Last year, we were grateful to be a part of the LVL Academy Workshop, a leading wedding planning education program. This program empowers wedding planners to pursue their passion with confidence through a comprehensive program that prepares a planner to run a successful business.

We’ve been fortunate enough to work with Lindsay and Heather over the past few years on some of their beautiful weddings. It’s always such a joy to work with such professionals who really set the bar with their professionalism. It was an automatic “yes” when we were asked to be a part of this workshop, and it was an honor.

These workshops aren’t a typical day spent in a dark classroom with harsh lighting and run of the mill catered lunch from The Corner Bakery. Every aspect of this workshop is intentionally designed to first, educate you and second, to inspire you.

As a small business myself, I don’t think there is any better way to spend your profits than on education. If you are serious about your business, your craft, and your reputation, then further educating yourself to help elevate your brand and to stay on top of marketing trends will be the best investment you can make for yourself. I couldn’t think of a better way to gain all of that for a wedding planner than this workshop that LVL Academy puts on.

For this event, we were able to provide signage, stir sticks, and personalized name cutouts for attendees.

If there is one specific part of my business I love, it is helping support other small businesses. I have started to offer these engraved logo signs with a stand in my shop so that we can help other small business elevate their brand. They are perfect for trade shows, sponsor table displays, and craft shows. We also used them for menus and to help label pricing on some of the merchandise they also sold at the workshop.

My absolute favorite thing we did for this workshop was this engraved and acrylic inlay menu for the lunch being served. It was the first time we experimented with something like this and I think it turned out really well! If you aren’t familiar with laser engraving and cutting, engraving can be a really long processes. That is usually why prices are usually higher for engraved items than cut items. However, when it’s done and done right, the results are just gorgeous!

We are so grateful to have these opportunities to work with the best of the best. We also appreciate their support for my business as well. The wedding and event industry is huge but our community is small. Since being in this industry, I have been blessed to have the most amazing community surround me. Days and events like this remind me of how blessed I am.

Credits:

Production: LVL Academy

Signage, Stir Sticks, and Name Cut Outs: Delovely Details

Venue: The 1912

Catering: 24 Carrots Catering

Photography: Lorely Meza

Publishing: Two Bright Lights

Paper Goods: Minted Weddings

Florals: Heavenly Blooms

AV and Lighting: Elevated Pulse

Draping: Amber Event Production

Rentals: Signature Party Rentals

Table Top: Borrowed Blu

Wine: One Hope Wine

Coffee: Bodhi Leaf Coffee

Hair and Makeup: Design Visage

Head shots: McCune Photography

Swag Bag: Flower Stay

Video: One Story Weddings

Back Drop Design: Jesi Haack Design

Linens: Mod Mix Studio

Runners: Tono and Co.

Cake: Simply Sweet Cakery

Lounge Furniture: Found Rentals

We recently had the privilege to not only help 24 Carrots Catering on one of their opulent events, but this time we were also hosted by them to a beautiful meal. It was 24 Carrot’s Gratitude Dinner. A night where they treated their closest vendor friends and guests to a night of lovely connections, joyful conversation, and copious amounts of delicious food. As 24 Carrots does, every detail was meticulously thought of and everywhere you turned was another vignette that tugged at you and invited you in to experience it. 24 Carrots does an amazing job at turning a simple “dinner with friends” into a journey for the eyes, mind, and soul. We are so grateful to work with them as often as we get to and consider them friends. It was a perfect night.

We were so excited to work on this project because you could tell how meaningful it was to them. Every event that 24 Carrots puts together is carefully planned and incredibly thorough. But with this event, you could tell how deep the gratitude really runs though this team. We had a blast doing the unique signage along with some drink details, of course.

The gorgeous Ring Around the Rosé bar served guests either a still or sparkling cocktail. It was a tough decision between a “Stop and Smell the Rosé” (Rosé, Aperol, St. Germain, Chambord, Soda Water) or “Rosé Sil Vous Plait” (Rosé Sangria). I was a huge fan of the “Stop and Smell the Rosé”. We created these drink “buttons” for each glass and I’m 100% obsessed with them. They were so cute and so different from our popular stir sticks.

Our good friends at Project Watermark did this epic escort card display. A cascade of leaves, each had calligraphy with your name and table assignment. It was a huge hit. Searching for your name among all of the ribbon and leaves reminded you that you were in a garden, Franciscan Gardens to be exact.

I love this venue. The space is so versatile and has so much potential. There must be a hundred different ways you can host an event here. The outside garden area is spacious, yet intimate. The inside is stunning and elegant, but full of potential to personalize and create an inviting space for your event. On our way into the dinner area from the outside cocktail area, we cut a very large sign for a green hedge that pretty much summed up what was behind the wall. They set up the entire kitchen area just on the other side of the hedge wall, and that is where the magic truly happens.

Inside the space, gorgeous tables of pink and green overflowed with intricate floral pieces. Tall candelabras made the space feel intimate and warm. Each menu was personalized and informed you of the delectable dinner you were about to devour. In one corner of the room was a beautifully tattered buffet that was a display for the take home gift, along with a full belly and heart. Custom colored pencils and a branded coloring book to help you keep those creative juices flowing after the evening ended.

Midway through our dinner, Carizza, whom I am fortunate to call a dear friend, spoke on behalf of the 24 Carrots team. Full of sincerity and affection, she summed up perfectly about what the entire night was about, gratitude. Norm, owner and mastermind behind 24 Carrots Catering, spoke as well. Between the words spoken, the ambiance created, and the food prepared…the appreciation was brimming in the room.

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Of all the beautiful events we’ve been to and worked on with 24 Carrots, this one will hold a special place in my heart. This company has been a blessing to my company and therefore my family. Friendships have been forged, businesses have been elevated, and creativity has been bountiful. What more can one ask from a fellow collaborator.

Thank you 24 Carrots Catering for a beautiful evening.

Production + Catering: 24 Carrots Catering

Venue: Franciscan Gardens

Floral Design: Oak and the Owl

Furniture + Lounge: Found Rentals

Tabletop Rentals: Borrowed Blu

Linens: La Tavola Fine Linens

Photography: Brett Hickman Photography

Videography: Villa Visuals

Entertainment: Elevated Pulse

Lighting: Premier Lighting and Production

Calligraphy: Project Watermark

Laser Cut Details: Delovely Details

Photography by Savan Photography

When I first started Delovely Details, it was my business. It started out as a hobby but quickly grew. As it grew, it no longer was my business, but also Drew’s. Drew is 100% my partner in this. I would not be able to do any of this without him. While he also has a regular day job, he spends a lot of his nights and weekends helping me manage everything. The impact our business has had on our marriage has been a surprise in many ways.

1. Communication

Drew and I have always been great at communicating with each other. I’m sure sometimes he’d agree that maybe I communicate “too well”. However, I find that it’s been a big strength in not just our marriage, but also in working together professionally. Most business owners will say, “time is money” and so we try not to spend a lot of time beating around the bush. We can be very direct with each other. It can be hard to hear, and even harder to leave it at the door when we are home sometimes. Whether it be a problem with a design, how to handle a customer, accounting; we both are always more interested in solving the problem than exacerbating it with complicated dialogue.

2. Compromise

We both are big idea, creative, and passionate people; which can make compromising extremely hard if I am being honest. This is something we both regularly have to check ourselves with and something we both can probably get a little better at. One thing that has helped us is to have our main goals (for business and home life) clear and sometimes even visible. That way, when we are struggling to make compromises, we can look at our main goal and revert back to it to see if our compromise will help direct us to that main goal. If we have goals for our family, goals for the business, and goals for our marriage, it can help us make the RIGHT choices (most of the time anyways). The more we’ve compromised with the business side of things, the easier I find compromise is on the family side.

3. Partnership

I’ve been with Drew since 2001. We’ve known each other since we were basically kids. We’ve been each other’s support systems, cheerleaders, and back up for quite a bit of time now. When I started this business, it was mine. However, because Drew is my biggest support, it wasn’t long before he jumped in to help me. It was just his nature to do so. With that, I have a trusted partner in my business. I trust that he will do what is in the best interest for my company and therefore our family. I also respect him and he respects me. This makes delegating work very easy. It’s also great for our marriage in that the business only helps us further trust in each other.

4. Work-Life Balance

We struggle with this big time. It’s one of the biggest downsides that our business has been for our marriage. Even though we regularly make goals of changing it, somehow it never seems to happen. We both work 24/7. When we take date nights, we usually end up talking about the business. It’s really hard to completely turn off work when your spouse and you are both working for the same company. I can’t remember the last time we didn’t look at our emails for an entire weekend. We’ve never shut down our shop for a holiday or vacation. This is not ideal or healthy and we are constantly fighting off burnout mode. Having weekends be work-free is a dream of ours though, and while it sometimes seems impossible, we are both constantly working towards that goal. I am grateful however, that if I am going to be working on a Saturday, at least it is with my husband and my daughter can be with us both still.

5.  Disagreements

We are far from the perfect couple or business partners. We disagree, we argue, we can even hold grudges. However, sometimes if we have a fight about family life, it doesn’t mean that the business doesn’t have a deadline the next day. Or sometimes, we will disagree over a business matter, and then we have to go to dinner with each other’s families. So while we may want space from each other, it’s usually impossible and that can be frustrating. We’ve learned to compartmentalize a lot of our issues to get through commitments and then we find time to discuss them and work through them. I think at the end of the day, most times, we both understand that our disagreements are usually a small pebble in our journey and not worth more energy than necessary. We both also respect each other’s feelings if we just can’t get past things and might need to just be frustrated for a little bit.

Photography by Savan Photography

 This is how Delovely Details has impacted our marriage, it isn’t all good and it isn’t all bad. For better or for worse though, I think we would still choose this road. It has been far more fulfilling than not and we both feel that the business has overall strengthened our marriage. Is owning a business within a marriage for everyone? No. I’m actually quite surprised how well our marriage has adapted to it. Like most things that impact a marriage, if you’ve built your marriage on a strong foundation, it’s usually capable of weathering any storm. Our marriage is built of faith, love, trust, and empathy. So far, we’ve gotten through every storm we’ve had come our way. And believe me when I say, we’ve had our share!