Inspired at Engaged!10: A Recap by Monica Horsley

A couple of weeks ago, Engage!10 brought together many of the leaders in the luxury wedding industry. Envelopments has been a supporter of this event in the past, attending the conference and providing materials for the attendees. This year, we were unable to attend (although some custom-designed items were there in our place). Envelopments Dealer/Designer Monica Horsley, owner of By Invitation Only in Richmond, VA attended this year’s event and agreed to share her experience with us and our readers.

First a little background about Monica Horsley and By Invitation Only. After working as an elementary school teacher, Monica applied her passion for paper and etiquette and bought her store 9 years ago. Before getting started, she really had no aspirations about owning her own business, much less a retail store, but she ran with the opportunity. By Invitation Only provides “everything paper” for all of life’s special events and serves as the area’s “go to” for brides looking for the perfect invitation for their special day.

Here is Monica’s “first-person” recap of Engage!10.

Inspired-Rejuvenated-Motivated-Grateful……There are many words that I could use to describe my experience at Engage!10 but these four seem to sum it up best.

Engage!10 is a high impact luxury business summit that was held at The Breakers in West Palm Beach, October 3rd-5th. (Side note – high impact is a vast understatement) This event was packed full of industry favorites and many names that we all know so well; including Sylvia Weinstock, Mindy Weiss, Randy Fenoli, Darcy Miller, Carley Roney and Amy Atlas – just to name a few. It also included world class speakers and industry experts like Bryan Rafanelli, Simon T. Bailey, David Beahm, Cindy Novotny and Jill Meister.

I could go on and on about the list of who’s who in the wedding industry but honestly that was just one aspect that made this event so magical. Rebecca Grinnals and Kathryn Arce of Engaging Concepts, Inc. (along with the amazing staff at The Breakers) put together the best of the best in the business, extravagant swag bags, creative décor, amazing ideas, divine food and an all around amazing atmosphere to allow each attendee (now Engagee) to become Inspired, feel Rejuvenated, be Motivated and experience the true meaning of being Grateful.

Now you might ask, how did a little invitation and stationery store owner from Richmond, Virginia end up at this most extravagant event?

All I can tell you is that I made it happen. Several months ago I came across Engage!10 Cayman Islands on my twitter feed and I immediately started reading the rave reviews, looking at pictures and watching video and I knew right away that I had to attend the next one. Like most small business owners, I had been struggling with repositioning my business to make it in this “new” economic climate. I had survived the wrath of the storm but I was tired and knew I needed to adjust my path if I wanted to take my business to the next level. Now don’t get me wrong, overall things were good – I had built a “brand”, I was doing a lot of things right but I just needed a “little something” – I just didn’t know what that was until I attended Engage!10 The Breakers.

As I sat in this gorgeous sea of lime and white during the Opening Session on Day 1 I knew my life and my business were about to change. I had been there for less than 24 hours and I was already full of INSPIRATION that I knew was relevant to me. During that Opening Session Simon T. Bailey talked to us about “Making a Shift” and right away it clicked—that was why I was there, By Invitation Only needed a “shift” and this was where it was going to start.

During my time at The Breakers, I was surrounded by the most passionate people in the wedding industry. As Mindy Weiss said about everyone in the room, “We have a special gene – we are born with this gene to make people happy. And we know why we love it, because we want to make dreams come true.” This sounds so simple but sitting there on Day 2 it really resonated with me, I had this rush of REJUVINATION that I didn’t even know I need. Of course I want to make people happy, of course I want to make dreams real but for some reason hearing it in this atmosphere made me understand how I needed to go home and apply this to MY business.

Each day at Engage!10 was better than the one before. I woke up every morning wanting to go to every session that I could. On Tuesday, I even skipped lunch to attend a session with David Beahm, that was added last minute because people were demanding more. The whole time I had this feeling of MOTIVATION to learn, to absorb everything piece of knowledge and gain wisdom from people who could relate, people who wanted to help, people who knew that I had the potential for more.

It is easy to get caught up in the glitz and glam of this EXTRAORDINARY event but simply stated Engage!10 will change my business and has already changed my outlook on many aspects of my life. I have attended many industry seminars, workshops, trade shows and conferences but this will be the one where I go home and apply everything that I learned and for that I am eternally GRATEFUL.

And P.S. This event was a paper enthusiast dream come true…I was in Letterpress Heaven everyday with attendee books, daily agendas, menu cards and much more. Everything was documented with a great piece of paper (and of course lots from Envelopments)!