Have you heard? The Charlottesville Bride website is LIVE! If you’re planning a wedding in Charlottesville, Virginia our sweet friend, Amy, has you covered. She has created a vendor directory on the site where you can connect with tons of wedding professionals in the area. It’s one of the EASIEST ways to find local wedding vendors for your Charlottesville wedding!
I’ve invited Amy to tell us more about her vision for the future of Charlottesville Bride as well as how she got started. There are SO many exciting things coming soon, so don’t miss out!
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your passion for weddings.
My name is Amy Smith, and I live in Charlottesville with my husband, one-year-old son, and fluffy dog. We are excitedly expecting our second baby in August 2019! I’m an emergency room nurse, and I’ve been a registered nurse for ten years. I’m happy to be able to help people when they’re ill or injured, but what really puts joy in my heart is the opportunity to be creative. I LOVE all kinds of weddings, from intimate elopements to grand affairs. Moreover, I love styling, inspiring, and talking weddings. Seriously, let’s have coffee and talk weddings!
How did Charlottesville Bride come into being? What is the story behind Charlottesville Bride?
When I was 21, I started a wedding blog that really took off in some fun and exciting ways. I was able to provide inspiration to a lot of brides, as well as style wedding inspiration photo shoots. I was invited to become a Style Me Pretty Lifestyle Contributor because of my daily blogging, and that was pretty cool! However, I never felt confident that I was really accomplishing direct connections: brides connecting to wedding vendors specifically from my blog. For that reason, I sold the blog and the name to another wedding creative, and ultimately hung up my blogging hat feeling pretty uninspired.
When we moved to Charlottesville so that my husband could attend UVA for graduate school, I quickly became familiar with all the inspiring weddings occurring here. I craved new exposure to weddings and wedding inspiration. But my job (I work weekends) and the addition of a new baby, made that a challenging prospect. I needed a job where I could work on weekdays, have a pretty flexible schedule, and still play a great role in our local wedding industry. There aren’t many jobs like that, so I thought of Charlottesville Bride.
Why did you decide to start Charlottesville Bride?
Charlottesville, Virginia and the surrounding small towns are just such a picturesque place to plan and celebrate your wedding day. Charlottesville is wonderful because it’s ideal for both local and destination weddings. What we don’t have is a local wedding planning and inspiration resource. Charlottesville is so worthy of a dedicated website like Charlottesville Bride. One that both local and destination couples can benefit from in order to plan their perfect wedding day from start to finish.
Do you have any exciting plans for the future of Charlottesville Bride?
My goal is to extend the website beyond a comprehensive local wedding vendor directory into the addition of a local daily blog. I’m most excited about the prospect of collaborative styled shoots, workshops, and the creation of tangible goods (like an annual print magazine or a bridal show) sponsored by Charlottesville Bride. Right now, I think it’s very important to connect with local wedding vendors and local brides, figure out what’s missing in our region, and build upon that information to provide a valuable resource and service. My previous experience has taught me that real success isn’t about comparison, copying, or trying to create a false impression. I don’t need Charlottesville Bride to be a “Top Five Wedding Blog” for example. I’m striving for a local resource that is as beautiful as it is helpful to the wedding planning process.
What topics does Charlottesville Bride cover?
Charlottesville Bride is first and foremost a comprehensive collective of local wedding vendors. I’m also interested in sharing real local weddings, unique styled content, venue tours, vendor interviews, and documentation for local events. Charlottesville Bride is a heartfelt endeavor! One of my goals is to foster a real sense of community. I have some fun ideas to toss into the mix, like sharing engagement announcements on the website that you typically find in local newspapers. Those always give me that lovely “small town” feeling.
If you could offer a bride who is currently planning her wedding one piece of advice, what would it be?
Get off the internet! Seriously. Pinterest and Instagram are wonderful places for finding wedding inspiration, but the nature of social media today means that inspiration is practically infinite. Find the wedding vendors, venues, and ideals that really speak to your heart. Surround yourself with people and professionals you really trust to breathe life into your dreams. Someone else’s wedding can be a great source of inspiration, but always remember what it is: someone else’s wedding. Your day is going to be uniquely yours, and that’s what makes it amazing. Listen to what your heart wants, not to what you see other people doing.
What are your favorite wedding trends or traditions?
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. I just LOVE this tradition! Beyond that, I love how modern couples are able to make pretty unique decisions for their wedding day: traditional or unique wedding vows, opting for a “first look” or not, letting each bridesmaid pick a unique dress, choosing doughnuts instead of wedding cake.
