“New Year, New Me!” Nope. That’s not right. It can’t be ‘new me’ because I’m not new in the industry. “New Year, Old Me?” But ‘old me’ doesn’t feel right either because I’m not the old me. There’s an entirely new person who’s emerged since the last wedding that I’ve planned. Seriously. I’ve gotten remarried, had another child and started an entirely new career.

In March of 2020, I experienced one of the hardest things that I had ever experienced in my adult life. But I was not alone. Overnight, so many were left without jobs. At the time, I was the Catering Sales Manager at Gaillardia Country Club. This was my dream job! I mean, hello! A venue that looks like a European Castle, smack dab in the middle of Oklahoma City… yes, please! I beamed with pride and joy as I walked down those hallways. Or up the spiral stone staircase as I meandered to my office. Shortly after I began working there, I met a man. We shared a common factor and that was that my General Manager at the time, Chris Watkins, went to high school with my husband. It was Chris who encouraged me to give Preston a shot, saying that “he is a really great guy.” Fast forward, Preston and I even got married at Gaillardia. To say that I didn’t and still don’t have a connection to that place would be a lie. My dreams came true there not once, but twice. I had my dream job and later on, had my dream wedding.

After Covid, the wedding industry completely turned upside down. So many people were affected. Couples, who had lost so much money due to having to cancel without the opportunity for refunds. Vendors, who’s clients were being forced to cancel on them and going months, some even a year, without any source of revenue coming in. And then those like me, who were in a venue or catering capacity who couldn’t get hired anywhere because EVERYWHERE was shut down. I did pick up another Catering Sales Manager position at The Greens Country Club in Oklahoma City. But that was short lived as I was laid off…again… in December 2020 because the Covid numbers were increasing again and again. After a second lay off, I switched gears and decided to go for my real estate license. This still enabled me to interact with clients at such a personal capacity, but instead of walking them through the most important day of their lives, it would be walking them through their most important transaction of their lives. I am proud to say that I am a part of one of the most established Brokerages in the world, Sotheby’s International Realty. Being a part of this brand and surrounding myself with the most talented Realtors in this respected industry is such an honor and I humble myself daily.

But, something was missing. For the longest time, I longed for more. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I love real estate, but the aspect of it that I like least is the fact that the client/realtor relationship is so fast! I mean, it’s lightning speed compared to the wedding industry. Most weddings, I was working with the same client for months on end, sometimes longer than twelve months. In real estate, I’m working with clients on average three months at a time. Not to mention, the interactions are entirely different. And that’s when it hit me. I longed to plan weddings again.

The lightbulb went off and the wheels began turning. And if you know me, you know that once that happens, they don’t stop. It took months of thinking about it nonstop to finally determine that this was in fact, what I was wanting to do. Weddings were a part of my life and career for longer than they haven’t been. Weddings are a part of my DNA and how my brain is wired. They are my passion. And while I’ll still be working full time in real estate, there was no way that I could deny my passion any longer.

Just this past week, two people had reached out to me asking or pleading with me to come back “home” to Virginia to help plan weddings. And without a doubt, the answer will always be YES! How can I not say yes to going back to where it all began?! Virginia holds some of the best wedding professionals that I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Yes, yes yes, the answer will always be yes! I love to travel (shocker there) and will travel anywhere in the world to assist in your wedding.

I have some exciting things planned for this year and am eager to step forward and reemerge in the Oklahoma City Wedding Industry.