Excitement is Building

Good morning, friends! This morning isn't spectacular, but I have a really good feeling in my gut. It could be the giant cinnamon roll I just polished off mingling with two cups of coffee, but I have a feeling it's something more. Time is moving. Good things are coming. The end and the beginning are getting closer. I sort of feel like I used to feel before big dance competitions. We spent months preparing; practicing every step over and over. The few weeks before I would set out my costume, line up my accessories, make sure my caboodle was all packed and mentally rehearse to make sure everything was going to be just perfect. When the weekend finally came to perform, I was ready!

 

I've been feeling a similar excitement brewing lately, but in a bigger way than when I was younger. I'm not going to lie, the past few weeks haven't been a cake walk. I've been tired and felt hopeless much of the time. We've been through the longest Michigan winter ever and I thought spring would never arrive. I've done my best to prepare for the baby and the big career transition that's coming up in spite of it all, but now we're getting down to the wire and even though I have so much left to do I am so excited.

simply perfect.

So I'm going to spend a moment focusing on gratitude. Today I am grateful for anticipation... specifically these ten things.

 

1. Isaiah's extended family is coming into town today, meaning lots of laughs and good food.
2. Meeting new friends. I have so many coffee and dinner dates with some fun ladies in town and I couldn't be more thrilled! One of my big prayers for the year was that motherhood would bring more women into my life who are passionate about similar things. I am grateful!
3. We opted out of our childbirth education class on Saturday (more on this later) to spend time with each other preparing for the birth of our son. Feeling so peaceful about this decision.
4. One more month of work. May 31st is my last day and I am giddy with excitement.
5. All of my doctor's appointments are scheduled until the baby is born, and we have a surprise ultrasound on Monday! Thankful for a healthy baby and that time is moving along. Last night Isaiah asked if he thought it would go fast and I said "the days will be slow and the weeks will be fast" He said, "You sound like a wise person". Haha, maybe I just AM wise. :)
6. My in-laws are visiting next weekend and I love when they come to town. We're going to knock out some good projects and finally have some quality time together. My MIL and I are going to cook a bunch of food to freeze post-partum and the boys are going to paint and build office furniture. Yay!
7. Amy & John's wedding is coming up in May, and we've been having so much fun preparing! I can't wait to see everything come together after almost a year of planning. Those two are the sweetest and deserve the most phenomenal day.
8. Two spa days within the next month. Enough said. 
9. My office is getting really close to being done. Finishing building the shelf and I'll spend the last part of May organizing. My fave! Hoping to paint this weekend. Also, I've had such a steady increase in inquiries for fall 2013 and 2014 weddings. Feeling so happy and blessed that my business is growing authentically and my patience is paying off.
10. I'm going to birth a baby sometime in the next 4-8 weeks. And finally, finally meet my son. The anticipation of this alone is driving me wild. Oh baby, this is going to be fun.

What are you thankful for today?

Saying Yes to What Matters.



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Today I wanted to share a little bit about a fear of mine. Although I'm not in the place yet with my business where a branding experience is necessary or even financially feasible, I have invested a little money, time and effort into a few branding webinars hosted by the Making Brands Happen ladies, Emily & Lara. To say they struck a cord with me is a vast understatement. They've taught me to be my authentic self, to examine what fires me up and then to translate that to business. Choosing my business name was a big step for me. Sincerely, Ginger Weddings represents my story authentically and I hope it shines a light on the type of service I provide.

 

One step in the process of designing my own brand, encouraged by MBH is to list your biggest fears in business. Well let me be the first to say that I have a lot of fears. I'm afraid of letting down clients, of not serving them to my best ability, of missing the mark somewhere. I'm fearful of being unhappy, of not making enough money to support my family or of dissapointing myself. I'm scared of putting myself out there in my community. While I was writing down these fears last night I wrote something down that didn't surprise me at all. I'm afraid of starting before everything is perfect.

 

I've written about this before but it still scares me because it's such a paralyzing fear. It actually stops be from making things happen and doing what I need to do to more forward. So I decided to get over it and do the hard work.

 

Obstacles are a natural part of life, and definitely expected in business. It's clear to see what's working against you and so difficult to focus on your abilities and strengths. To get over my obstacle and fear of perfectionism, here are a few things I'm going to do.

 

I'm saying NO to focusing on what I don't have. I don't have a brand new iMac, an office, photoshop, a gazzilion airline miles, 5 years of experience, 60 hours a week, a finished website, newly designed logo, business cards, collateral, vendor relationships, legality.

 

Most of these are a work in process, and I am saying YES to optimism and positive thinking. I do have a great attitude, brides who love and respect my work, a strong business education, a laptop that functions, a new opportunity to design florals starting this month, the ability to priorotize, ideas up the wazoo and passion. Boy do I have passion. Instead of staying home and pouting about my office not being finished I'm choosing to head to the local coffeeshop and set up camp for 4 hours and dream big for my clients. That's what matters.

 

via Lara Casey

 

 

So that's a lesson I've learned and I know I'll have to learn it again. Choose to focus on what you do have, and not what you don't. Say yes to your future and it'll unfold right before your eyes.

 

And a note to myself... nothing will ever be perfect. There will always be new technology to buy, trips to lust after and people doing bigger and seemingly better things. It doesn't matter. Keep dreaming big and putting on your big girl pants every day. Work hard and authentic, true, lasting success will follow. Don't let your fears paralyze you.

 

With a sigh of relief,

 

Rachel

 

p.s. How amazing is Lara Casey? When I saw these downloads I immediately pimped out my phone, iPad and desktop with this inspiring image. What a positive message to look at several times a day. Thank you, Lara! You encourage so many of us with your wisdom and ability to sense what we're going through as creative entrepeneurs, moms, and women with hearts for dreaming big. xoxo

A Heaping Dose of Huge News!

Once I had the revelation that I was meant to be a wedding planner, an obvious step was choosing a business name. I knew that using my name (Rachel Moger) wasn't the path I wanted to take. It just didn't feel right. I also new that I wanted the name to be timeless, classic, and explain what I was doing! So I settled on Occasions, later Occasions Event Design and just said that's that. It was easy, communicated what I needed to say and also feminine (which is a big component of my brand). I had a logo designed (see above) and thought it was good enough.

 

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It was good enough, but I always had the feeling that it just wasn't me. It didn't explain my brand and my journey- Occasions was too vague and not unique at all. I had an itch to choose something different but nothing came to mind. For MONTHS I prayed about it and thought about it, did research, chose 15 words and tried to combine them into some trendy, girly business name. (Remember when they did that in Julie and Julia, for the book title? It worked for them!) It wasn't a good idea. My "ideas" were a product of my culture and surroundings, just mimicking event planners that I admired with my own special "twist". They were all too trendy, too posh, too something. They were just wrong.

 

After I attended a webinar hosted by the Making Brands Happen girls (Emily & Lara), the new business name that I'd been working on just hit me, and it was like nothing I had thought of before. Learning more of the importance of building your business from your CORE was so obvious yet extremely tricky to put my finger on.

 

I started thinking about what I valued about our own wedding (family & friends, flowers, Northern Michigan, local vendors) and what the most important thing of all was. LOVE. Joining in a sacred union with the absolute love of my life, celebrating the day we were joined together in Holy Matrimony so we can love each other and those around us even better. A beautiful marriage. That is what I want to inspire couples to aim for in their wedding planning process.

 

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I mentioned on the blog before that on the day of our rehearsal dinner my sweet Grandpa gave me a letter to read. It was written one week before my Grandparents' wedding. My Grandma Ginger wrote the sweetest note about LOVE, and GIVING, and how exited she was to begin their lives together. It was the sweetest thing. She passed on a beautiful June day from breast cancer when I was in 7th grade. Her life impacted me more than almost anything else, and her legacy is so strong.

 

In honor of my late grandmother, her beautiful life, her love for family and her love for love, my new business name will be Sincerely, Ginger. The name represents everything I love about wedding planning. It reminds me of what matters. Our memories together are my most cherished. She was so beautiful. Obviously, the exact name of the business I got from the letter I read, which is my most recent experience feeling the depth of her love for me and our family.

 

 

Over the next few weeks I'll be writing about some of my favorite memories with her and how they relate to my mission as a business. I'm so excited about this news- I could just burst! It's all coming together for me in a big way. I can't wait to share more.

 

Sincerely,

Rachel