polka dot bride birthday cake

Cake by Miss Ladybird Cakes

Yesterday, Polka Dot Bride turned eight.

Every year I question a big, sparkling acknowledgment, and every year I think of how much this business has an impact on my life – and I think it needs all the glitter and sparkle it can handle.

Most people know that I started Polka Dot Bride as a little hobby, nobody knew until my family and Mr Polka started asking why I was spending so much time on the computer. It completely surprised me – how fast it grew and what it grew into. My little hobby soon became a business with a team and advertisers and actual real live readers!

The impact this has had on my life is not something I am easily able to put into words or comfortably share – this site has given me a sparkling life filled with living what I am passionate about every single day. When they say it takes a village, well my village is pretty special – Mr Polka, my family and dearest friends all have a part to play in our existence. They’re the cheerleaders, the shoulders to cry on, the champions, the mentors, the business partners and the carers. They raise their hands up every time we need a bit of help.

The patterned people are pretty  amazing too. Ms Stripey (our client concierge) has been with us the longest. She is passionate about her job, has incredible tenacity, is known to laugh uncontrollably when I make a typo (ha!) and cares deeply about our advertisers and seeing them succeed.  Ms Paisley, our sales coordinator is the most organised person I know. She always has a genuine interest in everyone she meets and is patient beyond belief (she also makes me crack up regularly). Ms Gingham, who is our content manager across our specialty blogs has a deadpan sense of humour who reminds me not to take life too seriously. She’s passionate about seeing our baby blogs grow into fully fledged adults without training wheels and continually surprises me with her ideas and inventions. Finally our newest on the blog – Ms Harlequin is like a little ray of sunshine. Her positivity and ability to get things done is such a relief to me and I love that she indulges me with plenty of online shopping discussions. These people are the most amazing team and I am so happy to have them by my side.

Our extended team of designers, developers, interns and patterned people writers all work really darn hard to make Polka Dot Bride awesome. They work from far flung corners of the country (and the world!) to help our site grow and succeed. Their contributions are golden and they are so much fun to work with!

We couldn’t do this without our amazing advertisers – some of whom have been with us almost since the beginning. We are keenly aware that these wedding vendors choose to spend their hard earned dollars with us and are committed to providing the best service we possibly can. They’re the ones that allow us to write all these posts for you – sending them out once, twice sometimes five times daily! They take a chance on us, so we love it when you support them, because we think they’re pretty amazing (and they come in all price points, styles and personalities too!)

But the heart and soul of Polka Dot Bride is you – our readers. Each comment you make, Instagram photo you like, link you click, email you send – we never take any of it for granted. Making your wedding planning journey as enjoyable as possible is our greatest focus. Whether you’re having a wedding in a glamorous ballroom with a black tie dress code and champagne fountain, or a wedding in a scout camp with your nearest and dearest with pom poms strung from the trees and a bath full of ice and your favourite drinks. Who ever you are – we hope we can create a space where you feel inspired. I’ve said it before – you are my greatest delight and the champagne in my glass. Thank you.

There have been lots of ups and downs in this roller coaster ride. Last year, much of the blogosphere was abuzz with talk of burn out and it was definitely something I struggled with. That sheer exhaustion has led to me re-evaluating a lot and being more clear than ever about what I want to do with Polka Dot Bride, where I want to go and what 2015 has in store.

Thank you so much for being with us along the way. Whatever role you play in our blog, you’re probably not aware of the depth of impact it has – so let me tell you now how much you’re appreciated and how much we never take you for granted.

So our ninth year? It’s going to be a big one and I hope you’ll stay with us for the ride. I can’t wait to show you the surprises we have in store!

 

(Note: I asked the lovely Gina of Miss Ladybird Cakes to make our birthday cake this year. I gave her no brief, wanting to see the fun she came up with. Our birthday cake was inspired by popular techniques and ideas – watercolour, geometric shapes and late Summer evening colours (Gina admits there’s even a bit of her Year 11 high school art folio in there!). Thanks so much Gina for creating yet another stunning cake!)