My dear friend, Amanda, of Into It Events is on the blog today to share some words about creating friendships with vendors and industry peers! Enjoy her words of wisdom, and I’ll be back next week when I return from Envision!

I’m so excited to have been asked by Nikki to write a guest post for her while she is attending the Envision workshop! 

I believe there is a place where work and play intersect. Work simply does not feel like work when you are able to surround yourself with peers that you enjoy being around. Even better yet are the times where you are fortunate enough to have colleagues that are also cheerleaders, confidants, and co-conspirators.

There are very practical reasons why it’s important to build relationships with your colleagues- it makes for a pleasant work environment, to have connections that you may call upon when needed. There are also reasons to build relationships within your industry that go beyond practicality. Sometimes you just need support and helpful words of advice from someone you trust or someone that has been in a situation similar to yours.

This is one area where I consider myself to be very lucky- I am able to meet new people and interact with new, amazing wedding professionals almost daily. Between my work with Marry and Bright, as well as my personal event company, Into It Events, I am exposed to and introduced to wedding professionals constantly.

I am so thankful to have “friendors”- a word that I picked up from the crazy talentedMichelle Amarillo. Some of my friendors (like Michelle) are also event designers and coordinators- but there is an amazing sense of community and support in the place where you would expect to find competition and cattiness. Then there are my photographer friends- Nikki, Katie, Ashley– who are all small business owners, and have helped me in numerous ways throughout my journey.

Sometimes you just need a good pep talk over text, brainstorming over coffee, or soul-pouring over wine. And you know what? I’ve got some amazing, dynamic women that I’m lucky enough to call friends that I can do that with.

No matter what your profession is, wedding industry or not, I’m sure we can all agree that building relationships with those you work with makes everything feel a little less like work, a little more manageable, and much, much sweeter.