“Trouvaille – noun: A lucky find”
If I close my eyes and wish hard enough, could I go back in time to Trouvaille 2.0?
My heart has been SO full after returning home from the Trouvaille Workshop by the seriously talented wedding planner and floral designer Rhiannon Nicole Bosse of Hey Gorgeous Events. For those of you who don’t know, Trouvaille is a workshop created to educate and inspire businesswomen in the wedding planning realm, and was brought to life in an effort to encourage and facilitate a tight knit community of like minded, creative women. From the swoon-worthy dinners and soirees, to the invaluable presentations by the amazing speakers and vendors, to the hands-on experiences in calligraphy, sketching and floral, to all the pretty swag (oh my goodness, the swag!), topped off with Rhi’s amazing capacity to love and dote on us, this workshop knocked me right off my feet. I can safely say that I left that workshop with a full heart, an incredible new group of 30+ beautiful friends, a clear mind and some serious conviction for Always Yours Events.
In order to even scratch the surface of the three-day workshop, I wanted to devote a post to each of the intensive days. In this post, I will cover the night before Trouvaille, the opening sessions on Day One, followed by a recap of what might be the prettiest Welcome Dinner I have ever seen and been to in my life. So make sure to stay tuned throughout the week for more posts about Day 2 and Day 3!
On the day we arrived, I was fortunate to have a pre-workshop sleepover with my good friend, fellow Trouvaille veteran, roomie and New Orleans based wedding planner Merideth from Bella Soiree Weddings and Events! Something I truly loved about this experience was getting to see all the pretty and familiar faces of my friends/fellow Trouvaille veterans this time around (see the first workshop’s blog post here). We met up with another friend, roomie and North Carolina based wedding and event designer, Jessica Alexander from Pretty in the Details, had dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, followed by late night cocktails with Rhi and speaker Kristen Polhemus from Reverie Weddings and Events! In all honesty, this night is in my “top ten.” Relaxing with a group of incredibly talented women, chatting about our dreams for our businesses and personal aspirations, sharing advice with each other, followed by a little bit of coaching from Rhi and Kristen, all over champagne and mac n’ cheese bites made for the perfect night. Like I said… definitely in my “top ten.”
Okay, so waking up the morning of Trouvaille is like Christmas. We got ready for the day’s festivities, followed by checking into our hotel room. Of course, upon entering our hotel room we spied gifts from Rhi. On each of our beds were gold sequined hangers complete with blush ribbons and name tags to hang our dresses for the Welcome Dinner. Quickly we all got ready, met in the lobby of the hotel and then hopped on the private wooden trolley that brought us to the Downtown Greenhouse in Grand Rapids. Rhi welcomed us all with big hugs as we entered the gorgeous workshop space for Day One. At each seat was more pretty swag that we “ooo-ed” and “ahh-ed” over until presentations began. Rhi began with introductions, followed by a session about how to create an unforgettable and talked about client experience. Kristen followed right afterwards with a session about booking the ideal client, and determining personalities of our clients so that we may adjust our approach in a way that caters to each individual client personality.
Shortly after Day One sessions ended, we headed into the Welcome Dinner, which took place in the prettiest greenhouse I have ever seen. As we entered the room, we were greeted with mojitos with striped gray paper straws, and guided to our seats at a long table filled with blush, sage and cream details, lots of candles and of course, gifts at each place. As we all enjoyed dinner we had the opportunity to chat with the speakers and attendees, learning more about each other and our businesses. Dinner concluded with a slam-bang finish as Rhi led a dessert parade, in which every individual dessert had a gold sparkler! Precious, right?
And at the end of the night we had a heart-to-heart breakout session with Jodi Boss from Gwyneth Paige Letterpress in the prettiest, chic lounge area of all time. Jodi spoke to us about following our hearts on the pathway to our dreams. Through sharing her own personal experiences, she spoke to us about trusting our intuition and never getting too caught up in the money and popularity of it all. Overall, the discussion was about remembering to create a business that we can be proud of and that contributes to the happiness of our lives.
Day One of Trouvaille was pretty spectacular. And Day Two and Day Three were nothing less than the same! I can’t wait to share more with you during the upcoming week. Stay tuned! xoxo
Photography by Bradley James Photography, Trouvaille Workshop by Hey Gorgeous Events, Planning and Floral Design by Hey Gorgeous Events, Linens by Nuage Designs, Simplified Planner by Emily Ley, Tumbler by Ashley Brooke Design, Watercolor Clutches by Oatmeal Lace, Bows by Kristen Polhemus at Reverie Events, Cake Pops by The Cakabakery, Sequin Hangers by Oh Deer Creative, Floral Scissors by We Love Citrus, Candles by Riles and Co., Notebooks by LH Calligraphy and Lara Casey, Vintage Furniture by Fancy Fray, Catering by Amway Grand Hotel.
