Cultivate What’s Important

It has been an amazing year thus far for Lauren O Events. Our new look has received tons of positive feedback, I’ve met some amazing vendors and booked a few awesome brides for 2015.

Another big goal of mine was to find ways to invest in education, experience and inspiration. Let’s be honest, there are a lot of wedding planners out there. I wanted to find a way to differentiate myself so that my clients know this is what I was born to do and that I’m damn good at it.

You see, for me planning weddings is much bigger than putting together a timeline and running the rehearsal. I do that too, but I also care about the weight of the paper for your invitations, I’ll stay up all night scouring the internet until I find linen in the perfect shade of purple. And I’m constantly looking for opportunities to make myself and my brand better.

That is what lead me to Cultivate Retreat. I keep my eye on all the workshops out there for event planners. I’ve always wanted to attend one but I was always way too intimidated to make it happen. I’m just a small time wedding planner, one year independent. Who am I to be rubbing shoulders with experienced creatives like Rhiannon Bosse of Hey Gorgeous Events???!! My inner critic told me I wasn’t good enough, important enough, established enough. One evening while scrolling through Instagram I came across a post by Cassie of Flaire Events, she was hosting a retreat for event planners and inviting planners of every background to attend. Something about that word retreat jumped out to me. I’d never thought of a workshop as a retreat, I was intrigued. I signed up for the newsletter and spent the next few weeks secretly desiring to attend the workshop. But then the inner critic would come back and I would delete the emails from Cultivate Retreat and erase the website from my web browser.

After throwing a pity party for myself I sat down and spilled my deepest thoughts to my greatest confidant, best friend and voice of reason, my boo thang ;-), Sean. I told him how I wanted to go to Cultivate so bad but I felt selfish for splurging on this after all the money we’d invested into my business. I told him that I wasn’t as good, as big of a deal or as established as other planners so I had no business even thinking about it. Sean sat for a moment and then simply said, “Stop it. Stop that. The only way you’re ever going to be all the things your mind has convinced you you aren’t is to go after this thing without fear. So stop that. You’re going, you have to. End of story.” The next week I had tickets in my hand and Lurlyne and I were making flight arrangements.

For the next few days Lurlyne and I will call the beautiful Jekyll Islands in Georgia home. There we will be surrounded by love, creativity, inspiration and some amazing planners, including Rhiannon Bosse!!! I am so excited to not only be attending this amazing retreat, but to be experiencing it with my BFF, Lurlyne. I’m looking forward to learning, growing, recharging and coming back a better wedding planner for all of my fabulous clients.

I’ll be sure to post to Insta as much as I can and fill you all in on the details when we get back. Until then, watch out world. Lauren O plans to take over!

xoxo

Lauren