Hello there, how are we all?
Keeping happy and healthy I hope.
Firsts things first, I apologise for the lack blogs and for being MIA (missing in action) for a few months, it’s been exciting and busy times for Mangos Design (Me).
I signed up to exhibit at two Indian wedding exhibitions in Leicester and they were two weeks apart from each other. I had about 2-3 months preparation and truck loads of ideas floating around in my head, as to how I wanted my stand to look, but first, I wanted to see what had been done. I made a private Pinterest board (love this platform, great for inspiration) and pinned loads of styles and ideas. But, these exhibition stands have already been done. Days went by just scrolling on Pinterest and Google, wasting time, I just couldn’t see how I can adapt a look to represent me and my business and I felt that some of the ones I’ve pinned, looked to corporate for me and slightly, I dare to say, boring! It looks great for their business/image, don't get me wrong and it works for them, but not for Mangos.
I stared at my website’s home page for ages, I was in a thinking trance, wondering how I can get the look of my branding from my website and transform it into something physical. It was like, I wanted my site to talk to me, through my laptop speakers to explain how it can be done, silly me. 😂.
Then I remembered what I did for my family’s gathering in January 2019. I had an Alice in Wonderland themed party and I made 3D giant flowers (I will show you this in a future post), it was at this point that all the lightbulbs went on.
Instead of having the general, slightly corporate looking pull up banner or a pop up fabric display, which most go for, I can actually physically make my brand come to life, my only hurdle was trying to keep it all cost affective. Starting and promoting a new business can suck you dry, especially if you are funding yourself, which I am very proud of doing so.
Now I had to think of how to make these giant 3D flowers in white, with a gold edge whilst keeping the cost down, (this is also a part of my future blog post. How you can make and decorate themed parties at a fraction of what it would be if you were to buy the actual goods from online shops or party stores). Anyhow, I calculated how many large pieces of white card I would need to make my flowers and I just wasn’t prepared to pay that much, I had to find another way. I thought of using rolls of paper but they were too thin to hold shape. Then I thought I could just make my flowers smaller to fit on A4 pieces of card so I could bulk buy, but I didn’t want to compromise on size as I know it wouldn’t give the same effect I wanted. Eventually, it hit me again, another lightbulb, white wallpaper, it comes in a roll and its approx £3.99 - £5.99 and they are thick too.
Off I ran to the nearest store where they sold wallpapers, some gold paint and thin paintbrushes. I’m not going to tell you which store because then that’s advertising them 😜. Back at home and I start to craft away. This is another passion of mine, I love crafting, making things and taking time out to personalise products.
Making these flowers and the sign is neck breaking, backing cracking work. Hours turned into days that turned into weeks to complete these but soooooo totally worth it. I'll put my hands up and admit, I did get frustrated, I did think to myself "why do you put yourself through this? haven't you learnt yet Manita? from last time?" But it's simple, I love it. I love doing all this. I love my job.
Sunday 3rd November 19: Exhibition Day.
8:30am start at the hall, to be ready for 10:30am.
11:00am the doors opened to the public and within 10 mins we had a couple potential customers/clients and from then on, we didn't stop (I'm so glad I had a couple of helpers). We were constantly busy, we met loads of lovely couples, who some came with their mother's. We joked about the whereabouts of the father's with some of the brides, saying they've gone to the pub (typical) or were at home having some quiet time. The flow of conversation was amazing and insightful, finding out what the bride wants, how they want it and also advising them.The exhibition went better then I thought, I don’t know why I was so nervous before hand. We received an unexpected amount of compliments of the way our stand looked and the products we were selling. It was a success and I was flying high on a business cloud.
Thanks for reading. Stay positive, be kind and believe.
Much love to you all
આવજો = Avjo (Goodbye in Gujarati)
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