“Congratulations Hanami Dream & Good Luck in 2017 finals of UK Blog Awards and West Oxfordshire Business Awards
I enjoy your wedding blogs and appreciate your work in starting and hosting UKWedLunch”
The Illustrated Invitation – February 2017
“I loved every moment of working with Hanami Dream, [with] Nicola’s creativity mixed with her laid back approach to the styled shoot at the Old Swan and Minster Mill.
She made me feel as though ‘no’ was never an answer and threw passion and spark into every aspect of the shoot!
I am really proud of what we achieved in such a short space of time and look forward to seeing what the future brings for Hanami Dream.”
Hannah, The Old Swan & Minster Mill – January 2017
“Congratulations you are a UK Blog Awards 2017 Finalist
We are delighted to advise that your content has reached the final stage in the UK Blog Awards process as a Wedding and Events individual finalist http://www.blogawardsuk.co.uk/ukba2017/entries/hanami-dream
Congratulations once again on reaching the final part of the UK Blog Awards process.
We hope you are as excited as we are and wish you the best of luck for the remainder of the process.”
Gemma Newton, UK Blog Awards Ltd – January 2017
#UKBA17
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!
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 2016!
I’ve continued to study with UKAWEP and was proud to be picked as Student of the month in October. 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 enjoyed working with a great venue and local businesses on a stunning Wind in the Willows styled photo shoot which featured on the blog as well as on Bride Magazine.
I also worked as a consultant with a local venue to help them with their first wedding open day where I held a wedding planning drop in clinic.
Plus I launched #UKWedLunch in August – a Twitter hour for brides and grooms to be who are planning their weddings in their lunch breaks.
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 2016.
The blog featured posts on different elements of wedding planning, local wedding venues, catering vans, a series titled ‘the holy trinity of wedding planning’ 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). See the top ten posts of 2016.
My blog has had an exciting year and continues to go from strength to strength. The highlight of 2016, was being a finalist in two categories of the UK Blog Awards in April and I was delighted to get a highly commended award.
I was also chuffed to have some of my articles (on seating plans and stationery) published on Bride Magazine online too.
I’m pleased to add to my honoured collection of accolades with #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.
I’m really proud to have won the UK Academy of Wedding and Event Planning’s Greenery (SS17 and colour of the year) Pantone® mood board competition again this year.
If all this wasn’t enough, I’m over the moon to have found out last week that I’ve been shortlisted for the next round of the West Oxfordshire Business Awards #WOBA2017. So I’m looking forward to meeting the judges in the New Year and to seeing what other exciting things 2017 has to hold for Hanami Dream.
Now is also a great time to look forward to the brand new year ahead. I’ve lots of plans afoot including focusing the blog on supporting and promoting 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.
Many thanks for your support in 2016 and here’s to an exciting and very Happy New Year!
“We’re having a great time chatting to all of you!”
My Tomorrow – December 2016
“I love joining in with #UKWedLunch and chatting to lots of other friendly suppliers!”
Carrie O’Donnell, Wedding and Event Pianist – December 2016
I’m really pleased to add to my honoured collection of accolades with this lovely Business of the Week award from BrightPig.
BrightPig are an award winning marketing company, helping Small Businesses become visible with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) & Social Media. As chosen by BBC’s Dragons’ Den Theo Paphitis!
They run a weekly Twitter competition for businesses called BrightPig’s Business Of The Week (run on a Friday between 9am – 4pm including #BrightPig in your tweet!)
This is another fantastic award for Hanami Dream and I look forward to the extra publicity as a result of being a #BrightPigWINNER.
“Congratulations … on winning BrightPig’s Business Of The Week, well deserved!
Your WINNERS hastag is #BrightPigWINNER”
Mark, BrightPig – November 2016
“Nicola’s consistent use of images featuring mums throughout her board lends a wonderful cohesive feel—it feels like all of these images could have come from one wedding. (Sometimes, mood boards can feel disjointed because images are pulled from so many different sources. This one didn’t have that issue at all.)
The even balance of colors feels professional. Greens, whites, and blacks are all placed well throughout the board—there’s no “too much” of any one color in any one spot.
This board’s imagery helps to convey a number of different aspects of a wedding. We love that Nicola included everything from cake design to typography inspiration. Overall, her board communicates a wedding that is fun, modern, and organic.
Christina Farrow, Aisle Planner – October 2016
http://community.aisleplanner.com/pantone-mood-board-competition/
