HELLO 13!

Happy 13^th Birthday to A Stylish Soiree! It’s a big year at A Stylish Soiree. March 12^th, we turned 13! You’re probably wondering, why celebrate the big 1-3? Oh, there are so many reasons. Read on and I’ll tell you all about it!

Let’s start with the number thirteen.  Thirteen is my favorite number. In all honesty, I adopted the favorite thirteen from my hubby, Todd the carpenter. It has always been and will always be his favorite number. In our lives it’s proven to be a VERY lucky number. We were engaged on the 13^th, had an engagement party on the 13^th, our daughter was conceived on the 13^th, and too many more to mention! So many things have changed for A Stylish Soiree in the past year, I had a feeling year thirteen was going to be one for the books. This has proven true!  So, we celebrate, we celebrate big. We will thank the Lord for all the blessings this company has received, and we will thank the Lord for all the hardships that ultimately made this company bigger and better. As anyone in this industry knows, weddings are a true labor of love. We sweat, bleed and cry for our brides. Here we are in year thirteen and I wouldn’t change a thing!

HOW DID WE GET HERE? HERE’S OUR STORY, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE REAL BAD!

Sometime in the later part of 2005, my sister Becca, who was currently working in a “the devil wears Prada” job, called me and said, “That’s it, I quit, and I want to start a wedding planning business!”.  I thought she was crazy, but what fun this would be!  I was in. However, I was currently employed as a landscape architect and decently happy with my job. I told her I would help her get the business side of it up and running. She researched, created a logo, and signed up for her first bridal show in Plano the following March.

Today was the day, March 12th, 2006, the Plano Bridal show. I was ready to help her chat with clients and pass out marketing materials, but that was about all I could handle. After all, I had 3 kids at home ages 2 and under!  So here it was, March 12^th, 2006, the first bridal show and the official unveiling of A Stylish Soiree. It was fun, it was exciting, and we even booked a couple of clients. We were on cloud nine. However, the entire time I was there I couldn’t stop peeking at the flower arrangements in the booth next to me. They were modern, funky and complete works of art. I was intrigued to say the least.

Now it’s July of 2006 and bridal show number two is coming up, the big one, the Dallas Bridal Show at Market Hall. I told her that I had an idea. What if we added floral design to our list of creative services? I think she probably thought I was the crazy one now, but as a landscape architect, the idea of working with flowers in a different medium was new, fresh and very exciting! I threw out the idea of just making a few bouquets, arrangements, and boutonnieres. We weren’t going to sell the idea unless brides seemed interested. Well to our surprise, they were VERY interested and loved what they saw! From that show we booked our first floral client.

THE GOOD

Only a few months in started the beginning of the good! We worked fiercely and landed a job doing a wedding at a home on Swiss Avenue, a backyard wedding with all the bells and whistles. It was from this that we were referred to a few big clients, dropped the first magazine ad, and were blessed with a spot doing floral features in the Dallas Morning news. I knew at this point, this was it, I was no longer a landscape architect, I was a FLORIST.

    THE REAL BAD

All went well for the first couple of years. We were very successful and loving our careers. I was starting to plan weddings as well as design the floral. We were busy and loving it. Then out of nowhere, the real bad creeped up and tried to destroy us!  We were rapidly growing and needed a bigger office. We rented a piece of property from a guy that ultimately was a scam artist.  Exactly thirty days after moving in, the city of Dallas knocked on the door and told us we couldn’t be there. The building was red tagged from some previous renovations. Here we are in the very beginning of year three with a lawyer, his mountain of fees, and paying a lease on a property we couldn’t occupy. All in all it ended up costing us somewhere between thirty and forty thousand dollars. We stopped counting because it was too stressful!  To top it all off, someone sharing this property with us, sued us for business damages. It was a long year with many tears and a lot of wine!  We were absolutely devastated, but we didn’t quit! We refused to let this incident define who we were as business owners and creatives! We both come from a long line of entrepreneurs, so got second jobs, and we put everything we made back into that debt, and by year 4 we were going strong again. We leased a space at the Hickory Street Annex with some amazing vendor friends and started hiring staff.                                  Again, we were crazy busy!

THE BAD

Becca left the company! It was just me. What in the world was I going to do? Backup, rewind, not so much drama needed here.  Those that know Becca know this business was her baby. She loved it. But she was young and on the verge of starting her own family. Her start looked a little different than most of us. Instead of preparing 9 months for a baby coming into their home, she prepared for a few hours!! She was on the eve of a wedding weekend. We were planning and doing the floral for this Bride. Friday, before the rehearsal, she received a call that her daughter was here and in Houston and she needed to go get her asap. Long story short it was time for her to retire and that was exactly God’s plan. I stepped in and did it all, until I realized I couldn’t do it all!  Nothing like being at a Friday night wedding, at eleven o’clock, and realizing you haven’t started your custom runners for the wedding the next day. I hadn’t even purchased the fabric. It was time to hire someone, and so I did! So, the bad ended up not being so bad.  Becca now lives in LA where she plans weddings on and off for A Stylish Soiree. She loves LA, an it’s gives me a reason to go visit and do some fun styled shoots!

   BLESSINGS

Hello thirteen! So, here we are in year thirteen.  It’s hard to believe. I’m so thankful for everyone that has been a part of this company. Everyone has played a crucial part in the company’s success and I couldn’t have done it without each and everyone of you. Now in year thirteen I truly believed that God has aligned me with the perfect crew. It’s fun to look back and see how many blessings came with each person.  I have the best setup staff, specifically Rhonda and Elise, that have worked by my side since the beginning and been here every Saturday for over 5 years.  I have a lead planner Samantha, that everyone says is the new Becca! They even look alike.  She is truly amazing with her kind heart, her calm nature, and her honest soul. She is the real deal. I am so thankful she is heading up the planning side of the business.  I have the friendliest social butterfly, Taylor. I think everyone that’s met her would agree, she is simply the cutest, kindest soul. I have a carpenter, Todd, aka hubby, that brings to life every crazy idea I come up with. He also deals with my weekend crazy and shuffling kids around while I’m at work. I have a large tribe of vendor friends, some that have been here since day one, shout out to Cristina Wisner. I have a family that supports me, I have friends that support me. To say I am blessed is an absolute understatement!  I look forward to the next few years with all the blessings to come, the new vendor friends to meet, and  the new staff to join the company.

CHEERS TO 13 FRIENDS!

Kerrie Smith

Owner and Creative Director