A Big Announcement
I have been grappling with how to tackle sharing this news for weeks, but there really is no easy way to go about this. Due to health reasons, at the conclusion of the 2019 wedding season, I will be transferring ownership of Prudence & Sage to Katelynn Long, who has been a coordinator with me for three seasons. I will remain to assist with the couples who personally booked with me for the 2020 season, but Katelynn will be taking over as the lead coordinator and owner. All future bookings and work for the company will be under her direction and care. I wholeheartedly trust her with this endeavor and sincerely look forward to seeing the work she will do for her couples under this brand she has helped me grow.
What is wrong with my health is complex and difficult to explain. In short, my joints can easily dislocate, fully or partially and many of them do multiple times a day. This damages the muscles and tendons in my body, causing a lot of pain. And because my body hurts a lot, my nervous system is damaged and sometimes I get body pain and headaches that last weeks with other migraine symptoms. In order to not hurt my body, I have to be really intentional when I move, and I have to have a lot of recovery time when I have a lot of pain. For the betterment of my health, I have to slow my life down a lot. I cannot work at nearly the pace I have up to this point without detriment to my health and potentially ending up hospitalized. Wedding planning and coordination is no longer something I can mentally and physically perform. My head hurts too much and feels too foggy to think through the complex thought it takes to orchestrate a complicated event. My body cannot carry me for the 12+ miles and 14+ hour days of lifting, moving, walking, directing, packing, cleaning, and more lifting that is a wedding day. I can’t do my job any more, and it really sucks.
It’s so much more difficult to leave a job, a career when it isn’t someone else’s company you are leaving. It’s my own. Instead, the methods, the branding, the team, the business and the reputation I am leaving are something I have built for the last 6 seasons. Something I have invested countless hours and many dollars into growing with serious intention over the last two years. I was going to be a catalyst to change the wedding industry through my blog, my podcast, and the knowledge and perspective I provided couples. Unfortunately, I have to make a choice to care for myself better, and to do that I have to walk away from my plans and goals.
Gratefully, I have a beautiful team that’s been working with me over the last few years who have seriously stepped up and helped make this season happen. I have spent most of my weeks too sick or in pain to perform my work, but rarely have I felt like I was letting anyone down because Katelynn, Megan, Mckenzie, Jessica and Meredith came in to make the magic happen for me, to care for my clients and beautifully coordinate their weddings. I’ve always had help with weddings in the form of assistant coordinators, but never had I thought I would rely fully on them. I am so thankful for this beautiful team of ladies.
Additionally gratefully, I have found that I can sustain floristry part time. I will be able to take on two weddings a month for 2020 season through Paeonia Pines (and I’m almost booked up). I had some great assistants with this endeavor as well to accomplish the 30+ weddings we designed this year and look forward to being more intentional and thoughtful with spending my energy and creativity on each of the 10 I’ll design next year.
This hasn’t been easy to go through this last year. This time last year, I was so stoked for all the wonderful things we had coming and were doing to help our couples have better wedding experiences and to share that knowledge with a wider audience through the podcast, blog and other projects. This abruptly changed in the beginning of 2019, and I have been struggling ever since. I am so deeply grateful for everyone who has worked so hard for me this past year and I am so excited to watch Prudence & Sage continue to flourish under the direction of Katelynn. It is with a heavy heart that I announce my departure from my career, but delight in knowing what I’ve started will go on. Thank you to the 150+ couples who have allowed me to make magic happen on their wedding days. Thank you to the countless professionals who have become dear friends, advisors and teachers over the years. It has been quite the adventure!
