served Bespoke Picnics in the marketplace, Reni’s goal is to be the premiere, go-to business for gifting and celebratory moments. Whether it is an engagement, a housewarming gift, birthday, micro-weddings or a bridal shower, Reni’s expertise helps provide her customers with both a unique and highly customized, memorable experience. In addition to Sun Served Bespoke Picnics, Reni also is owner, CEO, and property manager for a vacation rental property company in the bustling destination area of Sarasota and Siesta Key. She is also a volunteer with the Junior League of Sarasota where she dedicates her time to leadership training and serving the community as well as a volunteer of UnidosNow. Reni is also a member of the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce and was the recipient of the New Member Business Award as well as a member of the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and Visit Sarasota. She is also member of the Downtown Sarasota Alliance where she was recently nominated in three categories in the Downtown Sarasota Alliance 2022 Annual Awards. Born and raised in Brazil, Reni moved to the United States in 2000 and lived in New Jersey before moving to Sarasota in 2020. Reni graduated from New Jersey Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Architecture and also a Masters of Infrastructure Planning, which led her to attain a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. She resides in Sarasota with her husband and two dogs.

Reni, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

We provide Experience Centric gifting for any occasion.

Bespoke. Often described as “custom-made.” But, what does bespoke mean when referring to picnics or gifts? At Sun Served Bespoke Picnics, it means so much more. Sun Served Bespoke Picnics is a new luxury occasion and gift experience on the Suncoast that provides customers with moments to remember.

Our service line, Bespoke Picnics, and our product line, Bespoke Gifts, offer and array of options to elevate and create lasting memories. With every booking, the client can customize and personalize as desired for their needs. The best part, they don’t need to lift a finger. With our picnics and gift options, we create, and curate delivery and set up, so they don’t have to. The gift recipient(s) and picnic guest(s) simply JUST BE and enjoy the moment and experience provided.

The Bespoke Picnics present a variety of packages suitable for different party sizes, most commonly 2-4 guests, followed by 5-8 guests. We can accommodate up to 20-40 guests currently, on special request. For clients looking to elevate their occasion we offer Add-On items, that include, but are not limited to, umbrella, tepee, live music, photography, eats and drinks – including our deliciously branded fresh coconuts, with coconut water. Our picnics can be set up on traditional outdoor settings such as the beach, park, venues and private property. However, we also offer In-Room service, which consists of taking the element of a bespoke surprise to an In-Bedroom setup for a romantic celebration, or an In-Spa setup in the bathroom of your home, rental or hotel to indulge in full relaxation and self-care. We have also partnered up with local vendors to help support small businesses as well as to boost our local economy. In this effort, we provide activities paired up with the picnic package. Some examples include, private sunset boat cruise, yoga and meditation. These are also perfect for corporate, retreat and group celebrations.

The Bespoke Gifts present a variety of custom curated gift suitable for all occasions. Majority of individual gifts consists of boutique flower boxes, with ancillary pairings such as champagne, chocolates, candy or other beverage or edible item(s). A custom balloon can be personalized and added to any order as well. We can also completely customize and personalize a gift box based on a theme or specific occasion designed and curated specially for the recipient, an example would be a house-warming gift with kitchen items, a birthday in-spa gift with essential items for a DIY home spa relaxation, a welcome basket to a vacation rental with a beverage, snacks and some beach essentials, among others. At a corporate level we can customize gift boxes based on the gifting occasion for an individual or for the entire company – assortment of goods selected based upon consultation to suit the desired needs of your gifting purposes with your logo represented on the gifting packaging if desired. Some of our clients include Insurance Brokers, Real Estate Agents, Organizations in the Arts & Cultures, Non-Profits, Vacation Rental Management industry to name a few.

Both our service and product lines offer high quality elevated experiences that leave a lasting impression on the recipient(s). Our Bespoke offerings cannot be purchased in a store and are made with every attention to detail and your needs in mind.
One of the things we are most proud of, is our continuous development in our brand and vision which ignited the inception of what we proudly do -allowing for innovation and implementation of new and exciting products, as well as ensuring customer satisfaction, which we believe are some factors of our continuous success.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Staying authentic to myself, staying authentic to the business and the vision. Enduring hardships and decision making, learning and growing and developing, but above all being REAL. Staying honest, honorable and consistent.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Word of mouth for sure. We have a lot of tourist clients as we are in a transient location and locals have been and provided great deal of support along the way. Both client prospects have helped tremendously with spreading the word and educating their friends and families about Sun Served. We now ship some of our products nationally and looking forward to the continuous growth and support.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sunserved.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunserved/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sunserved/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sun-served-bespoke-picnics-sarasota
• Other: https://www.visitsarasota.com/land-tours-experiences/sun-served-bespoke-picnics https://my.siestakeychamber.com/list/member/sun-served-bespoke-picnics-gifts-4801.htm

Image Credits
Sun Served Bespoke Picnics