BIRTHDAY PARTIES

July 2022: welcoming some summer downtime

My musings…

After the busiest month we’ve had to date – and I feel like that says a lot! – I can finally sit down and catch up on admin work and planning.

As a quick recap, last month we celebrated our grand opening, hosted two beautiful weddings at capacity, and brought the kids home for the summer. We were also fortunate enough to visit Disney World as a family.

Despite the humidity, heat, and crowds, I love going to Disney World as an adult. After our own construction of the venue, it amazes me just how much work went into planning the theme parks.

From the fantastical Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge “planet” in Hollywood Studios to the Parisian cityscape in Magic Kingdom, the parks offer no shortage of inspiration, and we took plenty of photos for ideas as we continue to invest in the venue!

One of our future long-term projects is to build an indoor dance hall, giving party hosts a secondary rain plan as well as allowing us to contain the sound from blasting music.

Aside from the financing, as an indoor space will cost a pretty penny, one of the most challenging components is coming up with the design for it. We want party hosts and their guests to still feel like they are in an enchanted garden, an old-world European courtyard woven into a tropical oasis, while enjoying the befits of an indoor space.

Thankfully Disney World has all these elements throughout their parks, so we were able to study the various materials used by designers in constructing these magical sets.

The event space remains a labor of love for us, and while sometimes it’s hard to “turn it off”, we are so grateful that we enjoy “working” even when on vacation.

And here are my takeaways from the past months:

 

Photo Credit: Gardens of Weber Manor.

1.    Building a business with a partner is extremely rewarding.

While I believe people are capable of starting and running a business on their own, I have been fortunate enough to build and own this wedding venue venture with Mike, my partner in life and work. Working with a significant other comes with its own rewards and challenges, but in general, having a business partner(s) is extremely valuable (so long as the business is set up properly/legally and equitably!).

Mike often takes care of the parts of the business that I don’t want to or that my skillset doesn’t cover, and vice versa. From a mental health standpoint, it’s incredibly helpful for me to have him on my team. Just like any business owner, we face many hurdles, rejections, and setbacks. But Mike, a very level-headed and optimistic person, helps ease those burdens that come with the negatives and acts as a superb sounding board.

2.     Take time to step away from the work.

What Disney World, and the summer in general, has offered us is a time to disconnect. We decided that we wouldn’t take on any events during the months of July and August, so that we could spend more time with the kids and reset. Not to mention, July and August are not ideal times to have an outdoor wedding or event in South Florida!

These slower months from a professional lens have allowed us to take some time off and given us the opportunity to refill our creative cups. Great work is not borne out of burnout.

3.     Don’t fear letting go and delegating to others.

As we mentioned last week and across our social media, we have started to partner with the Tugender family, owners of Mandale Marketing Agency and Mandale Magazine. While our new partners made it a simple decision for us to choose them, it was not easy psychologically making the decision to let go of the tasks we handed over. They have taken over a lot of social media posting, and they will help us with our blog posts and a redesign of the website.

A part of me did not want to give up these tasks since I had knitted into my narrative that this was my creative outlet. I also clung to the notion that these accounts were coming solely from my voice, and that that was important. However, once I shed these psychological weights and we decided to work with them, it instantly freed up a significant amount of my time. Not only were we able to experience a much more disconnected (from technology) Disney trip, but I can also now focus on bigger picture projects, such as planning a full art gallery event, with Mike and other vendor partners. It also relieves a lot of the stress and pressure I felt each day to come up with new content – a fulltime job unto its own. 

Updates for TheGoWM…

This month, we plan to:

  • Hang Art by Shannon Martin Perkin’s artwork up in the get-ready suite

  • Build out a SEO strategy for the website (finally) with the help of our new partners at Mandale Marketing Agency

  • Continue to do maintenance around the venue, such as paint and plant flowers in the wooden fixtures that hold up lighting in the garden space

  • Start planning some styled shoots for the summer and fall

  • Reset and rejuvenate as a family!

Our Asks…

This wouldn’t be a community space without the help from, well, our community! If you can assist us with any of the following, we’d greatly appreciate it.

  • Please subscribe to this monthly newsletter if you haven’t and share if you like what you read!

  • Please follow us on our social media pages: Instagram (@thegardenswm) and Facebook.

  • Please engage (share, like, comment, save) with our posts on social media.

  • Help us brainstorm events we can host in our space outside of private parties (e.g., wellness events, art galleries, concerts, gaming events, etc.).

  • Book a tour if you’re in the area and would like to see our space!

Thanks for tuning in this month!

-Emily, Co-Founder, The Gardens of Weber Manor

Blog News: We love to connect with our clients and friends, and we publish a special newsletter every 1st Thursday of the month. We also provide a lot of wedding tips from our preferred vendors.

“You will find that most times you have a vision of what it is that you want to accomplish and that’s most important. It allows you to work backwards and make cuts and changes that will still reflect the overall outcome you wish to achieve. What good is splurging on one particular item if it doesn’t result in the overall outcome you were trying to create?

-Emily, Co-Founder, The Gardens of Weber Manor

Subscribe to our Newsletter!

Follow Us to See All the Magic

  • facebook
  • instagram
  • Google business

THE GARDENS OF WEBER MANOR LOCATION 

“ When I say that pictures and videos do not do this space justice, that is an understatement!! The Gardens of Weber Manor, in all of its whimsy and magic, is truly a perfect little nook in the heart of the Redlands. No matter what the vision or mood board, this venue and its versatility will allow you to transform it to match your wildest dreams. Add to that the fact that Mike & Emily are the absolute sweetest owners & venue managers, and there should be NOTHING holding you back from booking a tour and picking your wedding date that same day. It is clear that they have put their heart and souls into building up The Gardens from the ground up. So whether you’re planning a wedding, anniversary, birthday or corporate event, you need not look further.  ”

– Alianne Valladares-Prieto

“ The Gardens of Weber Manor is a hidden gem. This venue is magical. I can’t express how amazing it was working with Emily and Mike. They answered every question I had and made me feel that they had everything under control at all times. The staff was awesome!!! The rooms looked beautiful!!! I want to give a special thanks to Emily it was an absolute pleasure working with you. Everything went smoothly, easily and successfully thanks to Emily and Mike and the rest of the team. We felt like family from the time we started to plan the wedding and especially on our wedding day. Thanks to the Gardens of Weber Manor for the wedding of our dreams! ”

– Fernanda Rodriguez

“ We cannot say enough good things about this venue and the owners, Emily & Mike! It is truly a hidden gem. The garden is absolutely gorgeous – you really don’t even need to decorate because the scenery has so much beauty all itself. There are so many spots throughout the venue that could be used for different parts of an event, and no matter where you turned it was a perfect photo backdrop. Our friends and family kept telling us how beautiful the venue was and wondering how we found it. ”

– Kyla Hill