It's sort of a long story, but the gist of it is that my BEW business partner and I decided to try a bridal show. I mean, it made perfect sense as we were working to create showcase opportunities for local businesses- why not try this avenue? Our first show was about 55 vendors, certainly not small but nothing compared to what it would grow to be. The next year we moved to a hidden gem of a venue in Mesa. Beautiful and within our budget, which in all four years never included a salary for ourselves, The Windemere Resort housed shows two and three. In year four we moved to The Chapparal Suites in Scottsdale and about 20,000 square feet of my wildest fantasy. Fashion shows, thousands of dollars in prizes, amazing displays, a Groom Room lounge, over 100 vendors, a budget to rival many people's annual salaries (and still no salary for us)...I cannot even begin to describe how much I absolutely LOVED this experience. Of course there were high maintenance "PITA's" (pain in the aardvarks"), endless errands, phone calls while hidden in rooms with screaming babies in the background and praying the person on the other line couldn't hear it, and we dealt with the unexpected so much it should have been expected. But I LOVED it. Every missed meal, 2:00 am email, panicked moment when we had to figure out a plan B. I love it all, and when I look back am totally amazed and proud that we did this.
So what did we do? I'd like to think that the Arizona Bridal Affair was a refreshing dose of how business should be done in Phoenix. It was not just about selling for us; we so cared about each and every business that signed on and really wanted to do everything we could to help them grow. We were totally novices in the beginning and cherished every little tidbit of advice and insider knowledge that was passed on to us. We learned that some of our big goals had to be compromised and that was not necessarily a bad thing. We also learned there were some bad apples out there, but oh so many more good ones. Doing business with others who were in the business helped us be better.
This last year was my favorite; I loved our new venue, I loved all the networking events we went to (thank you, thank you to Curtis Whipple and WEN), I loved the support we received, I loved when people passed our info on to others or when people started remembering our name, I loved the many faces we met and most of all I loved our show. I loved how pretty it was, our pre-show party for our vendors was amazing, I loved celebrating the people who had stuck with us since the beginning and I loved that when it was all over I really think we shook up the way other shows worked. I loved turning business associates into friends- thank you Jennyvi Dizon for EVERYTHING!
I also loved being able to breathe when it was all over with and spend time with my babies, who had patiently waited while mom had spent the past four years with a phone at her ear and a computer on her hip. I also love my husband who only grew frustrated a few Phoenix wedding industry- you are amazing! Thank you for supporting and working with us. Thank you for the endless memories of enjoying your work, thank you for being kind, thank you for talking with us, hanging out with us and not laughing when Tamara and I snuck seconds and thirds at the food stations. If I renewed my vows, I honestly would not know who to hire as there is an endless supply of talent and caring professionals. What do I mean if? We will, because this gal has been planning her wedding since birth and June 24, 2005 needs to be celebrated again and again. And, in case you can't tell by all the pics, I think for sure we'll have a photobooth ;)
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