There’s a line at the beginning of Dirty Dancing where Mr. Houseman is bragging a little about his daughters (if you’ve never watched Dirty Dancing – you can stop reading this right now, we are no longer friends!)

“My Baby is going to change the world”

“And what are you going to do?” (referring to Lisa)

“Oh Lisa is going to decorate it.”

Seems pretty shallow and materialistic, right?  Baby is going into the Peace Corps, and Lisa will decorate.  Sometimes I feel like Lisa.  I sit around all day looking at pretty inspiration, flowers, dresses and linen samples.  I dream up cake ideas and research invitations options. Am I simply feeding an attitude of discontentment and always wanting more?  Am I contributing to this sour mindset that seems to drive the wedding industry causing people to spend insane amounts of money on ONE day? And does what I’m doing actually matter?

It’s the motivation behind what I do that actually matters.  So yes, what I’m doing matters.  But the key is not to lose focus on what makes you get out of bed each day, makes you talk to another bride and then add some gorgeous blooms to a vase.  I am certainly not trying to get rich and I want people to be a peace with their spending decisions.

Meet Gretta.  She’s the reason I need to pay the bills, work from home and find balance between wedding work and life.

Photo by Ashley Slater Photography

But even before she came into existence, I knew that I wanted to be a part of the wedding industry.  So what’s so special about the wedding industry, you ask?  Everything – it’s magic.  As a little girl I dreamt up endless wedding scenarios for myself, purple flowers, sheer tents, little white chapels and dresses with puffy sleeves (hey, I’m a product of the 80’s!).  My mother and aunts kept me surrounded by paint swatches, fabric samples and all things interior design.  So naturally, creative energies surrounded me, they bring me home.  There’s nothing wrong with adding beauty to your surroundings.

However, as I’ve grown, it’s also this concept of “home” that drives me.  My family is amazing, crazy, but amazing. Not everyone gets to be a part of something like my family and I feel sad for them. If you’ve ever watched While You Were Sleeping, that crazy, overly involved, obnoxiously loud but always has each other’s back type family is the closest I can come to describing mine. This mashed up conversation totally hits home.  So in the same way, I want to help create the start of family.  I love being a part of the wedding celebration because it’s the beginning of something new, a new family, a new journey and it should be a happy (somewhat stress free) one.  Being a part of that is awesome!

And after my own wedding, I knew the importance of my job even more.  I was one stressed out, frazzled bride who was barely able to enjoy her wedding day.  I simple cannot handle the thought of you making the same mistake.  The beauty in the wedding day is the vows, love and commitment shared with family and friends.

It’s easy to become obsessed with the publicity, competition, Facebook fans and making each event better than the one before.  But sometimes we need to step back, stop the comparison, and focus on what matters most.  This is the heart of my business.