My Business and the Couple That Reminded Me Why…

It only takes one.  One to burn you out.  And one to turn you back on.

I don’t really blog much about (for even for) my own business but most of you know that I am an entrepreneur.  Although, I don’t think it’s really fitting to call myself a “business woman.”  I mean, yes.  I have my own business.  And I have run several others in the past, including a restaurant.  But the mental image I have in my mind of a “Business Woman” is not me.  She is more like Sandra Bullock in The Proposal.  She wears sleek suits and is after the almighty dollar.  That friends, really isn’t me.  I feel like I need to re-look my vision of what a business woman really is…

I do what I do because of the love that goes behind it all.  Money would be great, but unfortunately, when running your own business, dollars are few and far between.  After taxes, expenses, gas, marketing, 1099 employees, and client appointments at every Starbucks within a 50 mile radius of my house… you have to realize you do what you do because you have faith in the industry, a passion for making people happy and love in your heart for whatever it is that you’re doing.  

I’ve been planning weddings for ten years now.  I’ve coordinated events all over the country, and even a couple in Europe.  If you follow my business, 29:11 Celebrations on facebook you would’ve seen this post and all of it’s views last week:

Ten years ago, my cousin Katie called me up a mere two weeks prior to her wedding.  She was desperate for help and knew I enjoyed planning a good shindig.  But planning a wedding in two weeks time?  This was an entirely new thing for me.  Who am I to turn down a bride in need of help?

And so it began.  After Katie’s wedding I was a Maid of Honor three times and a Bridesmaid five times, within a four year span.  At some point in that mix I realized I truly had a passion for weddings, brides, entertaining and making things pretty.

Fast forward 10 years and it’s 2014.  There are a handful of people in my life who can look at me or simply hear my voice and know exactly what’s going on.  A few months ago a couple of these folks kept asking slash telling me that I was burnt out.  I was tired before the season was even in full swing.  My patience was dwindling.  Tax Season was an emotional drain.  My extremely reliable, over achieving, detail obsessed Secondary Coordinator moved to California.  Brides and a few grooms began bullying me into situations I was not comfortable with.  I needed to step back.  And I decided I would close down or cut back in 2015.

And then this past weekend happened.  I was referred to Bride Liz by another Virginia Blogger.  I know God had a plan when he put this wedding (and lovely couple) into my life.  He knew exactly when and what I would be needing to fill my cup, giving me enough to get through June. {This June will be my busiest month in my business’s history!}

The wedding I worked on Saturday was PERFECT.  The kind of perfect you always hope for, but never achieve.  To the point that I had the most seamless table transition {live, in front of guests, in the middle of their reception} that I’ve ever had in my entire career.  The vendors were amazing.  The venue was unlike any other I had ever worked.  The overall energy was highly positive and creative.  And I want to be best friends with all of the guests:  Everybody danced.  Everybody partied.  Everybody was grateful.  Everybody was sincerely happy to be there.  Believe it or not friends, these qualities are rare in a lot of wedding guests.

Meet Liz and her brand new husband.  She blogs over at I Heart Veggies.  

{She’s a rockstar blogger and needs absolutely no intro from a tiny blogger like me. That’s for darn sure!}

The reception was held at the Lewis Ginter Recreation Association in Richmond, VA.  Here are the before and after shots of the reception hall:

As someone who also recently embraced purple as her own wedding color, in addition to the fact that it is the color of the year, I immediately loved the decor of this wedding.  Keeping costs down they used homemade pinwheels in mason jars as their centerpieces.  Keeping costs down even further - they had donuts instead of the traditional wedding cake.  When I asked her how she wanted me to set up the donuts her response was “eh, we don’t care.”  I had searched pinterest prior to this wedding in hopes of some donut pinspiration and found nothing that nothing stood out.  So I winged it!  This donut table (along with the tiny milk cartons they provided) was such a hit!  At the last minute I stole a few pinwheels from three centerpieces for the perfect extra touch of color and flair!

There are two things that need to be pointed out in this next picture… One - look at the cute reception dress Liz changed into!  I loved the lace sleeves!  With no AC in this reception hall - switching into this stunning dress was a great decision on her part!  And two - out of no where this cat showed up!  At first, from across the room, the catering staff and I swore it was a real cat.  It’s not.  But this was definitely another first in my book!

I have to say, out of all the wonderful moments of this day, my all time favorite was the reception hall reveal.  I told them to keep their eyes closed.  {For the first time, I really felt like David Tutera!}  On the count of three we got the reaction below and possibly some eye vapors from me and the staff.  I love when I can take a bride’s vision and turn it into a reality she never thought was possible.  {I also love hearing from her father later in the evening “When I walked into this room a few days ago I was crushed that my daughter would be celebrating her marriage in this place.  Now that you’ve worked your magic, I couldn’t imagine us being anywhere else.”}  

 So another huge congrats to Liz + Alex as they head to my favorite city on the east coast {Charleston, SC} for their honeymoon.  And a huge thank you to them, as well as their friends and family for helping me remember why I started this business.  This was a perfect celebration. 

until next time… xxoo