Hello Friday! Sunshine-and-productivity-filled Friday.

I’m just about to step out of the office until Monday here and I’m so excited to shut it all down for the weekend! Kelly and I are going location hunting for an exciting upcoming project this afternoon and it’s a super sunny spring day here in Michigan. On a Friday. With the potential of a Starbucks in hand. Nothing makes me more excited than that kind of combination! I’ve been working long days and long hours the past few weeks designing boutonniere mocks up, building ceiling instals and securing awesome vendors for my sweet clients; I finally feel like I’ve made headway with the big piles of to-dos around here. So while I’m off disconnecting and spring cleaning around the Bosse home here, I hope you’ll take some time to do the same for yourself! See you back on Monday, blogettes xoxo

I feel so grateful, guys. And lucky. In December I hosted a party here in our home to celebrate the relaunch of Hey Gorgeous Events. About 40 industry and non-industry friends came out to enjoy appetizers and drink mimosas with me and it was the perfect way to end nearly a year’s work of rebranding and preparing for the unveiling. My sweet friend and colleague Leah Mullet came over a little earlier that Monday night to snap some shots of the party details for me, and I’m so happy she was here. She chatted with me while I curled my hair, zipped me up into my dress and even gifted me with the sweetest present ever before things got started; a lovely card and a giant Henri Bendel peony candle I had been lusting after. After deciding at MTH in October that my ideal day started with a lit candle in my office, she decided to get me the biggest size possible. It’s March and already I’ve burned through that entire thing. Oops!

My sweet neighbors, Tara and Joey, kind mother in law, Pat, and handsome hubby were on hand to that night to help with setting up, serving, coat-getting and cleaning. And all of you were there and here to leave the kindest comments via Instagram, twitter, facebook, snail mail and even Ustream where I streamed parts of the party live. I went to bed that night like a little kid on Christmas morning. My heart nearly exploded with contentment and joy. Enjoy some of the party detail shots below! And check out #hgelaunch on instagram to see some photos of the amazing people that made it out that night! I told Leah not to worry about guest shots so she too could mingle and have fun with everyone.

This is me before the party started. I’d like to get those giant balloons permanently blown up in my home.

We all know I have an unhealthy addiction to Starbucks so I thought it would be fitting to have a take home swag ‘cup’ for each guest. They were filled with delicious treats from Nicole at The Caramel Jar, custom HGE pencils, some amazing new branded buttons from Ashli at Big Yellow Dog Designs and handmade peony soap as a nod to one of my favorite blooms. I hand wrote gold ink messages on the side of the cup, like they do at Starbucks when you order a drink and displayed the cups on my mint dresser in the entryway to our home. This was one of my fave details!

In the kitchen we had a fruit mimosa bar and pop, beer and water. Our unfurnished and undecorated front room actually came in handy that day and served as the perfect empty space to set up a little bistro type area for guests who wanted to sit down. Funny enough most people hung out in the kitchen and dining room during the beginning of the night and the bistro area looked lonely. But come 11:00 pm (I thought people would leave by 9:00 at the latest!) there were about 15 of us sitting in the ‘bistro’ area eating Sweet Heather Anne treats and laughing together by candlelight.

I ordered all of the appetizers through The Gilmore Collection. A 2011 bride of mine used them for her wedding food (they are amazing!) and they own close to 15 restaurants in the city here; I couldn’t imagine ordering food through anyone else! They were a pleasure to work with and we’re so helpful in coming out, delivering and setting up the food.

As a memento to the entire rebrand experience I had a shot from a shoot I designed and Cyn Kain photographed blown up and make into a canvas. I asked every guest to sign it with a note of encouragement and it now hangs proudly in my office. My favorite part was when Molly Jacques signed her name in calligraphy (with a Sharpie mind you) on the canvas. Molly created my logo and it was like coming full circle to have her art work on that canvas too.

The desserts were made by Sweet Heather Anne and she’s one of my faves in Michigan for delicious treats. Lucky (or unluckily depending on how you see it) we had a ton of leftovers after the party and Andrew and I ate peppermint dark chocolate cake truffles for breakfast all the way up to Christmas. I’m not even kidding. The treats were a hit and loved by all! Thankfully our IKEA console table and my cake stand collection served as the perfect way to display them all!

And last but not least here I am putting on our bluetooth speaker system for some tunes just before the party started. It was about 6:29 pm here and no one had showed up yet. I honestly thought no one would come! And poor Leah and Andrew had to keep telling me to calm down. Like clockwork, the first guest rang the door bell at about 6:34. I think Rihanna had come on at this point so I Was singing my heart out. Who knows, all I know is I was and am very happy.

Happy Thursday, blogettes. xoxo

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Photography: Leah Mullet Photography / Desserts: Sweet Heather Anne / Dress: Rent the Runway / Catering: The Gilmore Collection / Flowers: Hey Gorgeous Events / Table Rental: Baker Rental / Linens: BBJ / Favor buttons: Big Yellow Dog Designs / Caramels: The Caramel Jar / White console table: IKEA / Mint dresser and blue bar cart: Vintage / Black chairs: Events by I Candy

Hello March! You look pretty.

You know the drill. Every time I put up a new goals post I can’t seem to wrap my head around how quickly the year is flying by. It feels like January just started. Then I realize February is over. And here we are on the fourth day of March already. Holy smokes slow down 2013! I do have to say I’m way too excited that spring is right around the corner though. I’m sick of winter jackets, boots and snow and totally excited for sunglasses and some color out in the yard. Bring me some sunshine and warm weather, people! So without further ado, onward we go with this month’s goals!

Inward Living. Guys, these social media free weekends have been doing huge things for my soul and my mind and my overall sense of being. I owe so much to Lara for giving me the guts and inspiration to even give these weekends a chance. For me, taking time away from being continually connected to the world has helped me to feel like my life is good on the inside and not just the outside. So from now on I plan on staying off social media not only on the weekends but at night after a specifically set time (I need to think about this time a bit further though). I’ve seen the benefits of social media free weekends and I want more. Which leads me to share this video here with you. Ha. Hilarious!

Extracurricular Living. In other words, I need to bring some fun back into my life. I’m really fabulous at brainstorming clever ways to infuse more social activities and fun into my life but terrible at taking action on them. A few fabulous ideas I’ve had for a while now? A monthly recipe club with local friends and colleagues, enrolling in a beginners dance class (anyone in Grand Rapids have any suggestions?) and my personal favorite, learning to do one thing I’m clueless about, like cooking meat properly, baking bread from scratch, changing a flat tire or mowing the lawn. Please no laughing at how silly those sound. At least I know how to replenish my windshield wiper fluid, right? Cool.

Small Business Living. Last month’s logo theft incident left me motivated to get better. Not bigger but better. I’ve done so much thinking and brainstorming and I’m excited to start putting myself out there a bit more. Especially within my local community/industry where it’s important for me to continuing building a name for myself and my work. I have some exciting news to share with you next month and a huge announcement to share in May, but I need to really continue focusing my efforts in this area. I wish I was from the South, bloggettes. Cause I’d tell ‘y’all’ I’m excited :)

What are your goals for March? Get on them! Four days are gone already! xoxo

Photo from Jen Kroll Photography of the bride and groom’s placesettings at an HGE August wedding last summer.

Oh my GOSH. Last week guys? Oy!

If you follow me over on Instagram you’ll know it was brought to my attention last week that I fell victim to a terrible instance of brand theft and logo infringement. A woman in Cape Town, South Africa stole my logo claiming to have designed it herself (she did remove the hummingbird and word ‘Events’) and decided the Hey Gorgeous brand name was awesome enough to become her business name too. She launched her business exactly one month after the new Hey Gorgeous Events went live in December and the worst of all, has been using my logo on her labels and packaging. I was absolutely devastated to see everything in front of my own eyes and a bit shocked that people like this even exist.

“The threat of theft is the cost of business.” I read this on Unfettered Ink last year and immediately saved it to my desktop. I’m very honest, transparent, giving and kind both in business and life, and owe a lot of my success to that. But then there’s days like last Thursday where I feel like it’s easier to have your identity, photos, work, ideas, logo and even your business name stolen from you when you put your heart out into the open. So maybe I should scale back on my blog posts to prevent more instances like this. Design less editorials. Talk less about going after my dreams. Or get rid of the authentic and beautiful brand I’ve worked so hard to build. It’s easy to settle when we feel defeated right?

Here’s what I think though. Now that I’ve had a bit of time to calm my heart and think clearly.

Instances like mine from last week fuel you up and motivate you to be that much better. They drive you to protect yourself and your ideas more intently. They bring to light how incredible friends, family, clients and acquaintances are when they do the right thing to support you and stand together in a fight for what’s right and what’s fair. And best of all days like last Thursday teach you about grace and holding your head high when you feel like you’ve been punched in the gut. I’ve also learned that you can be the nicest, sweetest, hardest-working, most talented, quirkiest, funniest or established individual the wedding industry, or any industry for that matter, has ever seen and someone is still always going to have a problem with you, find someway to bring you down, and take what yours. Don’t let them.

My dear friend and colleague, Courtney Dellafiora, recommended an amazing book to me last week in the midst of all this craziness. As someone who has experienced her own share of copy cats and thieves, she told me that the best way to make it impossible for people to copy you is to implement so much of YOURSELF into your brand that there’s no logical way anyone could get away with stealing. And I’ve always believed so fully that my brand is what it is because it’s so personal. So I’m going to keep sharing, and keep being me because I sure don’t know any other way. I hope all of YOU will tweet this post and facebook it and pin it and email it and share these words so that artists, creative types, business owners and authentic, good, true and honest people can thrive and succeed just like they are meant to.

So whose with me?

Photo above by Leah Mullet. Complete with MY logo on MY tote bags for clients :) Isn’t it pretty?

There’s a certain something I love about social media free weekends (some of you know what I mean here). Namely the extra time on my hands to brainstorm, think and just dream without any influences from anyone else and their doings around me. Since 2013 kicked off I’ve only had one weekend that involved any involvement with my social media accounts and I have to say I noticed a difference in how I felt come Monday morning, versus how I feel when I take a break for 48 hours. This past weekend was no exception as I spent a ton of time doing more necessary soul searching.

With that being said, I’m working on shifting my focus a little bit for the 2014 season. And here’s a big part of why. Last fall, in the midst of my big rebrand, I got a call from a sweet bride to be who needed wedding planning help. She was (and still is very closely with me) planning a summer 2013 wedding in Michigan from Chicago and although she had booked a venue already she was clueless as to what should come next. A few phone calls, many emails and a signed contract later, I found myself reviewing her client questionnaire only to be staring at my screen in disbelief. Next to the part that on the questionnaire where I ask clients what their designs inspirations are read the following list:

‘Shabby chic, fantastical, unicorn, rainbow, fairytale, hard contrast, soft transition.’ Uhm?

Without going into too much detail because I’d love to share that in a future post with photos from this fete, I can tell you this much. This bride and groom have done more for my love and appreciation of what I do then I could have ever imagined. I’ve fallen in love with my job all over again. Within 48 hours after reading that questionnaire, my complete shock for an out of the box design inspiration turned to absolute delight as I began to plan a wedding that will no doubt be an incredibly unique and one of a kind celebration. My clients have trusted me, welcomed my ideas and given me creative freedom to infuse their big day with the most remarkable details that represent all of the above design inspirations. My heart is on fire. And I’m just itching to bring fifteen pages of quirky, crazy ideas to life for two deserving people (check out #shabbychicglitterunicornrainbowwedding on Instagram for previews before June 2nd!)

I started my business in 2010 to do a few things. The first was to help brides and grooms plan remarkable weddings, the second was to help brides and grooms have gorgeous weddings, and the third above all else was to give brides and grooms an unforgettable client experience. It’s always been about giving an experience for me. It’s not so much about giving a tangible product but instead handing over something that has to be felt. And how can I do that? In telling my client’s stories from start to finish with killer details, organized and streamlined planning strategies, awesome and like minded vendors on board and colors, textures, florals and decor that are stupid good. Like so stupid good you could oh my GOD out loud. With a whole slew of amazing 2013 and 2014 weddings ahead of me, I’m setting out to do just that.

While nothing much is changing here and I’ll still be offering full service planning (and highly recommending this to any future clients interested in HGE’s design, decor or floral services) I want to start marketing myself as more of an event designer. Planning an event for my sweet Taiwanese and Southern bride and groom I described above has been like planning and designing a massive inspiration shoot; that’s the real deal with vows, and guests, and heart and soul. Bring me more events just like this please. Where couples have stories, and interests, and visions and a passion for something a little out of the box. I’m going to continue to create, and build, and do the unexpected. Come along would you?

Visit here to inquire about HGE’s 2014 creative event design, floral and full service planning offerings. I’m excited!

Photo by the amazing Kelly Braman Photography from this editorial seen here xoxo