Mark your calendars!
The New York Wedding Boutique is happy to announce the details of their first meeting. This get-together is open to non-members as well, so definitely take the time to come to the event, meet some other business owners that are in the wedding industry, enjoy lunch, and listen to our great guest speaker!! Hope to see you all there 
As one of the founders of the New York Wedding Boutique, I can attest to the fact that our goal is for these get-together meetings to be special, and to be helpful for everyone who attends. We devoted a lot of effort into trying to find the person who we thought would bring something to the table that all members could really benefit from. Bring someone to the Capital Region who would generate some buzz and who people would be extremely excited to hear speak. While not all future get-togethers will be able to feature speakers of this caliber, for the 1st ever meeting we’ve confirmed that Claudia Hanlin, the founder of NY’s famous Wedding Library, will take a train up to Troy, NY and meet us at the Franklin Plaza for lunch to discuss business.
Claudia Hanlin is the founder of The Wedding Library, an innovative research boutique for brides and grooms focusing on bringing couples together with the finest of wedding professionals. The Wedding Library is among the most elite full service event planning firms in the nation and additionally represents the portfolios of a curated selection of the finest wedding vendors worldwide. At The Wedding Library, brides can easily get in touch with the most talented, in-demand, and creative wedding professionals, from wedding photographers and bands to florists and caterers. Since founding The Wedding Library, Claudia has become recognized as a wedding industry powerhouse with connections to many of the top players in the industry including Darcy Miller of Martha Stewart Weddings, Colin Cowie, Sylvia Weinstock and Vera Wang, all of whom can often be found speaking at The Wedding Library events. With a passion for weddings and events and a keen business sense, Claudia has her finger on the pulse of the wedding world and knows what savvy brides and grooms are looking for in today’s dynamic business climate.
We’ve had to pull some strings to get the insanely busy and in-demand Mrs. Hanlin into our backyard, but she is coming up to speak with our group on September 16th at the Franklin Plaza. We know that we’re all busy this time of year, but we strongly urge you to put this in your schedule in permanent marker and come join us for lunch and listen to this talk. We’ve asked Claudia to base her talk about topics that would be beneficial to our area, but in addition we’ll also have a Q+A session as well if you want to ask her some questions. Claudia has her hand in one of the largest bridesmaid dress retails in Manhattan, one of the largest stationery shops in NYC, and also one of the largest wedding planning businesses in the city. Her diverse experience means her advice is some of the most unique and helpful available to any of us.
While we initially planned on keeping meetings closed for members only, we know this is going to be very popular and in keeping with the NYWB’s goal of bringing local vendors together we’ve decided to open this luncheon to the public. We want the NYWB to continue to the the central hub of what’s hot in Upstate NY, and we think this get-together will cause some local buzz while hopefully bringing everyone together. Entrance will be $35 per person at the door and will include lunch by the Franklin Plaza.
We hope to see you there! If you are interested in attending, please feel free to contact us at wed@nyweddingboutique.com for additional information and to RSVP!
It’s a Wrap!
Good morning my friends! Can you believe we are in the ninth month of the year? We are more than half way through, and officially closer to Christmas (yikes) than not. As probably the last week of summer weather too, it was such a beautiful week. Great meetings with clients, friends and mentors. There is so much happening and i’ll be excited to share with you all! You just have to hang tight for a teeny bit.
In the meantime, I am still accepting resumes and portfolios for an intern!
+ An inspirational story by Julia Allison
+ Grab your September desktop
+ This holiday season, pick up some letterpress cards at Greer Chicago!
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend. Be safe, have fun and make sure to take life in!
card love at Greer Chicago
I’m so thrilled to announce that this holiday season, you will be able to grab some letterpress cards at Greer Chicago! I first “met” Chandra, the owner of Greer back in November. I say “met” because we hit it off instantly on Twitter, like we had known each other for years. We then chatted on the phone for a bit and realized how very parallel our lives are. I wish i could carry Chandra around in my pocket!
We then decided to meet in person at the National Stationery Show and i was so excited! With so much going on, her trip in from Chicago to do all of her buying and meeting, we were able to make time to give each other a hug and have a quick chat!
Here we are!
I love her website and look forward to visiting Chicago and seeing my designs in person! If you live in the area, be sure you stop in and check out her store! She is always chatting about the unique goodies she is carrying. If anything, Chandra will put a smile on your face!
Happy September 1st!
Hi all! So sorry this is late in the day, but i actually had forgotten (or perhaps i was in denial, i’m not sure which) that September 1st is today! Where did summer go? I love the last few days before Labor Day are like mid-summer here in Upstate NY and i can still enjoy the warmth before sweaters and boots kick into high gear!
Here is your September desktop. I hope you had a stellar start to your month!
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Get yours here! Either 1280 or 1024!
Sail your ship
Happy Monday my friends!
I hope your weekend was amazing and fun-filled! I had a great time with my family and of course, it just never lasts long enough. I also spent some time thinking about the fun changes for The Pink Orange, projects to come, new designs, and moving forward with exciting times as the studio continues to get busier. At the same time it is scary, the feeling evokes great energy and inspiration! My friend Katie recently sent me a link Non-Society and included were some extremely inspirational words. I normally don’t include posts like this, but I wanted to share with you all, and if you feel like reading (it is long). But.. i do hope it helps you make a decision you might have been holding back on or take your business or life to the next level!
Comfort. Security. Stability. Familiar. We all want our lives to have these things, and yet, we also want to accomplish great things, be extraordinary, experience new and wonderful things. Sometimes we nearly succeed in convincing ourselves that we can have much, but risk little. This simply is not true. Any worthwhile endeavor, any good thing worth the effort it takes to obtain it will have attached to it an element of risk. Finding your true love is amazing, life changing and euphoric yet there is the risk of being hurt or rejected. Discovering your purpose in life is indescribably fulfilling, yet there is the risk of being misunderstood or even unappreciated.
Sail Your Ship!
Using the analogy contained in the quote at the beginning of this article, your life is like a ship. You can anchor your life in the harbor, in the familiar surroundings you’ve grown accustomed to, and never risk a change of any kind. This is safe, right? The problem is that this is not what the ship (your life) was built for! The ship (your life) was designed to move, to experience new surroundings, arrive at new destinations and all the while making the journey an adventure! If a ship never leaves the harbor it will eventually decay to the point of becoming useless because it wasn’t designed to be stagnant. It was designed to sail out of the harbor, bravely entering the vastness of the open sea and all of its possibilities. The same is true of your life and mine.
It’s so easy to get “caught up” in life. The bills, the kids, the job, the house, and somewhere, way down at the bottom of our to-do list, we pencil in our dreams. You know what? No one ever gets around to doing the last thing on their to-do list!
Like No Other
If we are to be successful, fulfilled and truly happy we must leave the harbor. Each of us are unique and we each have something no one else does. We’re all human with the same basic needs, and heck, we probably even all share the same universal consciousness, but we are still unique! I am different than you and you are different than me! We each have our own viewpoint, interpretation, and thoughts about people and our world. I read something in a book recently that said that “the world needs what we have to offer. If it didn’t, we wouldn’t be here!” If we stay anchored in the harbor, how can we make a difference in the world?
“Do One Thing Every Day That Scares You” -Eleanor Roosevelt
Are there opportunities for you, right now, that perhaps you’ve been putting off or avoiding? Are there actions you could be taking that you know would set you on the path to success and fulfillment? Has fear of the unknown, failure or rejection kept you stationary? Has the effort required to sail your life into the sea of possibility kept you anchored in the harbor? This pretty much describes my life for the past several months, but no longer! I’ve hoisted anchor, my ship is moving toward the open sea. As I stand on the bow, the wind in my face and the salty spray fills the air around me, I am both wonderfully frightened and emboldened for what lies ahead. It is unknown and full of possibility. I embrace the adventure of the journey as much as I will embrace my destination.
I hope to see you out there…..
{written by Julia Allison of Non-Society}
It’s a Wrap!
Well hello and happy day to you all! There is a coolness to the air now, so it is pretty crazy to think fall is right around the corner. I really need to soak in all that the remaining days of summer and warm weather have to offer!
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and have lots of fun – whatever you do!
+ Pretty cool illustration by James Joyce
+ Download your little and big to-do lists!
+ A cotton candy wedding!
+ We are still looking for an intern!
Cotton candy goodness
We have nearly reached Labor Day weekend, and I have missed every fair this summer. I will admit, I go for the food. Where else can you get fried dough rolled in sugar and cotton candy? It is my excuse to add an extreme amount of sugar to my diet for the day and not feel a tad guilty about it. That is what you do at a fair, right? {And don’t think for two seconds that i don’t add ice-cream into the mix either. For anyone that knows me, I live for ice-cream!}
Then i got to thinking, how fun would it be to add a cotton candy twist to a spring/summer wedding? For all those planning for next year, here you go!
{source from top: vintage sign from Yates County Fair / accessories inspiration from Bridal Wave / photo W. Scott Chester }
{ source from top: flowers from The Knot / dress J.Crew bridesmaids / cotton candy favors by Hayley Anderson Photography }
