Without further adieu, allow me to introduce you to Summer and Josh.  Every once in awhile, you meet potential clients whom you immediately know will be great friends.  When I first met Summer at her consultation, she warmly welcomed me into her home.  Her then-fiance, Josh, was sleeping upstairs after working the night shift.  Summer and Josh worked odd hours and at the time were like two ships passing in the night.  But it didn’t affect the unwavering love they had for one another, full of laughter and theme parties for which you’ve always wished to be on the guest list.

I could tell right away that this love would last.  And what better venue for a storybook romance than an entire museum and sculpture garden based on whimsy and art?

We had a great team of wedding professionals who related to Summer and Josh on a personal level and really wanted to do their best work.  Kiamarie Stone of KSS Photography, a close friend of the bride and groom, photographed the wedding while Unforgettable DJs kept everyone and their mom (no, really) on the dance floor.  Viburnum created the flower arrangements while Rat’s Restaurant provided an amazing menu.

My favorite part of the day was heading with Kia, Summer, and Josh to the First Look location on the Monet Bridge, re-created from the famous Monet painting:

Since Grounds for Sculpture is a public park, and was open to the public that day, Adam and I cleared the entire area of guests (who were oh-so-patient with us!) so that Kia could capture the First Look perfectly.  Eric and Adam of Reverie Events custom-built this ceremony stage for the wedding, which had to be transported into the center of the crowded park in sections and assembled within the half-hour time frame we were given:

Photo Credit: Reverie Events (@reveriemade on Instagram)

The entire day moved so quickly, but everything fell into place perfectly.  Check out some of the images captured by KSS Photography here.

Summer and Josh, we wish you the happiest anniversary today!  May you continue to grow in your love for one another. We are so blessed to know you both.

Kristin

The post Real Wedding: Summer + Josh at Grounds for Sculpture appeared first on .

Credit: Kay English Photography

Flash forward to April 21st, when Marisa and Tony would say “I do” on one of the most gorgeous of spring days.  Their fear of rain was overcome by sunshine and a cool breeze, and everything fell into place just as we had planned.  There were many ‘moving parts’ to this wedding, with the girls getting ready about an hour north of the guys.  The ceremony was at St. Catharine Church in Spring Lake, while the reception was at Mallard Island Yacht Club near Long Beach Island.  There was no first look (or even a private room in the church for the girls to wait), so we had to time everything just perfectly for Tony to see his beautiful bride as she walked down the aisle.

There were so many beautiful wedding details captured by Kay English Photography (photos) and Endless Wave Studios (cinema).  Check out some of Kay’s photos on our portfolio page.

Marisa and Tony’s wedding was featured on Style Me Pretty, and you can view all the gorgeous details here.

Credit: Kay English Photography

Lastly, but certainly not least, I wanted to share Marisa and Tony’s highlight film by Endless Wave Studios.  Watching this film reminds me how much I love my job, and the clients we are so blessed to meet in the process.

Marisa and Tony, we wish you a nostalgic weekend filled with love.  Our lives are ever changing, but love always remains.

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This weekend marks their one-year anniversary.  One year ago this weekend, we were setting up the wedding ceremony barn, fixing a mini-crisis with programs Nikki ordered on Etsy, getting each place setting just right, and opening up those big beautiful barn doors for Nikki and her dad as they walked down the aisle toward the love of Nikki’s life.  I’ll admit it, I cried.  I always do.  (And don’t tell him I told you, but I’m pretty sure Adam did, too.)

I wanted to reminisce a bit by sharing Nikki and Chip’s wedding highlight film by Endless Wave Studios.

Be sure to check out some photos from their wedding day via this blog post by John Arcara Photography!

Happy Anniversary, Chip and Nikki!  We are so blessed to know you both.

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I want to share with you the true reason why I’m so happy.  But first, I want to share how I got here.

Credit: Miss Indie

When I first started this business, I had pretty bad time management skills.  I’ll admit that.  Not because I wasn’t trying.  (And oh man, was I trying!)  But because I was new at the whole ‘owning my own business and being my own boss’ thing.  I was working 12+ hours a day– even on the weekends– and life as I knew it, sucked.

This was hard for me to admit to people.  Because I have a wonderful family, an absolutely amazing husband, my faith, and everything I could possibly ‘need’ in life.  Meanwhile, everyone was saying ‘how lucky’ I was to work for myself, and how they wished they, too, had an opportunity like mine.  I had their dream job, they said.  So why wasn’t I happy?

After much evaluation, I finally realized (a few years later) that the reason I wasn’t happy was because I wasn’t allowing myself to be.  I wasn’t owning my work.  My work was owning me.  I’ve always been a ‘self discipliner’ as a child, and I grew up to be an even bigger one.  Jobs are not supposed to be fun, I thought.  They require work.  Discipline.  And I need to bang out all this paperwork before I can begin anything fun.  My clients are counting on me.

This way of thinking was downright toxic.  I was suffocating my creativity, the best skills and qualities I possessed in an attempt to produce work I thought my clients needed.  But what they truly needed was me.  My best self.  My only self.  It’s why they hired me instead of someone else.  They didn’t need me to do paperwork all day for them.  They wanted me to be creative for them.

So I did what I always do when I’m unsure of what to do.  I prayed.  I prayed that God would show me clarity in this situation.  I prayed for understanding, for direction.  I wanted to go wherever God wanted me to be.

And show me, He did.  I literally woke up one morning with a clear sense of purpose.  It was so bizarre.  It was as though I had been dreaming about it all night, and I couldn’t get out of bed fast enough in order to make it happen.  It was so clear to me that I wasn’t getting enough exercise.  I wasn’t spending enough time being creative.  I wasn’t spending enough time with my dogs, my husband, my Bible, or working on the relationships I have with my clients.  I wasn’t spending enough time being purposefully happy, or finding balance.

It was so clear what I had to do to change.  I knew my quirks, and I made motions to change them.  For example, when I sit down to my computer, I don’t get up.  I just don’t!  I work.  And work.  And work.  Until I realize I forgot to eat lunch and walk the dogs, and… where did my day go?  Knowing these quirks helped me to set a schedule that worked for me, and my pitfalls.

Credit: Poketo

I decided to get up in the morning and exercise, knowing myself well enough to know I wouldn’t ever actually do it later on in the day.  I’d then eat breakfast, do my devotions, and tidy up the house a bit, for the same reasons; I’m not actually going to do those things later on in the day.  I started to do at least one creative project for clients each day, no matter how small, instead of cramming them in toward the weeks before the wedding.  This not only helped me to get things done with care, but doing something creative each day reaffirmed the fact that I love designing and making things!

I’d take breaks for lunch, for reading, for walking the dogs, and my biggest challenge in these breaks was not feeling guilty for taking them.  Being okay with putting the work aside for an hour to live life.  I wrote people just to say hello.  I said thank you.  I did nice things for others.  I spent my breaks improving my relationships.  And when I sat back down to work, I worked with love.  I needed those breaks for fuel.

And you know what?  I started loving my job.  Because it was then that I realized my job wasn’t my life; it was just a portion of my day that allowed me to use my God-given skills for a purpose.  And when I thought about it that way, I worked harder, and loved harder.

I read this article this morning called ’7 Things Happy People Say Every Day’ via a tweet from Jess Van Den, and it really got me thinking.  I originally opened the article to see what new things happy people were doing, things that I should try.  And when I opened the article, I realized that I do all of these things.  Every day.  I didn’t learn anything new from the article; I learned that I was already there.  And that was such a cool realization.

So why am I happy?  Because I allow myself to be.  I make an active effort to be happy, but the return is tenfold.  I have realized that my life has purpose.  That I was placed here on earth by a God who wanted me to do great things for His glory.  And to love with all my heart.

What steps do you take each day to be happy?

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But through blogging and social media, I’ve met some really amazing women who encourage me and inspire me daily.  We share time management tricks, what we charge, what our client experience looks like in return… Everything and anything.  When your support group is only a phone call away, it’s nice to be able to ask someone what they think of your proposal process, or tell them the name of a certain filler flower so they can find it for a client.  No competition, no judgement; just encouragement.

Through these relationships, one of the many ways I’ve been motivated is to map out my personal and business goals.  One chick, whom I chat with on the daily, does this so well.  I know you’re probably like, c’mon Kris.  Goal setting?  Big whoop.  But it’s something I never mapped out on paper before.  I had all these goals floating around in my head; where I want my business to be in ten years, where I want my work to be published, where I want to live when I retire.  But there’s something so raw and true about writing down my goals on paper.

One of the best decisions I ever made in the name of organization was to purchase the Day Designer by Whitney English. There are so many amazing things about this planner that I could seriously write a whole blog post about it, but one of its best features is the ability to write out your goals in multiple areas of your life; business, family, faith.

I completed my Strategic Brand Plan worksheet today (it’s based on other worksheets within the planner) and I had an a-HA moment.  The kind of moment Cher experienced in Clueless in front of the fountain when she realized she loved Josh.  No matter how long these goals had been floating in my head, writing them down helped me to realize some major things about my business that I didn’t realize before today.

I learned that my three main goals are:

1.  LIVE LIFE and always put family first, business second.

2.  Do everything for the glory of God.

3.  Create a business that is self-sufficient enough that it could function without me, when needed.

That last one was a real doozy.  My business?  Function without me?  No WONDER I don’t have time for my other two main goals.  I’m spending all my time running this business, and I’m running my family and faith right into the ground.  Trust.  Delegation.  Growth.  Is this really where I need to go?

I also made a huge list of traits my ideal client would have.  Here are my top five:

1.  Joyful

2.  Creative / Open-Minded

3.  Stylish

4.  Appreciative

5.  Patient

I wrote these down on a piece of paper that I will keep in my presentation folio, and every time I finish a new client consultation, I’m going to peek at that list and reflect on whether or not the couple I just met with has those qualities.  Crazy, I know.  But in order to love what I do, I have to love my clients and what they stand for.

So writing out my goals was scary, guys.  I realized that I need to start trusting my *exceptionally* talented team with more.  And in the next few years, I might even be handing the ‘planning’ reigns to someone while I focus more on design, working together to create events that are wham, bam, out of this world.  We’re renovating the barn in our backyard to be my future office space.  Will I be sharing it with someone else, full time?  Who would that planner be?  Will they love my company as much as I do?  Will they like my taste in music and dogs?  Will they think I’m weird when I grab my laptop to go work outside on the grass?  I can’t say I know all the answers yet, but what I do know is that I’m on the right path.  And by putting myself out there like this, in a way, I’m holding myself accountable.

I’m going to post my goals here on the blog every month, whether they’re business-related, family-related, or faith-related.  I encourage you to do the same.  What are your goals for your life?  Have you written them down?  Failing to plan is planning to fail.  So get on it!  Let’s do this together.

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I received an inquiry last week from a bride and groom who were eager to book me to plan and design their wedding. The bride had been following my blog and social media, and she knew I was The One before even meeting me. Awesome! This is what I love to hear.

So I asked her the same question I ask all potential clients: “Why do you need a wedding planner?” Her reply was this:

“Well, we really need someone to negotiate on our behalf to get us the best deals possible.  We have some wedding professionals in mind but I don’t know if we can afford them without some help.”

WHOA. Stop the train. I couldn’t even find the words to reply for a few seconds, which felt like minutes. I wrapped up the conversation and told her I’d get back to her. I didn’t feel that we were a good fit in the end, and I told her that via e-mail, as graciously as I could.  When it comes to screening clients, my gut instinct has always, always been right.  So I tend to go with it.

As many of you know, I just spent the past six months working toward a re-brand that I feel truly encompasses the style, philosophy, and love behind Reverie Events. Not once during that process did I want to appear like the Priceline Negotiator. (Reference this dude.)

The truth is, we value everyone we work with when we plan a wedding.  The clients, the clients’ families, and last but certainly not least, their carefully curated wedding professional team.  When we set out to plan a wedding, we match our couples’ style, personalities, and budget to whom we feel would be the best wedding pros for them.  Wedding pros we trust.  Wedding pros we’ve worked with on a number of weddings prior, and will continue to work with for years to come.

Let’s say you read reviews for local day spas and everyone seems to rave about XYZ Spa.  You walk in, you love the ambience, and you decide that you want to get a massage there.  But a massage is $100 for an hour, and you think that’s a bit steep.  Would you go up to the front desk and explain that you really want to book their services, but you’d like them to offer them to you for $75, instead?

No, you wouldn’t.  Because that would be offensive.  You trust that the spa is pricing their services accordingly, and that you’re going to get an AMAZING massage for that money.

Even if you were daring enough to TRY to negotiate the price of your massage, the owner might look at you, confused, and explain that their massages are priced accordingly for the services rendered.  The reason they charge more is because they have comfy, heated massage tables, a paraffin wrap for your feet during your massage, aromatherapy, and the use of the sauna, whirlpool, showers, lockers, and little snacks and cucumber water while you rest on a chaise, flipping through a magazine.  If you want to pay $75 an hour, you can go down the street to ABC Spa where there is no locker room; you unrobe right in your massage room and there are no showers or paraffin wraps.  Both companies are pricing their services accordingly, because both companies know their market and how their services compare to others.

The same holds true for the wedding industry.  Your wedding professionals didn’t pull their pricing out of thin air.  Proper pricing comes from years of experience and past reflection on the amount of work done for past clients.  Your photographer looked back on past weddings and realized that to shoot a wedding, hire a second shooter, spend hours editing the photos; to keep a website up and running, pay rent for a meeting space, and to keep their equipment updated, they needed to charge $xxxx for their services.  Your band, your DJ, your floral designer; everyone carefully calculates what they charge in order to continue delivering the standard of service they choose to offer.

Photo Credit: Andi Diamond Weddings

Your wedding professional team will be like your family on your wedding day.  They’ll be participating in the best, most emotional, most personal day of your life.  In return, they’re giving you their heart and soul.  Their very best shot at your dream wedding.  And they’ll work hard for you because they feel valued.

So when you hire a wedding planner, hire a planner that will give you your ‘Best Wedding’.  Whatever that means to you.  If it’s the ‘cheapest wedding’, then Reverie Events isn’t the best fit.  But if it’s a wedding designed around love with AMAZING photos, killer florals, little details that will make your guests smile and memories that far exceed your wildest expectations, then we truly look forward to receiving your call.  We’ll connect you with a team of wedding professionals with the same exact passion, heart, and soul.  In life– and especially in the wedding industry– you get what you pay for.

As they say, you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.  And because of our respect for our fellow wedding professionals, they respect us right back.  Because of that, maybe– just maybe– you’ll get a free e-session from the photographer we hook you up with, or a comped cocktail hour from the DJ who will have you on the dance floor the entire night.  Because in the end, there is value in feeling valued.

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I am so thrilled to announce that the bouquet we designed for our styled shoot with Kay English Photography has been featured on The Weddingchicks today!

Head on over to our feature to learn what flowers we used in our bouquet, as well as some insider tips for working with icelandic poppies.

We have some fabulous floral designs in the works for our weddings this year, and we can’t wait to hear how we can help with your wedding.  See these pores?  They exude design ideas.  Let’s talk.

Have the best weekend, friends.  In the words of Lara Casey, you know all of those things you’ve always wanted to do?  You should go do them.

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Adam and I have been a lot better at taking time for dates lately, and I have to say, when you’re a gal obsessed with flowers, not much can top a date like this.  We grabbed lunch at Reading Terminal, which is Philly’s version of (Boston’s) Faneuil Hall.  (And oh my goodness… the food?  DELISH.  If you can’t find something you love to eat at Reading Terminal, you might be crazy.  Just saying.)

We ventured across the street to the convention center for the Philadelphia Flower Show, which is the world’s largest indoor exhibition of flowers.  A.k.a. Heaven.

And can I tell you something?  This day really made a lasting impression on my career, and on my heart.  Once in awhile you need assurance that you’re choosing the right path in life, as meandering as it might seem at times.  When I decided to start taking floral design classes in New York a couple years ago, the only thing I knew for sure was that I had a passion for it.

And when I stepped into this room last week, surrounded by flowers and beautiful arrangements by floral designers who shared my passion, I knew I was in good company.  I was so inspired.  And that feeling is just as powerful as the day I started learning floral arranging.  True love never diminishes, whether it’s your man, your dog, or your job.  Truth.

So needless to say, I took a bagillion pictures, and I wanted to share some of them with you! (Please forgive the photography skills… this is why I design weddings instead of photographing them…)

Ranunculus, garden roses, echeveria, silver brunia, hellebores… Be still, my heart.

I’ve always wanted two trees in my backyard; a white birch (an ode to New Hampshire, where I grew up), and a beautiful flowering magnolia.  Have you ever seen a tree so beautiful?

Philadelphia area event floral designers paired up with linen, rental, and supply companies to create elaborate tablescapes.  I love how fun (and different from each other) they all were.  The flower show theme was “Brilliant!” (a nod to Great Britain) so each tablescape represented Great Britain in some way.

There was a Designer’s Studio area where local floral designers displayed single arrangements for competition.  This arrangement scored highly, if my memory serves me correctly.

The last– but perhaps my favorite– section of the show was the merchant area.  Adam and I loved browsing the plants, bulbs, tools, and trinkets for sale.

“It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done.”
– Vincent Van Gogh

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I never used to have these moments.  I’ve always been the self-disciplining type.  The overachiever in class who was always busy, striving for straight A’s and wearing myself thin by taking on way too many extra-curriculars, from dance team, to cheerleading, to competition choir to student government. I was the Rachel Berry of my high school.  But maybe with better outfits, more friends, and zero slushies in the face.

I used to always focus on the goal.  Some exorbitant goal that, when reached, motivated me to set a bigger, better, higher goal.  And there was nothing wrong with that.  That trait of mine will never go away, because it’s part of who I am.  But what was *terribly* wrong was that I wasn’t taking the time to celebrate the goals I had achieved.  Without celebration, there is no satisfaction.  And I was never satisfied.

But now I know to focus on the SUCCESS.  The celebration of the big steps– and the little ones– along the way.  For the past six years, Style Me Pretty has played a huge role in my growth as a wedding planner and designer.  In its wee early stages, I would read the blog loyally and find solace in knowing that out there, there were like-minded wedding professionals with a serious passion for the pretty.  The very first goal I set for my wedding planning business was to some day be a member of Style Me Pretty’s Little Black Book.  The book encompassed everything I wanted my business to be, and to this day that holds true.

So today I celebrate a major success in my life, friends.  It is with tears in my eyes and a bursting heart that I announce that Reverie Events is now a proud member of Style Me Pretty’s elite Little Black Book.

And before I go setting more crazy-beautiful goals for myself, I’m going to take a moment to pause, and celebrate.  So blessed, and in this moment, I am happy.

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 Where to buy:  candle  |  book  |  passport cover  |  gardening shears  |  pencil cup

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