A LITTLE ABOUT ME...

Back in 2002 after planning my own wedding I founded a tiny company called The White Aisle. We were on a tight budget and planning a destination wedding (oh to be back in Jamaica...) All of the invitations and favors we loved would have thrown us into bankruptcy, and anything we could afford seemed to be covered with bad bows and hearts. We ended up making all of our stationery and favor items ourselves and smuggling many of them with us to the island. At the end of it all we kept hearing one line from all of our guests, "You should do this for a living." So... why not give it a shot? We started with a small edible favor line, but it wasn't until we introduced our first invitation design in 2003 that the company seemed to explode. Since then we have branched out into different forms of printing, as well as a full jewelry line.

In 2007 we started working on a new project. Since the wedding industry has a season, we are able to close down for one month a year and travel. We've spent some time in Asia and have recently focused in on Cambodia. The situation there is of extreme poverty. In particular the children are victims. They are unable to attend school because their parents cannot afford the supplies required to attend. Many end up working in landfills picking garbage to sell, or being sold into the sex trade by desperate families.  We are working with a day center in Phnom Penh which gives vocational training to young women who are currently prostitutes. The hope is that they can use this training to get a job and get out of the brothels. We’ve designed a line of bridal accessories including ring pillows and flowers which they will made from local silks, and are now selling the items with all proceeds going back to pay the salaries of the young women.

In 2009 we spent a month in Africa with the idea that we would start a similar program to that in Cambodia. Luckily fate lead us to a small tribe of the Masai people in Kenya where we met the most incredible women. When they weren't building their own homes by hand, and carrying water back from miles away, they do beadwork... really, really amazing beadwork. We're in the process of developing a line of hand beaded headbands and bracelets with them. Again, all profits will go directly back to the village. The hope is to eventually earn enough to build a well which will provide water for their entire community and the school nearby.

If you've been reading this blog, there is one other fact about me that comes up from time to time whether I want it to or not. I am a cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with melanoma (no, it's not just skin cancer that you can zap off with a laser) in 2005. Since then I've been in and out of treatment and had many ups and downs. I'm still kickin'. Since the day the bomb got dropped on me, I was very open and honest with our clients about what was going on. I figure it's better to just come out with it. I've received so much support from the wedding community, and I hope that some of the stories on this blog will raise awareness for this disease and keep you all going to the dermatologist.

Thanks very much for stopping by, and feel free to drop me a line anytime.