One Heel in the Door

I tried about five different times to start writing this blog and couldn't find the right words to express how I'm feeling, so here's a brief list: excited, nervous, proud, thrilled, anxious, overwhelmed, grown-up...

Guys... I got a job! A real life, big girl job in my favorite city. Just a few minutes ago, I accepted a position with The Knot as a Wedding Concierge. For those of you who aren't familiar, The Knot is a wedding magazine (a very prominent one, I may add) with an online counterpart that acts as a planning resource for engaged couples. The company is very well known in the industry, and working for it is a dream that I've had in the back of my mind for the past year or so.

I guess my interests in the wedding industry really began when I was thinking about applying for the "Stonehill in New York" internship program. As a female, I've always thought of weddings as magical and beautiful and breathtaking, but aside from picturing some part of my wedding being barefoot on the beach, I've never been one to dream up every detail of my own future wedding. So, if I said I'd been fascinated with weddings since I was a curly haired little peanut, I'd be lying.

The first time I really remember having interest was when my mom thought I was (slightly) nutty for wanting to spend a semester away from classes and intern at a bridal shop. "...And what will that do for you?" (Let me put in a disclaimer here and state that Mom is always supportive, she was just slightly confused as to how playing with wedding dresses for 40 hours a week would help me with my future). At that point, my only answer was, "It would be a lot of fun..." and that was followed with ideas about looking into the wedding industry as a career option. I'm not sure if I was totally convinced myself, but it at least sounded more convincing than it being fun.

After being offered a position at Kleinfeld Bridal as an intern, I found myself defending the role. While many friends, family members, and acquaintances were proud of me for going out and getting what I wanted, many people did a horrible job hiding their disinterest and "disappointment," for lack of a better word. There were countless times where, after telling people that I will be spending a semester interning at a bridal shop, I received negative feedback; some tried not to laugh, some were blatantly confused as to why I would want to do that, and others were clearly thinking that I was wasting my time. Maybe that seems a bit dramatic, and my boyfriend always told me that I was misinterpreting it... But he was with me one day when someone literally laughed at me after telling them what I wanted to do (I think he got what I was saying after that).

Anyway, as anyone who has spoken with me or who has read my blog knows, the experience was amazing and priceless, and it led me to realize my interest in the bridal field. From here, I interned at Lombardo's, getting a taste of the venue side of weddings, and now, as a day-of-coordinator and wedding planning assistant, I have been exposed to so many aspects of weddings and have such a passion for them. This, of course, has turned me into an avid reader of The Knot.

After getting back to Stonehill for my last semester (?!), I knew I needed to think about jobs. I've always had it in my head that I would graduate with a job lined up, and the idea quickly became a very stressful reality. I started to look into Public Relations, as I was told this could give me good event planning experience. However, after a few searches and some research, I realized that I was convincing myself to be interested in the field. Needless to say, that search became uninteresting and discouraging pretty quickly. After that realization, I sat on my computer late one night, and decided to check into job openings at The Knot. This was something I did on occasion, but the jobs usually entailed editing or layout for the magazine. This time, I saw a listing for the "Wedding Concierge" role, and within minutes, my application was sent.

Since this post is long enough, I'll shorten the rest of the interview process and say that yesterday, I was emailed with a job offer to begin working for The Knot on January 5th... And I'm SO EXCITED! The beautiful office is located in Downtown, NYC (www.195broadway.com), so my next step is to figure out where the nearest David's Tea is (and where I'm going to live)!

Maybe this will give me a chance to start blogging again... but for now, I have to go clean my room and get ready for Mom and Dad's visit! Yay!