Bloom Bash Nashville Recap

Hope you all had a happy 4th of July!! We spent it at the beach on possibly the hottest day of the year thus far. We had a wonderful day, despite the heat (helps when the lake is the perfect temp!) 

Today I wanted to show you a peek into my other business, The Bloom Workshop. My friend Ashley and I host workshops all over the country, teaching women in small creative businesses about blogging, branding, social media, photography, design and more! Here's the recap of our latest workshop:

 In May we hosted our first Bloom Bash workshop of 2018 in Nashville at the stunning Riverwood Mansion (I mean, look at these chandeliers!). We had a WONDERFUL group of ladies join us to learn how to grow and sustain a thriving business! Today I'm thrilled to give you a glimpse of our workshop, thanks to our friend Cassidy Carson Photography.

We loved welcoming each of our ladies on the morning of Day 1. It's so fun to meet everyone for the first time! All the ladies got a gorgeous dainty piece of jewelry from one of our favorite shops, Dear Mushka, upon arrival. It was a sweet way to welcome everyone!

 We just loved how the room turned out. Such a pretty, vintage space with tons of history to spend our two days together. The gorgeous linens and chairs from Please Be Seated, who we loved working with! The gals headed out to get some yummy breakfast treats, all met each other, then we gathered inside to get started.

  Rachel Cosette Designs made these beautiful mugs for our ladies to drink out of at the workshop but also to bring home to enjoy! We did 3 different designs this time and honestly can't choose a favorite. With the attendees fueled, we go around the room and introduce ourselves, set some goals, then we're ready to dive into our workshop content. We begin with how and why you should be blogging for your creative business!

After lunch comes a fun hands-on session with Alex of Prairie Letter Shop who taught our guests how to brush letter in our calligraphy class. Luckily she had some trace paper to practice on! ;) These hands-on sessions get our attendees' inspiration flowing and get them stepping out of their comfort zone. We always have a couple girls who find a newfound knack for gorgeous lettering!

 Next, it was time for our breakout sessions. On Day 1 we offer a photography session where you get to practice using your camera and learn how to shoot in manual, or you can learn about how to create and execute a styled shoot. Day 1 ended with a group critique where the attendees' paired off in groups and did friendly critiques of each other's websites and social media platforms. They all love this time, saying it's so valuable to get a second pair of eyes on their brand.

DAY TWO:
We started the day with our opening session on Social Media and how you can use it best for your business. Here we remind our guests that it's not about the number of followers, but about capturing the RIGHT followers for YOUR BUSINESS. In each teaching session, we give ample time to work on what we're teaching right then and there. During this session, we teach you how to use your phone camera to the best of its ability to make your photos even stronger. When we're done giving the tips, we let our attendees practice them by pulling out their phones, styling some cute vignettes and then editing them with the new tools we've given them.

After our Social Media Session, we broke up for our Advanced Break Out Sessions. Guests could either learn about The Client Experience and how to best serve your photography clients or take a Flat Lay Styling Class to practice styling skills with paper goods and other details.

 After another delicious lunch from Chef's Market, the ladies headed outside to enjoy soaking in all of Amy Osaba's flowering knowledge in our floral arranging class! This is one of the most loved parts of the workshop. Even if our guests aren't florists, playing with a new medium, learning about color and texture and design in this way and being inspired by those around you is SO valuable and one thing we think sets our workshop apart. We want to create well-rounded Creatives so you can run the best business possible!

 While the girls were learning about flowers, we began setting up our styled shoot. This set up was a gorgeous lavender, blush, and gold romantic soiree, loaded with pretty and feminine details, and we loved how it turned out.

We split up our girls into 3 groups and they get to rotate around to our 3 stations of tablescape, invitation suite and cake, and working with models. Everyone gets a chance to practice photographing and styling the vignettes, as well as learning how to use their camera in the different situations. Even if you're not a photographer, learning to use your camera is a key asset you can bring to your business, so you don't have to rely on getting images from photographers. You can also then photograph your own blog posts and social media posts!

 After the styled shoot, we grab dessert (this time we ate the styled shoot cake and WOW was it ever delicious! Thanks Copper Whisk Cakes :)) and then we settle in for our Q&A Panel. Throughout the workshop the ladies put their questions in a basket and then we use the last hour of our time together to get them answered by a panel of experts. This workshop we were delighted to have and learn from each one of these amazing women: 

- Alex of Prairie Letter Shop | @prairielettershop
- Cassidy of Cassidy Carson Photography | @cassidycarsonphoto
- Amber of Amber Housley | @amberhousley
- JoJamie of BBR Music Group | @jojamie
- Naomi of At First Blush & Co. Events | @atfirstblushandco
- Savannah of Kendra Scott | @kendrascott
- Michaela of Michaela Noelle Designs | @michaelanoelledesigns

This group of ladies was SO incredible and we are so excited for the things they are doing in their businesses and lives!
Venue: Riverwood Mansion 
Florals: Amy Osaba Design 
Invitation Suite: Prairie Letter Shop 
Rentals: Please Be Seated
Cake: Copper Whisk Cakes
Hair & Makeup: Make Up by Katie-Laine 
Table Runner: Adorn Company  
Wedding Dress: BHLDN
Rings: Trumpet & Horn 
Ring Boxes: VoeuDuCoeur
Suit: The Black Tux 
Event Concept + Design: Michaela Noelle Designs & Ashley Slater Photography 

If you missed us in Nashville but want to attend a workshop this year, we're coming to Austin, TX in August and would love to have you. You can use the code MND20 for 20% off your ticket since you're a reader of mine :)
xoxo
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