Bridal Expo in Wheeling

You probably thought that I was sitting around, all un-employed, just pre-occupying my time with building the house, didn't you? Ha.

Well believe it or not (anyone who knows me well, will believe it), I decided that I'd add a little bit of stress and anxiety to my life, by exhibiting at the Chicago Bridal Expo in Wheeling, IL.

It was going to be my first show in the US... this could either go really good or reeeeally bad.

Only one way to find out...

I dug out my portfolio and started to do a bit of pre-planning for my display.  

You don't realize how much work you've done until you see it all laid out on the floor..

I ordered a few Terlie stamps for the show.  Each bride walks around with a bingo-style card that they are expected to get signed off by each of the vendors that they visit.  All of the other vendors just initial the cards -- who was I to be typical??

This year, I was going to do something a little different from previous shows -- thankfully, I held on to some of my display items from Winnipeg.  This was a huge help, since it meant that I didn't really have to buy anything new...except for this shelf, which would help add a bit of interest and height

$26 bucks, not bad..

 On the day of the show, we (me and my husband) managed to load everything onto one cart and bring it all in.  My afternoon consisted of setting up the display and getting everything just right

And this is what it ended up looking like

My signage 

Mr. Schmid was a trooper and helped me work the show -- he was sick as a dog, but he pushed through it like a soldier

We were the only invitation vendor at the show, so it was pretty awesome to get as much attention as we did.  We got compliments on the invitations and the display from brides and other vendors.  Made me feel pretty proud :)

I guess my dress of choice was a good one, cuz it got as much attention as the invitations and display did.  

Invitations, people, invitations!  That's what you're supposed to be looking at -- not my dress!

$24 from Forever 21 -- you don't have to spend a lot, you just have to know how to rock it ;P 

The show went from 5pm to 10pm.  It didn't take long to break everything down and pack up.

For my first Bridal Expo, I have to say that it was an awesome experience and that there were definitely opportunities for me to improve on for the next one.

Cassie & Mario's candy-themed wedding

Remember that wedding I was planning...and designing...and crafting...and coordinating...and baking cupcakes for...and making floral bouquets for...and decorating...and standing up as a bridesmaid for...and (you get the idea)

Well it happened.  And it was awesome :)

Here are the photos from the Wedding that was held at the Byron Colby Barn in Grayslake, IL

My beautiful family <3

We collected jars from friends and family for 4 months prior to the wedding.  Some jars were decorated with lace, or burlap and twine.  All 250 jars were filled with candles or flowers and they were clustered on the tables as the center pieces.

Once the sun set, the entire barn glowed so beautifully, from all of the candles

Every Guest received an empty Ball jar to fill with candy from the candy table.  The tags read "Love is Sweet, fill your jar and Enjoy a Treat"

Here are some other detail shots of the other projects I worked on for the wedding

And here's the best photo from the entire event:

It was a lot of work, and there were nights that I stressed so much about it that I lost sleep -- but it was extremely rewarding and I gained a ton of experience from it.

And after all was said and done, I connected with the lady that runs the Barn, and she is recommending me to her Bride's as a wedding consultant / coordinator!  Super exciting opportunity :)

A new commitment

Okay, this is really getting ridiculous.  It's been almost 3 months since my last entry?! COME ON!
I really can't seem to wrap my head around this whole thing -- why can't I commit to updating this thing?  Am I just making excuses when I say that "I have no time"?  
There are thousands of busy women (and moms) out there that find time to blog between their jobs and their home life - so why is this such a struggle for me?


*inhale*exhale*  Alright, I'm good.


So over the past few months, I've been extremely pleased with the increase of Terlie business.  Since the Wonderful Wedding Show, I've secured numerous clients.  I've also had a fair number of miscellaneous projects (i.e. birthday invites, wedding social signage / tickets, save the dates, labels, etc.)  It's these little jobs that add up and help me get by, while waiting for the bigger projects to get going.


Recent News:
I went to Chicago to visit Brian's family - we were gone for a little over a week and had an amazing time, as expected.

At the end of February, I had an awesome opportunity to work with Events by Emma on a High Style photo shoot, which will be featured in the Wedding in Winnipeg magazine, as well as on Stylemepretty.com
Other vendors included Fache Forward Designs, Floral Elements, Chocolate Zen Bakery, Elite Lighting, Hair by Karen, Makeup Expressions & Chair-ish Your Moments.  Photography was by Curtis Moore and Rebecca Croft and videography was done by A Moving Picture Studios. 

Some teaser photos:

Can't wait to see the final photos and video :)

In other news, I finally came around to opening up an Etsy shop -- I've only put 5 of my cards online, just to test it out.  So far, not a single bite :(  When I have more time to dedicate to it, I'll beef it up a bit and do a bit of advertising through Facebook and Twitter.  For now, it's just there... waiting for someone to stumble upon it: Terlie Etsy shop

Well that's as good as this update is gonna get!  Have a great week, and stay tuned for more posts, by yours truly.