- Laura and Kayla
The Company We Keep: Reinventing Ourselves Into 2021
Updated: Mar 19, 2021
Time for a refresh! Heading into this year we knew we needed to leave 2020 behind us and jump start our year with a positive spin while gatherings are prohibited. With that, we wanted to update our marketing catalog of images. This idea grew into a concept that didn't just include headshots, however creating a space that speaks to our personalities and work ethic. A scene that would spark new creativity within us as we continue to push through these unpredictable times of wedding planning in Southern California.
This last year has been tough on our industry. COVID-19 took everyone by surprise and forced us to take time away from not only our family and friends, but also doing what we love: gathering folks together to celebrate. We consider ourselves lucky for being able to stay in business as wedding planners, due to the hard work and planning we did before we even opened our doors for business. Choosing to continue to work through COVID-19 offering micro weddings to our clients kept our spirits high. It was also important to us to take this time to look back on our purpose and intentions within this industry. Additionally, putting more thought into the clientele we want to service and the vendors we want to continue to build new and current relationships with.
We look forard to moving further into 2021 with a new line of sight towards design, client relationships and more. Our most important positive takeaway from 2020 is that we realized working micro, 'backyard' weddings built up our creative spirits during a tough time. This thought process brought us back to why we decided to start Back Patio. To the intimate, family events that our mother's curated time and time again. We would love to work more of these personal, intimate affairs with the creative freedom to design a blank slate 'venue' to a client's liking. All while refering top notch vendors such as the ones listed below who helped us create this photo shoot.
As things have begun to safely reopen across the country, we decided to 'come back' if you will, with a revitalized spirit and a fresh photo shoot to represent us at Back Patio Event Design. We adore hosting gatherings with beautiful, thoughtful details. This time we're switching it up while having the opportunity to design something that represents our attention to detail, personalities and how we value collaboration with other industry professionals.
We wouldn't have been able to move forward with this refreshed photo shoot without the help of three companies who have helped us grow since day one.
They were the first industry vendor to reach out to us when we first launched as an LLC in 2017! Whether they knew it or not, this left a lasting impression on us. We'll always remember their invite to view their showroom and warehouse, hosting a beautiful and unique catalog of inventory for our clients to rent and most of all always providing great service. As a result of building this relationship, our first ever signed client worked with them for their reception needs. Check out the gallery below.
Cate has been our champion since connecting during the early days of Back Patio in 2017. She's helped create a relationship with a venue that proved to be key in our growth and development as a company as well as offered to document our early photo shoots to help launch our brand and continue to fuel our creative desires. We haven't just worked with her professionally though! She's supported us personally with her bright and cheery photos, helping us document some of the biggest life experiences like a boudoir shoot, our baby showers to document the celebration of our first child and maternity photos to celebrate our body and all that it does during pregnancy. Growing our business alongside her, as well as watching her own business blossom even more than before, has been one of our most fulfilling professional relationships we've built in this business. Thank you for always being there to help us Cate. You bring our work and our confidence to life through your photographs! See below our first branding shoot with Cate to help launch our initial marketing campaign.
We were so lucky to build this relationship early on because of a dear friend who had worked with her on her own wedding. Abby has delivered exception floral and table top decor experiences since the moment we worked with her. Like Cate, Abby was always willing to help us out during those developmental years on photo shoots and encouraging us to keep thinking outside the box. Her enthusiasm for this business and creating moments that bring an event's personality to life has had a momentous effect on our desire to keep creating outside of our client events. She too helped bring a very personal event to life for one of us, as we celebrated the arrival of Laura's son, seen below. Thank you for your strong will to constantly challenge the status quo, Abby. You continually inspire us to do better, be better and create impactful moments.
Photography: Cate Batchelor Photography