WHEW!!!!!
Well, all the preparation for the first event was worth the experience and hard work. I must say that it was a fun journey which the fruits of my labor will be useful for a good long while to come.
The event was a whole other new experience -- a good one. It was one that those who do events are quite familiar with -- wake before the sun to load up and make it to the event location, find your assigned spot and get things set up...It was a BEAUTIFUL day! A long day...An overall, actually quite enjoyable, day! Watching my darling husband work the crowds was a real treat! If they don't remember anything else about us, they will remember that we were not afraid to smile and engage in pleasant dialogue with them! Having the opportunity to interact with folks was awesome. And the two buying customers (friends) made the whole process worthwhile!
Our location was not exactly ideal, but we have been assured that next week we will have a prime location -- this week was a very effective trial run. Learned a few lessons (VELCRO is our FRIEND! LOLOL) that we will use to make the NEXT event better. I was SO glad I went ahead and purchased the wall kit for the canopy because it came in handy right off the bat...The "breeze" was quite GUSTY which of course does not play nice with necklace boards/displays (refer back to VELCRO comment above). LOL
Our setup itself was attractive. There were more jewelry vendors there than I was told would be allowed. And apparently the supposed handmade only requirement -- turned out to not exactly be the case. There was lots of "re-sell" items on the other tables. I can say, with pretty confident certainty, that, we and one other couple, had real gemstones, sterling silver items and were actually hand made (the other couple went a step further than us and hand cut and polished their own stones. In fact, two of our wrapped pendants were stones we bought from them at the same market last year.). We had many, many compliments from those that did make it to the back side of the property and visited our tables. And we passed out a TON of cards. Several ladies have custom pieces they are going to be contacting us with and one lady is bringing in a stone to have us re-wrap for her that she had previously purchased from someone else!
Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, even with the given *minor* hurdles associated with participating in an outdoor event. All of the vendors that we met were quite pleasant and ALL of the folks that stopped by were awesome to have had the opportunity to meet! Major kudos to the event coordinator -- she did a fine job! And we were SO GRATEFUL for the lunch and endless supply of fresh cold bottled water!
We are looking forward to next Thursday!
Lapis Lazuli in Sterling Silver Cuff
Leopard Skin Jasper Sterling Bangle Bracelet
Carnelian Sculptured Sterling Silver Bangle Bracelet