Thursday, May 1, 2014

Colorado Springs Wedding Planner | ISSEDenver | Inspire Smart Success | Stacie Francombe



As some of you know I have "retired" from my 8-5 job at a conference center.  I started there when I was a wee bebe of 18 years old. I never thought I would stay there as long as I had, but through the years they worked with my schedule to allow me to train and travel for judo, attend and graduate college and now build a business. After 16 years of working split shifts, 12 hours days, and for someone else, I am happy to report that I get to make my own schedule now! WOW it feels good to be my own #BOSS.

It has been a few weeks of this new transition and I am still adjusting to the realization that I am able to be home with my kids in the morning and afternoons, go on field trips with them, make them breakfast and dinner, all the while, building Sarah Viera Event Planning & Design! (SVE) It really is a dream come true! 

With my new found glory of an extra 40 hours a week it feels great to know that I can actually meet vendors, venues and clients during the normal work week! So I took my first step at networking and signed up for Stacie Francombe's #ISSEDenver seminar. The event took place at the beautiful Spruce Mountain Ranch in Larkspur.


We started off the day finding out how we can Be Brave in our business in the coming year(s). For me, I realized in order to be MORE brave I needed to set some goals for the business and stick to achieving them. Every year I set large goals and those are often times easy to accomplish, but its the small, growing your business, nitty gritty goals that need constant attention.  Being so inspired from Stacie's talk that day, I went home that night and made a monthly routine schedule of how I would like the weeks to follow. I included days where I work on things solely for the business. (The inside, behind the scene business needs). I also included days where I work on just my clients, as well as days of going out and meeting and networking. The key to my success with this goal....is to stick to the routine! 



One of the best sessions was learning how to balance both life at home and life in the "office". Working from home has and can be a challenge if one does not learn to differentiate the two. The key message I learned was to treat my family as if they were a client. We would not pull out our cell phones and post on Facebook or answer the phone in the middle of our client talking if we were with an actual client. So I make this promise to myself, my kids and husband to treat them with the same respect I treat my clients! 




It was such a fun, inspiring and educational day. I met tons of amazing vendors in the industry, had a delicious lunch provided by Occasions Catering and lots of yummy snacks and treats from so many participating vendors. 







One of my favorite items in the swag bag was the portable cell phone charger! Yay!!!!! I totally needed this! And the shawl from Splendor For Your Guest, which I am currently wearing now! 


Thank you so much Stacie for the amazing and fun experience. I am so thankful for meeting you and learning so much. 

I highly recomend attending any one of Stacie Francombe's ISS Experience . In November she will be in Riviera Cancun with the likes of Amy Atlas (who I would LOVE to meet!!!!), Sarah Haywood and so many more! (Now just to convinence my husband we need to go!!!) 






Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Colorado Inspired Wedding | Colorado Springs wedding planner | Spruce Mountain Ranch


First off, how cute is she????? 


And that bow on her dress is amazing on her petite body! 



 


My favorite things about the guys....besides their awesome personalities and many laughs...their tie's. Loved how perfect they matched everything. 




And my favorite thing about the girls...that they were just as crazy as the boys! 

 


Overall this group was SO much fun! 


Christy and Will's vision for the day was for it to be a true Colorado experience. They love hiking, camping and enjoying the mountain air! Little details throughout their day showed that. Their ceremony was at the beautiful Spruce Mountain Ranch on the Mountain Side! Guests were able to experience the amazing view from up there as they waited for the bride to make her entrance. Rain sprinkled down upon us and while we tried to hold out Christy said "lets do this"! And walked down the aisle with sprinkles dusting her with good luck! Nothing could stop this crowd from having a good time!





Guests were instructed to mark a place on the map of where Christy and Will should travel next to! They would hang this map in their new home.

 As guests entered Albert's Lodge it felt as if they were in the mountains filled with Aspen trees. Dawn from Hillside Consultants did an amazing job with creating this look and feel that Christy and Will visioned.  


 


 

 

 






LOVE this! A true bride having fun! 



Along for this fun ride are the following vendors:

Baker: Dream Pasteries
Entertainment: Affinity Entertainment
Liquor: Peak Beverage
Musicians: Starkey Productions and Guitar duo-Phil and Joleen
Officiant: Pat Bell
Rentals: Event Rents
Transportation: Inverness Hotel Shuttle

Monday, December 9, 2013

Vintage Wedding | Colorado Springs Wedding Planner | Hillside Gardens


Vintage/antique has been a very popular trend in the last year. Barbara knocked this theme out of the park! Everything from her place settings, to her dress to her hair! She was an absolutely stunning bride! 



I remember meeting Barbara and her mom at Starbucks. She told me about her ideas and visions for her day and I remember thinking....I am going to love this wedding!!!!! One vision was hanging origami cranes-a thousand of them! I didn't really think there would actually be a thousand of them but there were! It took my staff two hours to hang all of them and in the end it was beautiful. 





Invitations set the tone to your wedding. Guests see them and can get an idea of what your wedding will resemble. The lace envelopes was a beautiful detailed touch to Barbara's invitations. 


Hillside Gardens is a very unique venue. Eclectic decor items surround the gardens and make for fun photo opportunities. Guests are free to mingle in the gardens during your cocktail hour and reception. If you haven't been there yet you need to check it out! 




Barbara had her girls carry parasols rather than flowers and the guys got personal boutonnieres made for each of them!



Each place setting was set with a different vintage plate and napkin making the entire room look very vintage and eclectic. Various size glass bottles filled the tables with gorgeous purple, green and ivory flowers from Hillside Consultants. Barbara provided menu's for the guests with beautiful calligraphy! 










 













Guests were provided with homemade soap from the groom as a thank you for attending their special day! Barbara and Joe were such a pleasure to work with. Many happy wishes to them in their future! 





A special thank you to the following vendors who made their day possible:

Design & Coordination: Sarah Viera Event Planning & Design
Entertainment: Celebration Station
Officiant: Barbara Graham
Transportation: DDG Classic Limousine
Wedding Venue: Hillside Gardens