Wowee! What a great start to the New Year – I’ve made it to the finals of the UK Blog Awards again!
Thank you so much to everyone for all your votes. I really appreciate your support and it has ensured the blog has made it to the final round in the Wedding and Events individual category.
Out of 4,000 entries and nominations I am one of only 6 bloggers in my category. So I’m feeling pretty chuffed and I’m pleased to make it through with some other amazing blogs.
Congratulations to all my fellow individual finalists in the UK Blog Awards Wedding and Events category. I’m proud to be a finalist alongside you.
I hope you’ve had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas. At this between and betwixt time, I often take the time to reflect on the past year. And what a fantastic year it’s been for Hanami Dream weddings and special occasions in 2017.
This year, my focus has been on developing the blog commercially, as well as providing inspiration to brides and grooms in the Cotswolds. Plus I’ve continued to combine my marketing experience, with my local knowledge, in the scope of the wedding industry. It has been great to provide marketing consultation to some local, independent wedding businesses in and around Witney, Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds. I’ve been affectionately titled the Wedding Inspector – a bit like the Alex Polizzi of the local wedding industry!
I’ve also organised a festival style wedding open day, along with three styled bridal shoots with some amazing local suppliers this year. These have included The Secret Garden, Festival and Journey to the Centre of the Earth themes (look out for images from the latter of these coming soon). I was chuffed to have these shoots featured on Bride Magazine online and SoGlosWedding too.
#UKWedLunch has been going over a year now and attracts new followers every week. This is a great Twitter hour for wedding planning in your lunch break with other brides to be, grooms to be and wedding professionals in the UK.
I’m delighted to have enquiries for different aspects of the business including venue styling and consultancy, as well as such lovely testimonials from happy couples and suppliers I’ve worked with in 2017.
The blog featured posts on different elements of wedding planning, local wedding venue reviews, wedding fairs, wedding transport, favours, alternatives to bouquets, wedding cakes and some wonderful guest posts from local wedding professionals (with top tips and an insight in to different elements of wedding planning from their area of the wedding industry). Plus my series titled ‘the holy trinity of wedding planning’ looked at wedding budgets. See the top posts of 2017.
My blog has had an exciting year and continues to go from strength to strength. The highlights of 2017, were being a finalist in the UK Blog Awards in April again, having one of mood boards picked as finalist again in the UK Academy of Wedding and Event Planning SS18 Pantone® colour trend challenge, plus I was proud to win Theo Paphitis’s Small Business Sunday #SBS recently.
Now is also a great time to look forward to working with more local wedding professionals, services and venues in the brand new year ahead. #keepitlocal. And I can’t wait to produce more styled photo shoots and have opportunities to collaborate with local suppliers.
Please get in touch if you’d like to advertise on the blog, submit your own wedding details, would like to collaborate on a shoot, write a guest post or need some marketing advice and guidance. Together we can build the local wedding industry and inspire brides and grooms for their special day.
Many thanks for your support in 2017 and here’s to an exciting and very Happy New Year!
I’m really pleased to add to my honoured collection of accolades and get a Twitter Boost from Theo Paphitis.
I have received a business boost from Retail Entrepreneur Theo Paphitis. Last week, I tweeted Theo about my business during ‘Small Business Sunday’ and was one of six weekly winners to gain a retweet by Theo to his 500,000 Twitter followers. The weekly initiative, set up by Theo in 2010, now has over 2000 #SBS winners and supports small businesses in the UK.
Business and retail entrepreneur and self-confessed Shopkeeper, Theo re‐tweeted my message to his almost 500,000 followers and I’m now also profiled on the #SBS website (www.theopaphitissbs.com) that is exclusive to all Small Business Sunday winners.
Hanami Dream is still in it’s infancy so it is great to have support from Theo, because it’s been tough trying to raise our profile and Theo has recognised my hard work and helped spread the word about what I do to his following.
Small business champion and Ryman Stationery, Robert Dyas and Boux Avenue Chairman, Theo Paphitis, said: “We are thrilled to welcome new #SBS members every week and highlight just how important it is to support our small businesses here in the UK. My vision is that everyone who has ever won an #SBS re-tweet from me becomes part of a friendly club; like-minded individuals who can share successes and learnings. The website and Shop #SBS will also give a valuable profile to the winners chosen and I wish Hanami Dream every success.”
#SBS Winners now also have access to the exclusive members’ selling platform www.shopsbs.co.uk where hundreds of winners are already selling thousands of products, from unique gifts and bespoke furniture to pet toys or jewellery. It is another opportunity for the #SBS winners to turn tweets into sales.
Anyone looking for a re‐tweet from Theo should tweet him about their business on Sunday between 5 PM and 7.30 PM and include the hashtag #SBS. Six lucky businesses are re‐tweeted every Monday at 8 PM and then invited to enter their profile on the new website, attend the annual #SBS networking event and take advantage of the networking opportunities.
Last week marked a whole year since my Twitter networking hour came to fruition. Having partaken in many local and wedding related networking I noticed that most hours are in the evenings and sometimes don’t include many brides or grooms to be. #UKWedLunch was born to cater for couples and wedding professionals planning a wedding in their lunch break.
A year on and #UKWedLunch is going from strength to strength; with 1,156 followers and counting; a different discussion topic every week; and lots of lively interaction between brides and grooms to be looking for recommendations and UK based wedding professionals networking in their lunch break. Lots of connections and new contacts have been formed as a result of #UKWedLunch. I’m incredibly proud of how it is developing and look forward to the next year of networking. Please spread the word so others can join us on Wednesdays 1-2pm on Twitter.
However I’m not always good at celebrating my successes. I’m often guilty of looking at the ‘hole rather than the donut’ – whilst I may have ticked plenty off my to do list, I’ll still be thinking about what I haven’t done. Earlier this year I fell in to this trap and felt a bit despondent as there wasn’t enough time to bring many of my ideas to light. It resulted in me blogging less and this made me feel more disappointed. What I had failed to do was recognise what I had managed to achieve alongside the growing demands of another baby joining our family.
It is now (following a fantastic break away in France with my family) that I look back on the year so far with fresh eyes. Now I can see and celebrate the great things I have achieved rather than dwelling on what I haven’t yet done. Before my holiday a series of exciting things happened which over whelmed me as they all came at the same time. After a bit of a step back, I now can appreciate and shout about these great achievements.
Thirdly, I also embarked upon on a 100 Day Goal challenge run by The Business Bakery that reached its climax last week. The essence of the strategy is to try to do a little every day to chip away at your ultimate end goal. Back in May, I challenged myself to monetise my blog which has been an ambition and business objective I’d set my sights on this year. These 100 days have enabled me to see little steps that can build to a whole. And in the last 100 days I’ve achieved this goal – not via the advertising route I’d envisaged but I’ve discovered to take opportunities wherever they arise and I’ve been really pleased to do some consultancy for a local wedding venue. The next 100 Day Goal starts again on 1st September and I look forward to seeing where this mind set takes me in the build up to the end of the year.
Additionally, some other great forthcoming opportunities have come my way include styling the Wedding Open Day at Cogges Manor Farm next month – watch this space for the images from this festival inspired shoot that will I will feature on the blog.
I continue to receive more wedding styling enquiries so I’ve now included a venue styling page on my website so couples can see the types of services I offer.
Plus more plans are afoot for another photo shoot in the autumn as I’ve been approached to style one by a local venue.
And lastly (and most importantly), I was lucky enough whilst away to celebrate my own wedding anniversary with my amazing husband. I continue to be grateful for the love and support he gives to me. We’ve done quite a lot in the 6 years that we’ve been married and I look forward to our many adventures to come too. Six years of marriage traditionally would warrant getting an iron as a gift (which could be more inappropriate for me – I can’t remember the last time I ironed anything!)
So, after a brief social media break (forced due to lack of wifi!) but a wonderful family time away en vacances, I come back refreshed and raring to go.
What a day for celebration the fourth of July is: Independence Day, Alice Day and today is the 3rd birthday of Hanami Dream weddings and special occasions!
Yes, today marks three years since I published my first styled photo shoot under the umbrella of Hanami Dream. After that Alice in Wonderland shoot, came the Wizard of Oz, followed by a Wind in the Willows wedding. Now, I’m just about to promote my latest shoot, a modern Edwardian Secret Garden themed wedding. I can’t wait to share the images soon!
From my first tweet in 2014, to a steadily increasing readership (and social media following) with around 1,200 unique page views a month on average. Plus a combined social media network of over 4,000 followers and ongoing promotion and networking means this is ever growing.
It’s crazy to think how many things have evolved over the past three years; now 209 blog posts later and I’ve been a finalist in the UK Blog Awards two years running, a finalist in the West Oxfordshire Business Awards, won mood board competitions, launched #UKWedLunch, won accolades such as #QueenOf Wedding Inspiration by The Royal Connection, the #SmartSocial award from Marketme, #BrightPig’s Business of the Week and I was also picked by Jacqueline Gold CBE to be a WOW Winner.
Personally in the last 3 years, I’ve also had another 2 babies, managed our building project and continued to study with UKAWEP. I was proud to be picked as Student of the month and the course has (and continues) to open my eyes up to a whole world of weddings beyond just wedding planning.
My focus has changed this year and I’m concentrating on making the blog work commercially as well as providing inspiration to brides and grooms in the Cotswolds. This feels like a fantastic evolution, which really excites me and fits in with my current family life, plus combines my experience within the scope of the wedding industry.
I look forward to working with more local wedding professionals, services and venues #keepitlocal. And I can’t wait to produce more styled photo shoots and have more opportunities to collaborate with local suppliers.
Please get in touch if you’d like to advertise on the blog, submit your own wedding details, would like to collaborate on a shoot, write a guest post or need some marketing advice and guidance. Together we can build the local wedding industry and inspire brides and grooms for their special day.
Happy birthday to Hanami Dream – definitely time for cake now!
Hanami Dream is a wonderful wedding service:
marketing consultant, blogger and venue stylist;
plus inspiration for couples to start wedded bliss!
To have and hold,
In the Oxfordshire Cotswolds?
Then you should be heading
To my blog about weddings! www.hanamidream.co.uk
It seems we are in the full throes of award season at the moment. Social media, television and magazines are strewn with images of glamourous celebrities on red carpets attending glitzy award ceremonies. At this time of the year there’s the SAG Awards, BAFTAs, Golden Globes, Grammys, Emmys and not forgetting the Oscars at the end of the month, and my favourite, the Brit Awards in a few weeks time.
And the world of weddings get in on the act too by recognising successes with various awards in their own right. I’m proud to also be a part of the whole award season, with my blog being a finalist in the UK Blog Awards 2017 (UKBA17) as well as currently being shortlisted for the West Oxfordshire Business Awards 2017 (#WOBA2017).
It was a pleasure to host the WOBA judging panel last week and share more about Hanami Dream weddings and special occasions and I look forward to hopefully being able to celebrate further achievements when the results are announced later in the year.
Celebrating achievements (no matter how big or small) is important so I wanted to share some personal musings about why I blog and how much I value the recognition that awards bring to niche blogs such as mine.
Why do you write your blog?
In a nutshell, I love to blog about weddings because I love weddings! How wonderful to have all the people you care about, from different walks of your life, in the same room at the same time on your wedding day!
I get to combine this passion for weddings with my skills and experience of organising amazing styled photo shoots. In particular, I love the unique detail shots. After all, it’s all the little details that bring any event to life.
My local Cotswold wedding blog compiles, creates and collates inspiration, providing couples with wedding planning tips, tools, trends and traditions to celebrate their personal milestones.
Since 2014, this blog has evolved (and continues to) wherever new opportunities and avenues take me. The possibilities are really exciting and my blog conveniently fits around my growing family commitments and lifestyle (with three beautiful children currently under 5 I’m certainly never bored).
The beauty of blogging is that I can work anywhere, at any time and write about the things that really interest me. I’m a big fan of local wedding businesses and I support and promote them whenever I can.
What does it mean to be a finalist?
Being a finalist in the UK Blog Awards for a second year gives me a huge sense of achievement, is great recognition and a wonderful testament to the level of support shown by my readers.
I feel honoured to even be considered alongside the calibre of my fellow finalists in the Individual Event and Wedding category. Being up against great finalists has given me the chance to re-evaluate my blog again, an impetus to continue to improve it and a challenge to think about further evolution.
It is great to have another reason to shout about my business. I’m also currently shortlisted for the next round of the West Oxfordshire Business Awards #WOBA2017. Both these accolades give me the opportunity to connect with other professionals in the blogging world, wedding industry and local businesses.
This added promotion has given not only my blog extra exposure, but I’m pleased it’s also showcasing the stunning venues and highly talented wedding industry professionals from small, local and independent businesses, that my blog supports in the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside of the Cotswolds.
Thank you so much to everyone for all your votes. I really appreciate your support and it has ensured the blog has made it to the final round in the Wedding and Events category.
I’m feeling pretty chuffed as they’ve combined two categories into one this year, plus each category only has 8 blogs in the shortlist this year (versus 10 blogs each in two categories last year). So I’m really pleased to make it through with some amazing other blogs.
Congratulations to all my fellow individual finalists in the UK Blog Awards Wedding and Events category. I’m proud to be a finalist alongside you.
I’m pretty chuffed to have found out just before Christmas that I’ve been shortlisted for the next round of the West Oxfordshire Business Awards #WOBA2017.
I’m looking forward to meeting the judges shortly and will keep you posted if there’s more exciting news to report!
What a day for celebration the fourth of July is: Independence Day, Alice Day and today is the 3rd birthday of Hanami Dream weddings and special occasions!
Hanami Dream is a wonderful wedding service:
