Check out Ashley's Bride Guide Daily Scoop for today as she included us in invitation finds from Weddings the Bridal Show at the Convention Center on July 12. How exciting - thanks, Ashley!

http://www.ashleysbrideguide.com/blog/?p=3532&PHPSESSID=e29b50ea3f09c45054121a40cf589e66

I also wanted to blog today about something we are starting here at By Heart and Hand. As most of you follow us probably know by now, I have a home studio that I work out of. Most of you probably also know that my home studio is about 10 miles south of Lieper's Fork where my husband and I have a little 40 acre farm....not exactly conducive to meeting with brides, but very conducive to living a happy life playing in sunshine with my various outdoor friends (horse, calves, sheep, llama, chickens, etc.). While we do have meeting space in the Brentwood area, it can still be difficult to drive around to meet with couples individually.

So, we are planning some upcoming events at local hotels and meeting spaces to be able to connect with brides on a smaller scale. If you have been to a bridal show, you know that it can be totally overwhelming for both the brides and the vendors. As a bride you are overwhelmed with the choices and wanting to ensure you see every booth possible - while as a vendor, you want to be able to meet as many potential clients as possible in a finite amount of time. This usually means that there is little time to talk specifics with any bride about what she really needs for her day. As a result, we are setting up to host some "Mini Bridal Shows" at local hotels and meeting spaces. We will set the rooms up to showcase the invitations we offer, what is involved in different Event Planning Packages, the linens we rent, and some of our modern, couture feathered bouquets, fascinators, and bouts.

The idea is that we will invite brides from the area(s) around the show location. This is a smaller list of brides so it should allow brides time to talk one on one with a company representative, look through invitation catalogs, and check out our rental items. They can either attend to get ideas of what is available, or we will have employees available to take orders/reservations if the brides are ready to do that. The hope is that this more intimate setting will allow us to better understand what the brides are looking for and get to know them.

We will be planning several of these events in different areas of the mid state in the coming months so that we can cater to brides by meeting with them "in their own back yards."

The first one we have planned is for later this month on the 16th of August and it will be held at the Hampton Inn on Halifax Drive in Columbia, TN. All are welcome to attend. The only thing that we ask is that you go to the listing for the event and sign up for a free ticket. There is no charge associated with this event, but we do ask that you sign up so that we can ensure it is appropriately staffed.

http://www.byheartandhandminishowcolumbia.eventbrite.com/

We look forward to seeing you there - stay tuned for details of other events will be released as they are finalized!