** Small Business Fridays is a new blog series focusing on local small businesses. Each business involved receives a complimentary short business session. Please contact me for more information. I’d love to network with your small business! **

Today’s post peeks into Wrennwood Design, an event planning business run by Amberly Odom. Amberly and I met up last week for a few a short business session on some gorgeous floral arrangements she was working on. This girl is overflowing with talent!

Q: Tell us a little bit about your business. What do you do and what services do you offer?

A: Wrennwood Design is a full event design house.  We can create your bouquets, design your paper goods, plan your event from top to bottom, or do creative consulting (we love brainstorming!).  While we mostly focus on weddings, we also do workshops, large and small-scale installations, and even interior design from time to time!  Whatever the medium, context, or scale, designing is our passion.  We work with each of our clients to fully understand their vision, using that vision to fully inspire our creative process.  No two events are alike, nor is the creative process.  We are seriously lucky gals to get to work with such inspired clients every single day.

Wrennwood Design was launched by Amberly Odom after working in the event and hospitality industry for seven years – in the catering world, full-service floral business, event planning making and selling home-made goods and crafts, and hosting event shows and booths.

The company has since added two lovely team members, Sheena Wade who has a degree in Interior Design and is an awesome cake decorator and Olivia Long who has the dearest passion for flowers. We also have several experienced staff members that help periodically when a particular event needs extra attention.

Q: Where are you located? What’s your contact information?

A: One of the great things about Wrennwood is that we come to you! Instead of increasing our overhead by having an office, we are able to keep our costs lower that way. For new client inquiries, the best way to reach us is through our contact page at www.wrennwooddesign.com and filling our our short questionnaire. It helps us get an understanding of our clients needs and vision so that we can find ways to help you out. If you need an immediate response, give us a call at 404-981-8135.

Q: The greatest lesson in business you’ve learned?

A: The first thing is….It is better to take a risk and fail than not to take the risk… I’ve seen this a number of times in my life now, and it’s one lesson, I’m glad to say, I learned well.

The second is that success isn’t about what you do in life, It’s more about how you do it.

Q: What are some words you live by?

A: One thing that was shared with my by Emily Ley is holding yourself to a standard of “Grace not Perfection.” So many time times people set impossible standards for themselves and those around them. One of the most important jobs that I have as a wedding planner is to help couples embrace healthy, happy marriages. Folks, marriage is hard. I fail every day at something, whether it be falling short at work or letting things slip as a wife, but one thing is constant- I wont ever be perfect and I will be okay with that. What does grace mean to you?

Q: What’s the best tip you can share with brides planning their wedding?

A: The most important thing when planning your wedding is to be realistic. Everyone has a budget, even if you are a millionaire princess. Understanding what you can accomplish with that budget is key. As a wedding planner, my job is to save you money and help you get the most bang for your buck. On average, we save brides 10-15% on average for services they would normally have paid extra. In most cases, I can guarantee that the money you spend on Wrennwood as your planner, you will not only get that money back in savings, but also save yourself a major head/heart – ache.

A little extra: We do things a little differently at Wrennwood. We offer you a customized client portal that will be set up within weeks of signing your contract. With that comes invaluable information, deals and discounts. We also set all of our clients up with a project management account so that we can keep our communication organized and invite vendors to join in on the conversation.

Thanks so much Amberly! I’m looking forward to working with you again!