First Popsy Meet Up!
One of my favourite things about Popsy is our community! Our Popsy frocks & friends group on Facebook has posts daily of women sharing their outfits and real friendships have been made which is amazing. I had an idea to set up a meet up a while ago. I knew it would be a big step out of some of these ladies comfort zones and meeting up with a group of women they hadn’t met before would be pretty nerve-racking. I had been thinking about the idea a lot but one problem - I was genuinely worried nobody would be interested or turn up! I talk on a daily basis about stepping out of your comfort zone and here I was avoiding a situation because I was worried about the risk of sat eating afternoon tea for one! I decided to put the feelers out there on the group and see if anybody was interested in meeting up….and they did!
I booked a little coffee shop in the Midlands called bake180. It is a family run business and set in a gorgeous courtyard at Middleton hall. I love supporting small businesses and when I went to visit I knew it was right up my street. Fab settings, brilliant staff and the BEST cakes! It is definitely worth a visit if you are ever near the area (I can recommend their hot chocolates!)
On the morning of the meet up I was feeling pretty anxious! For those of you who have followed my story you will know I struggled with anxiety in the past and it can sometimes creep up on me. The racing heart was all too familiar followed by the ‘what if nobody actually turns up!!’ I needed to get some helium balloons blown up so needed a trip into town - with the girls! How hard could it be? Quickly nip into town, get 5 balloons filled up - back home to get ready. Easy! As always though, nothing is ever simple and the whole trip was complete chaos! My youngest decided to have a full on melt down in a shop, and I ended up carrying her out under one arm like a rugby ball with her kicking and screaming, carrying these giant balloons in the other hand which spelt out POPSY and just thinking what an awful advertisement we was walking back to the car! Having your own business isn’t always glamorous and despite what you might see on social media - it isn’t all photoshoots and exciting trips out of the office. I too am winging my way through life just trying to keep 2 kids happy and the house half tidy!
Although I felt anxious before the meet up I was completely relaxed within seconds of arriving. I had never met most of the women in person but I had spoke to many of them online in the group and it really felt like I was meeting up with friends! It was really relaxed and the whole vibe was positive. It was so surreal seeing so many Popsy dresses in one room! We sit in our meeting room deciding about shades of colour etc and imagining who is going to wear the dress we are designing - it was incredible seeing all of our hard work being worn and loved by other women! What I loved too was how different all the women were. Different sizes, shapes, ages, heights etc but all brought together because of Popsy which is something I am really proud of!
There were 16 of us (plus little Evie!) aswell as my best friend who came along to take some photos of us! @thismommaiswingingit got some amazing shots that really captured the afternoon. Lots of laughing, smiling and of course…lots of cake! It was her first time photographing a large group and she was absolutely brilliant! Thismommaiswingingit is a mommy blogger who knows all too well the life of being a mommy so we were thankful for a couple of hours eating cake and drinking fizz together! We also had another local business, Cameras & Confetti who came along to film the event so we had a little clip to look back on. After speaking to Emily online she loved what we were doing with body confidence and joined in the fun with us. We all introduced ourselves and unexpectedly the ladies went on to say about how important Popsy is to them and how it has helped them feel more confident women - wow! That little coffee shop must have taken that exact moment to start chopping onions because my eyes were watering!
We all had afternoon tea and it felt like chatting to old friends. Some people came with a friend, while others came on their own. I know that for some of the ladies this was a huge achievement to go to an event where they didn’t know anybody and I am super proud of them for smashing those comfort zones! Everybody chatted amongst each other, laughing and joking and everybody looked super relaxed! I can’t believe I doubted myself and worried nobody would turn up. I am so glad this was organised and it was really lovely seeing the women arranging to meet up again. I am now looking at holding meets up in other parts of the country so if you are interested in an event in your local area join our Popsy Clothing Frocks & Friends group on Facebook for more details. You will also see more photos of the meet up and be part of our little community.
I want to say a massive thank you to all the ladies who took the time to come to the first meet up and for making it such a success! Your support for Popsy just blows me away and I am forever thankful for you all for helping create something really special.
Cherish x
I want to say a huge thank you to @thismommaiswingingit for her photos
Bake180 in Middleton for allowing us to use their beautiful venue
Cameras & Confetti for videoing the event for us - keep your eye out for the video!
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