With this being my last post before the New Year, and as I am randomly going through my check list for the almighty tax season {insert huge sigh}, I knew I had to reflect on some of my best moments of 2011 {hope you don't mind}...here they are in no specific order...
1. Hands down, this year was my busiest of wedding planning and design. I can't help but think of the days of packing everything up in our home in Minneapolis, second guessing if my company could make it a go in Southern Minnesota. Trust me when I say I have had my moments of fits getting colour schemes just so, tears of frustration over random computer technology, and hours of squinting over patterns for linens that now require me to wear readers at the ripe age of 34, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Each Bride that I had the opportunity and pleasure of talking with this year completely has transformed the way I am looking at my business for the future...and I am so excited for it.
2. Moving my shoppe....again {which sort of brings me back to no.1}. I knew I needed more space when one of my mother of the Bride's looked unable to move in my old location. That, in bridal land, is a challenge. The problem was I had my heart set on being in my hometown and no property was available. Then, one day I received a phone call telling me that there was a space...a much larger space that, now after coats upon coats of paint, moving and shuffling inventory around, I am able to call Simply Fabulous's home. It is a work in progress and there are a million things cosmetically that I want to change, but a planner loves a project and I am looking forward to it.
3. My Brides. Part of what got me into this business was my love for love. There truly isn't anything in the world like it. It is the most well planned and trusted feeling in the world and when it smacks a man in the face, and he has found the one he cannot imagine life without- I get one ridiculously beautiful, in love, blushing Bride. Being the person to be relied on, trusted, and embraced as a part of the journey is just such a beautiful thing.
4. Simply Fabulous: A Wedding Event. I swore after my encounters at other wedding 'shows' I would never: A) be a part of one again or B) ever be crazy enough to put one together. Low and behold I have done both- twice in 2011. The reason it was created is simple: engaged couples deserved better. When I say this, I by no means consider the Event better than another bridal show {however we are not a show, rather a special Event}, I say this as couples deserve to be educated, not pressured, and excited for planning. On the flip side, I know just how many dozens of creative professionals are out there that need their work seen by these very couples. The more I looked at my couples and the more I looked at what this industry offers, I knew it was something I had to do and I have no regrets or apologies to put out there.
Does it make the other local shows upset?
Absolutely.
Do certain radio stations refuse to play our ads because they feel it competes with their own agenda? Yep.
My hope is that it inspires them to be better...and if not, well, there will continue to be a Simply Fabulous: A Wedding Event twice a year, every year, for as long as I am in the industry.
And that's a promise.
5.Working with the best in the industry. It's a little known fact that you are the company you choose to keep. Everyday I have the opportunity to pick at the brains of the best that I feel are in this business. When I say that, I mean in every element of the business. Some have sparkling personalities. Some take ah-mazing photos. Some have the most genius marketing I have ever seen. And some can make even the smallest bloom look like the Taj Mahal. It all comes from a fire and passion within that I just so admire. And while there are many that I bridal lust after from afar, my intention is to one day meet them...and maybe inspire them as well. Tasha, Emily, Ashley, Brittney, Dave, Melissa, Dena, Molly, Mandy, Martin, Angie, Rachel, Sally, Jackie, Chris, Michelle, Lisa, Dawn, Stephanie, Katie, Tammy, Mark, Juliet, Emily, Erica, Ginger, Penelope, Ashley, Marcy, Theresa- you all kill it with inspiration for me every. single. day.
Which brings me to no. 6...
6. Getting published. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that my work would be published. A minor detail to some, my goals long ago were to have a way to get my work out for the world to see. Thank goodness for technology and some lovely gals that love weddings and want to blog about them. Without the love and talents of my colleagues, my vision would never have seen the light of day. But when you have no.5, really anything is possible in the bridal world. So I certainly am giving praise to The Knotty Bride, Minnesota Bride, A Northwood's Wedding, Wedding Chicks, Elizabeth Anne Designs, Magnolia Rouge, and Style Me Pretty for seeing a vision that I loved as well. Each and every time I saw our work published, tears filled my eyes and my heart fluttered in knowing that someone else loved my vision half as much as I did and do.
So where am I going with all of this, you may be asking? It brings me to 2012...and goals.
I have gotten two emails this week of women asking me for advice on staring a business and what I have done to become successful {note that neither of these emails were to get into the wedding planning business}. At first, honestly, I thought the emails were a bit humorous. Who am I to even think for a moment that I was successful? Certainly not by Preston Bailey standards, nor by the people I brushed arms with at the beautiful Joynoelle show...to them I am just a wedding planner from... where? I was, and maybe always would be, a no one to them. And really, at the end of the day, maybe that's okay.
But to someone in an email, my dream is something. Something worth emailing about, something worth asking about, and the more I read the emails, the more I realized the questions were very real, very honest, and truly made my heart swell with pride for my baby company.
The answers are actually quite simple.
Starting a business and keeping it alive is the hardest 'job' in the world to do. If I could give you a Jimmy Choo for every time I cried and thought "what am I doing"...well, let's just say I hope you had one big closet just for shoes {and that I had a very large bank account for those purchases}.
It is easy to quit.
There is nothing easier and faster in the world to do then to quit.
But is that really who you want to look at in the mirror in the morning?
There is no easy formula to make it to the fast track of whatever you feel your success would be. Most days it can be the hardest thing in the world to be your own cheerleader. But the belief that you have something to offer, something that you are truly passionate about, and know in your heart that you are inspired to do will be enough to take you to your level of success...but only if you truly believe in your goals and do the work to get there. Allow yourself to be vulnerable. Take chances. Accept the "No's" and move on. I am a firm believer that the "No's" weren't what you needed anyway. And if there is something you know you can knock the socks off or someone you know you can do the job well for- beg for it. Yep, beg. Impress them and you have a client for life.
So what does 2012 have in store for me? It's going to be a big year. A very, very big year. New concepts are coming to Simply Fabulous Events & Design and I am pushing myself beyond any creative level I have sat in before. It's nerve wrecking and a bit uncomfortable and I love it. The weddings I am creating this year are one word: Jawdropping. For anyone who said Southwest Minnesota doesn't know how to have a beautiful wedding...prepare to eat crow. Simply Fabulous: A Wedding Event is going to be in it's finest form and I cannot wait to see it unfold and inspire engaged couples and vendors alike. Flowers are going to be a force at the shoppe, and we are bringing in some really, REALLY beautiful Bridesmaid dresses for the New Year. Who knows? I might even pull a little bit o' Preston Bailey out of my hat...you never know who you might meet...
So there it is lovelies- 2011 in all it's glory and what is to come. Are you inspired to chase a dream? Believe in yourself? Fall in love? Marry the love of your life? Invest in a damn good planner? I want to hear it all. Go get those dreams, and know I am excited to see you succeed. A bit cheesy? Maybe. But won't the ride be worth it?
Here's to wishing your 2012 is light, lovely, a bit sparkly, and always fabulous,
*Lisa
{photo love: Elizabeth Messina}
