Apr 20, 2010

a girl named christina

I grew up in a small town where I couldn’t go to the grocery store without running into at least 5 people I knew. I graduated with a semi-high rank from high school. Went to college where I changed my major, count them, three times and where I also met the man of dreams. After a few unfulfilling jobs I landed a career that many girls would kill for.

9 to 5

I am the manager of a new, local paper boutique in Greensboro, North Carolina. I work with two fabulous ladies, that are more like sisters than coworkers. I have, within the last 8 months designed invitations for an event sponsored by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, worked on invitations for a Maya Angelou event in New York and helped nearly 30 brides find the absolute perfect wedding invitations.

i do!

I am 25, on the verge of 26 and I am planning a wedding for next spring. It is through this experience I plan on changing the face of the wedding industry… one city at a time.

the wedding industry

The wedding industry is a $40 Billion per year industry. That is twelve 0′s folks. Okay, I just want to make sure you heard me correctly…

$40,000,000,000.00 PER YEAR!

Do me a favor and hang on to this figure in your head… and let me give you some reference.

The 3/50 Project

When you spend locally, the money stays local. $68 of every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores stays in the community in the form of payroll, taxes, etc. When you shop at a nation chain, the retained value goes down to $43 and when you shop online $0 return to the community. You do the math. It pays to shop local.

connect the dots

Let’s throw around some numbers here.
Say the average wedding costs $20,000. Say within the great city of Greensboro there are at least 2,000 couples that plan to be married this year.
If these brides bought their goods at national chains, they would spend $40 Million, of which $17.2 Million would stay in the city of Greensboro.
If these same brides used locally owned independent stores for their dress, cake, flowers, favors, invitations,etc. $25.2 Million that would stay in the city of Greensboro!
That is a difference of $8 Million that would stay in your community, fixing your roads, employing your neighbors, bettering your schools and making your community a better place to live and shop.

the aha moment

After three months of burning up the keys on my laptop searching for every fabulous wedding vendor in a 5 state radius a light bulb went off. Not one of those new led or what-cha-ma call it bulbs that are perfectly energy-efficient and glow a tinted blue hue. A huge, pull with a big long chain, hear it crackle when starts lighting up, honker of a light bulb came on in my head..

a completely local wedding.


…let the adventure begin…

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