2022, you were, in a word, most definitely unforgettable. You left us with some of the most devastating memories, and also some of the sweetest. You challenged us, shook us awake, and showed us just how fragile and special life is. You graced us with new client relationships that resulted in some career highlights, reminded us how difficult managing expectations and challenging people can be, and most importantly, you helped us grow. As painful as 2022 was for some of us, it was equally full of exhilaration, growth, bewilderment, and of course, SO much love. We are overwhelmingly thankful.
Below, we are recapping some of the highs, lows, and major moments the year brought us.
Firstly, we planned, designed and executed even more of the most challenging, intimate, beautiful and highly personalized events of our careers – truly such an honor to do so. The trust and flexibility our clients showed us this year was unparalleled, and allowed us to pull off some ideas and visions that were the stuff of dreams. From the big memories: pulling off an enormous room design for an even larger guest count (450 plus!) and producing a luxurious wedding which literally required every member of our team on board, down to those more simple moments: deep conversations with the team while driving through the Midwest and running through thunderstorms, literally soaking our clothes all for the sake of our clients – all of it was so memorable and rewarding.
We continued to grow our team, complete a significant overhaul of our internal processes and standard operating procedures, and also took some major steps toward our goal of educating and inspiring other planners. First up: our signature course, The Prosperous Planner! After talking about it for over a year, we finally put our heads down, did the work, and made it happen, and we have been having SO much fun with our students and finding new and exciting ways to support them. Our mission to fill others up with wisdom and learnings in this industry is only just beginning, and we cannot wait to continue to grow and expand the education sphere of our business.
We also experienced some pretty exciting personal highlights, too!
- Some of us got married, some got engaged! (Congratulations, Eve and Camille!)
- We launched an Elevated Workwear clothing collection with our beautiful friend Tori at LMC Boutique. You can view more about the incredible launch here, but let’s just say this project will definitely go down as both a highlight as well as a major eye-opener for us here at Elevate.
- We took home the distinguished award of “Best Wedding Planner” from Wisconsin Bride Magazine – a local publication we respect and admire and an honor we will never, ever, take lightly. It means so much to us to know how many of you believe in and vote for us year after year.
We continued to execute stunning and memorable events all throughout the Midwest. From Eastern Michigan to Western Wisconsin and pretty much every venue in between, we had the immense privilege of creating at some of our favorite venues, and also getting to know brand new spaces we hadn’t worked in before. Whether it was a fresh design at a familiar venue or a cutting edge creation at a space new to us, we thoroughly enjoyed every experience and wonderful client. Thankfully, the Wisconsin weather was also pretty kind to us throughout most of the season – our outdoor weddings were absolutely sublime this year!
Last but most certainly not least – we did it all with one incredible group of women. Year after year, we count our blessings for having the privilege of recruiting some of THE most amazing teammates in the state (like, for real), and this year was just another confirmation of that. It isn’t lost on us just how spectacular and impressive it is to show up at a space, see our event team for the first time in a couple of weeks (sometimes, even months!), and jumping right in to production with not a stone unturned or moment to lose.
Kelsie, Chloe, Katie, April, Amber, Lily, Kallie, Paige, Eve, Leah, Lily, Annika, and Marlena: THANK YOU. There is absolutely NO way we could have gotten through this year without each and every single one of you. We love you so, so much!
With an overwhelming sense of gratitude, we cannot close out this post without acknowledging our incredible community. To each of you who supports us: our dream, team, mission and evolution, we are endlessly thankful. Thank you for challenging us to show up, create, and tell stories that deserve to be told.
We will never forget you, 2022. Cheers, THANK YOU, and Happy New Year, friends!
Check out our 2021: Year in Review post here.
