“As an iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” Proverbs 27:17

While there are SO many amazing aspects of running my own business, one of the sad truths is business ownership can be a lonely endeavor. When I first started out, I had the idea in my head that I needed to be an expert on everything, do everything on my own, to look and feel successful. Boy, I learned quickly I couldn’t have been more wrong! I don’t know about you, but studying tax law is NOT my idea of a good time.

When I decided to go full steam ahead and rejuvenate my business last February, I stumbled upon the idea of community over competition. Community over competition is the simple idea of putting relationships before opportunity. It’s about using your time and passion to serve others, lifting them up in their endeavors. It’s an understanding that the best businesses serve others first. After all, humans weren’t made to be alone. Our lives feel fulfilled and are enriched by the strong family bonds and friendship we cultivate. I knew this was a main focus of how I wanted to run my business differently this time around!

So in this series, I’ll spend some time introducing you to the amazing vendors in the wedding industry I am lucky enough to call a part of my community. It’s the perfect way to brag on them and help my clients find and create the vendor team of their dreams!

Athena Street Creative

Hobby Lobby was my second home. There were endless numbers of shopping trips, hunting for the right navy blue paper and pink colored ribbon. Did they coordinate? Were they going to match the other decor pieces I had? What do I print on the invitation themselves?! What other cards do I need to include?!? While I loved how my invitations turned out and am proud that they’re something I designed and created on my own, boy I don’t think I would do them myself again! Countless hours spent bent over our dining room table measuring and x-acto knifing every piece of paper to the perfect dimensions (which ended up not being a simple, standard size, silly me). And printing. SO. Many. Ink. Cartridges. Seriously, I’m surprised we didn’t go bankrupt.

As I’ve started to slowly build my community here in town, a wedding stationer was high on my list of vendors I knew I wanted to meet. I am always fascinated with the beautiful custom invitation options that appear all over my Instagram and Pinterest. I remember struggling making my own invitations – how do they do it and make them look so magical?! And that’s where Kaitlin of Athena Street Creative comes in! I stumbled upon her account through photos other local photographers posted from their styled shoot collaborations and instantly fell in love with Kaitlin’s work! But better than that? Kaitlin is the funniest, most down-to-earth girl you’ll ever meet!!

We sat down for brunch at the fabulous Garden Table on Mass Ave and it was like I have know Kaitlin for years. We spent hours talking about all things wedding, husbands, cute dogs, travel, babies, and families. It was great to be able to pick Kaitlin’s brain and learn so much about the behind the scenes work of being a stationer. I’m so lucky to have found Kaitlin and her work and I look forward to creating some fun things together in the future!

You can check out Kaitlin’s website here and follow her on Instagram here. For now, enjoy some snapshots of her work below!

Much love friends,