Meet the Juror!

Hello again Beautiful Person! I'm back to post interview number two for the 2011 Bunny with a Toolbelt Engagement Story Contest! Next up is Kimberly Farris aka Gator Bride.

Bunny with a Toolbelt: How did you start your business? Tell me about what you do specifically that makes your business unique?

Gator Bride: My business actually started, in the very beginning, from a cake topper I commissioned from Hilary! Way back in Spring of 2009, I commissioned two little toppers, one a knight (for the groom), and the other a gator (for me, the bride), after our alma maters. That summer I started a wedding blog, Gator Bride, to have a place where orange and blue lovin' college Gator gals could come and share their Gator weddings. I also documented my wedding planning process there too (which later had me blogging as Mrs. Dolphin on Weddingbee).

From there I launched Gator Bride Designs, a wedding stationery design company for the modern DIY bride. And now, our newest venture, is in wedding videography with Gator Bride Videography!

One of the things I (and my husband) pride ourselves on is providing affordable modern design, and non-cheesy wedding videography, to budget brides!

Who knew so much would develop from such a cute little wedding topper?

Bunny with a Toolbelt What do you like best about being part of the wedding industry?


Gator Bride:I love how the wedding industry is constantly changing and evolving. Every few months there is a new wave of brides, with new ideas, new definitions of what a "wedding" is, they are constantly keeping us, vendors, on our toes! I also love the energy of the wedding industry. Everyone is so happy, excited and chomping at the bit. It's wonderful!

Bunny with a Toolbelt Tell me a story about one of your favorite interactions with another human that came about because of your wedding connections.

Gator Bride: Favorite interaction? Hmmm. This is tough! Through my wedding stationery design company, I've interacted with so many wonderful brides. I think for me, something that makes me feel so amazing, is when brides tell me how much they love my designs and send me pictures of my designs in action at their weddings. That is one of the biggest rewards- helping someone's dream come to life, and seeing it so beautiful placed.

But really, I guess my favorite interaction was the interaction that started our wedding videography company. I had blogged about a few videos we made for our friends/families weddings, and expressed my absolute love for capturing weddings. A few days later I received an e-mail from a local bride asking me if we could capture her wedding! She didn't have much of a budget for videography, so she couldn't afford a professional videography (as they are several thousand $), but didn't want a random guest doing it either. So she hired us! We jumped at the opportunity, updating our gear, practicing every weekend, at every event we could get our video lovin' butts to. And, it paid off. The bride was overjoyed after receiving her highlight reel. She was so incredibly happy. And you know what? That's what it's all about for us. The pure joy our client's receive. I just love it. :)

Bunny with a Toolbelt: What's your own personal engagement story?

Gator Bride: Our engagement story isn't all that exciting. No really, it isn't! My husband and I had been together 7 years before he proposed (since high school). I knew it was coming, as we had picked out the ring together, on a whim, one afternoon. I just didn't know when. My husband kept stringing me along. I never knew when and how he was going to propose. Then, on Valentine's Day, after dinner, he did it.

We were at his apartment (at the time we were living in two different cities), and he got super nervous. Now, at this point, I knew something was up because my husband is never nervous. He started talking about how much he loves me and how he always knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. And then he said those magic words, "will you marry me."

Which I had no idea why he was nervous in the first place, as he knew I was going to say yes. I picked out the ring, for goodness sake!

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In the next few days, I'll post the final interview with our third esteemed juror! Click here to see the contest rules--there's three weeks to get yours in!!