One Month In... What July brought

So July was a pretty hectic in the world of Simply Bows and Chair Covers and Lancashire Bride.   Its hard to believe that the blog is now one month old!!  Along with speaking and meeting many local suppliers in the last month, I have also been trying to pencil in a few photo shoots to display on the blog, so keep an eye out for them.  I also had a great response to our week long hen party feature last week.

I was also very fortunate to attend the Brides Up North Tweet Up.  For those of you who read blogs you will already know of Julia and the fantastic Brides Up North blog.  Julia did a fantastic job of arranging an informal 'tweet-up' for North West suppliers at Didsbury House in Manchester.  I was lucky enough to meet some brilliant people in the Wedding Industry and I am sure that a few of us will be working together soon.  Keep an eye on Julias blog to see the pictures!

Simply Bows and Chair Covers have also been chosen to work with Glamour Bridal & Prom (based in Bolton) in their Supplier Showcase once it opens in September.  We will be working alongside other marvellous local suppliers such as Whiskers Cakes, Ladybridge Vintage Cars and Love Bouquets. This supplier showcase will be offered to brides to be in the shop as a wealth of information along with displays for inspiration for your big day.

  We will also be working together to create a different theme every month, with the first theme being An Indian Summer for opening month.  I have so many ideas and can't wait to get started and I will keep you all up to date with the pictures!  I will also be showcasing Debbie from Glamour Bridal and Prom on the blog very soon!

So what does the future hold?  I often feel like I have 2 aliases, a bit like Jekyl and Hyde, as not many people know that Lancashire Bride and Simply Bows and Chair Covers Lancashire are the same person (as i found out at the tweet-up).! For the first month I was busy promoting other fantastic local suppliers but I am aiming to display my work through Simply Bows and Chair Covers via the blog so it can be used as inspiration for wedding planning. And of course I will continue to showcase amazing Lancashire talent.

This month also sees the start of our first weddings. Its been 4 months since I first set up office in Lancashire and August is jam packed with weddings and events.  Me and my little team of helpers will be putting our luxurious chair covers out at some fantastic Lancashire based wedding venues including Stanley House and Barcelo Imperial.  Don't worry, I'll be posting all the photos in due course!


Love Lancashire Bride x

My First Networking Experience

So as some of you may know, I had my first networking experience on Thursday at Wyrebank Banqueting Suite in Garstang, Lancashire. 

Networking is something that I've been advised to take part in to progress my business and to make some great contacts, however, as a novice, even the thought of it sent shivers down my back! So the day before I was tweeting and googling for advice.  I was told by my close friends and family that I had a great product so just hold my head up high and talk about what I know! Google on the other hand scared me senseless.  Tips included not to talk too much about yourself, to have a set of questions ready to fire out and to get there early to distribute my business cards.  Was making business contacts really going to be so prescribed?

So I set an action plan to be slightly early to scope out the formality of the situation and to play it by ear from there.  I arrived and was given my badge by Sarah from Black Zest Solutions who was hosting the event along with Stuart at The Wyrebank and then came the scary bit... what to do next? I bit the bullet and jumped straight in, marching over to another early arrival and started chatting away (but trying not to talk too much about myself at the same time!).

I needn't have worried, there were some great people there and I finally got to meet Jonathan from Bean Photo after all the help he has given me with the blog! The event was ideal for me to attend as a beginner, before I head off to my next hardcore networking event where I have to stand up and introduce myself and the business (gulp!).  I also felt very priviliged to meet and listen to Nikki Hesford from Miss Fit Uk.  Being an active user of social media I have heard quite a bit about Nikki in twitter world and she certainly lived up to her reputation.  Her talk on social netowkring was both eye opening and enlightening and will certainly change the way I use Twitter.

Stuart had even put on a fancy afternoon tea complete with fruit kebabs, dainty sandwiches and cakes of all kinds. However, I was quickly informed that normally its just tea and biscuits at other events so not to get used to it!

I left Wyrebank feeling elated and happy that a) it had gone really well from a business point of view and b) i had done it on a personal level! Now I can't wait for my next event and for the Brides Up North Tweet Up to meet more like minded people!

An Afternoon of 'Social Networking' at Wyrebank

We'll be there, will you?

Contact stuart@wyrebank-functions.co.uk