Our Quick Q+A posts are back, and I can’t wait to share more of our great resellers. These people make the Event Blossom world go round and they’re so much fun to work with! Our very first Quick Q+A of 2013 comes from Beau-coup.
We’ve had the wonderful opportunity of working with the fine folks over at Beau-coup.com for a few years now, and it was nice to get to know them even better. Before our break for the holidays, Winnie took some time to share some great answers with us:
Describe a typical day for the staff at Beau-coup. Any fun office stories you can share?
One of the best things about working at Beau-coup is that there is no such thing as a “typical” day. We’re always moving forward and trying to improve all aspects of the business. Depending on the project, you can find yourself working with a different set of people solving different types of problems on a weekly, if not daily basis.
One thing that brings us together is something we call the “7th Inning Stretch”. Everyday around three o’clock in the afternoon we start playing music in the office. Our head of engineering set up a computer on our local network, and through a web-based application, anyone in the office can put a song in the queue and the music will blast throughout all of the departments. We get exposed to all kinds of music, from pop, electronic and dubstep, to Christmas carols, Broadway hits, and the occasional disco oldie – all to cheers, giggles, and maybe a few moans and groans.
Beau-coup has had so many big milestones, which one of those would you consider to be the most exciting? What made it especially memorable?
Beau-coup started out as a home business, operating out of the founders’ living room in its first year. We stored inventory in the garage, and dropped packages off at the UPS store every afternoon. Moving into our first real office space in downtown Mountain View was a big deal, and a memorable milestone because it both signaled that we had a real business opportunity (we’re legit!), and with the space, set us up for further growth. Since then we’ve moved into bigger and bigger offices, and had many more milestones, from being named one of America’s fastest growing companies by Inc. Magazine three years in a row, to one of our most important milestones, to date: Re-launching the site as an online destination for folks planning not just weddings, but any of life’s special occasions.
The New Year is just around the corner. What have been your favorite themes/trends from this past year?
Some of our favorite trends from 2012 are rustic weddings, ombre, animals, and lace. Not necessarily in that order. We loved looking at all of the gorgeous photos on Pinterest of rustic barn weddings, ranch weddings, and backyard weddings with strung lights, chalkboard signs, and handmade bunting. So Etsy! In color trends, ombre came back in a big way in 2012. We loved it on gowns, cakes, and even hair! Lace was also big this year, and whether you’re taking your queue from Kate Middleton, or Bella Swan, if it’s long and lacey, you can’t go wrong. And lastly, animals are always popular for baby showers and kids birthday parties, but this year, we especially loved the wild animals of the savannah; elephants, lions, and giraffes drawn in modern lines and muted tones were everywhere, but we weren’t complaining.
What are some lessons you’ve learned from being a part of the wedding and event industry?
Being a part of the wedding and event industry means we are always surrounded by creative and passionate people. We all do what we do because we love it, and we’re good at it. One of most important lessons we’ve learned is that building and maintaining long, healthy relationships with other industry leaders is invaluable. One day you’re helping someone, and the next day someone’s helping you. We belong to a tight-knit community and whether you’re a retailer, wholesaler, designer, photographer or publisher, you can learn from one another and share ideas to make them better.
You’ve been an Event Blossom retailer for quite some time now — since 2007. How has having Event Blossom’s product line added to your website offerings?
We were first drawn to Event Blossom products because of their designs. The style was clean, and modern, and completely in line with Beau-coup’s aesthetic. Over the years, Event Blossom has grown its line of products and introduced many hits on our site, but always maintained a strong focus on design. Event Blossom also provides beautiful images for their products, and on our website, the image is what sells the product. It’s one of the reasons we love adding Even Blossom products to our offerings; they not only sell themselves, they make our website look good!
