One Year Anniversary

One Year in business. One whole year!! Is it possible for something to go how you thought it would but also go completely unexpected because that’s how I’m feeling about this year in business. I officially started this business the day my last semester of college started, it seemed fitting? It would be pretty cool to say that it was planned, it was a pun because was the start of something new or that I like the number 17…but that’s not it at all. I actually had been trying to legalize by business for 3 days but the site was down and then my lovely school internet was lagging too much and it freaked me out. So, Tuesday the 17^th, 2017 also the morning of my last first day of school was the date that Hannah Marie Events LLC became a legal business.

I made my roommate turned friend take a picture of me holding the certificate, wrote a blog post and then went along with my day. I was so excited and proud to say I had an LLC but other than that, it really felt like a normal day, and it was. I never really thought much of it and realized, most people didn’t either. I thought I would book more brides, gain my first full-service client and magically would know exactly what I was doing. Two of the three happened, so I’d say the first year was pretty successful.

I did book more brides, truthfully, I booked more than I thought I would for my first year. I got to work at some awesome venues, work with fantastic vendors, met some amazing brides and grooms, defined my brand and finally created a website! There have been so many highs for this year in business and I’m so excited to see what happens in year 1! Things didn’t go perfectly, that’s for sure, but does it usually? I learned so much!! I learned about myself, how to operate a business, I learned from other creative women, I learned what NOT to do and how to make my workflow flow better. Well, almost.

Owning your own business is a constant learning curve. There will be weddings that go on without any flaws and then there will be ones where it feels like nothing is going as planned. There will be weeks where my inbox is constantly chiming and I’m working so much that I forget to eat lunch (I know, not good), but then the weeks come when I have TOO much time and wonder if I should be doing something! I can have amazing consultations with the sweetest bride and book the next day or it ends without a booking…but why? I have to remind myself that there is a reason for everything in this season of life and business.

Almost every month I have to remind myself that I chose this life. I chose to walk down the path that isn’t quite as common as the other people my age which means that I won’t be doing all of the same things as them. It also means that I might feel alone sometimes. If you’re a small business owner, I’m sure you feel that way too! Let’s be friends, mkay? There’s also a reason I didn’t book that bride that I thought clicked with me and had the dream team of vendors already. There’s also a reason I haven’t reached my 2018 goal of booking that magic number of brides. But at 1 year old you’re just learning how to balance, say the small things that hook your client, and figuring out that schedule that makes the day go so much better. See what I did there? Your business is your (other) baby. In that first year, you’re still trying to figure it all out and it definitely won’t stop once it turns 1!

Here’s to year 2! Learning more, investing in the right things, balancing that schedule, hook the right brides for me, and giving it all I have!