2024 is a hopeful year for me. One of the main goals this year is to start a blog and keep up with it throughout the year. And that might be hard to do while finding a building for our catering business - Smokin Glory BBQ & Catering, a home for Daniel and me in Post Falls, losing weight, reading books, and talking to as many people as possible in the wedding industry here in the Inland Northwest.
Blogs have been something on my radar for over a year now. My husband went to a networking meeting where Sydney Schatz, owner of A Piece of Harmony Events, broke down the logistics of blogs and how great they are - especially to boost SEO. But she also talked about how much she enjoys doing them and the brainstorming process. Since then, my husband and I have joked about starting a blog, sometimes more seriously than others but time has gotten the best of us.
I became reinspired after having met with Sydney for coffee the other day. As mentioned, one of my goals for the year is to connect better with other vendors in the wedding industry. Sydney is a member of WED’NI (Weddings and Events Directory of Northern Idaho), a group our barbecue catering business is involved in as well. Sydney is a well-known, highly desired wedding and event planner in North Idaho.
Her years of experience allow for every event to have that little piece of harmony it needs, that it deserves. She started at Settlers Creek in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, as the event manager and then continued at the Hayden Lake Country Club for years - serving a wide variety of clientele at both high-end luxury locations. Since then, she’s planned all sorts of events on her own, including weddings of up to 300 people and corporate events of up to 800 people. She knows how to get an event planned from start to finish and will make it look picture-perfect, just how you envisioned. Not only that, she works every job with a level of integrity that is uncommon in the wedding industry. She’s all about communication and establishing connections with the vendors she meets here in North Idaho and Eastern Washington.
What was particularly interesting was her involvement in corporate events, a scene we love and are trying to get more involved in with our corporate catering. When asked how to get in the door of corporate events, face-to-face marketing was her answer. The good old-fashioned ‘cold-call’ but with a twist. Meeting with the manager of each business in the Coeur d’Alene area with a bag of swag, offering her event planning services. What she learned was interesting. The most willing clients to use her were other local businesses based in North Idaho, who had the budget to support other local businesses and knew that their staff didn’t need to plan an event on top of their current workload. It was interesting to hear that many large corporations post-COVID used in-house staff to plan their events. So not only did Suzy from HR have to handle her workload, she had to plan a massive party on a budget for the entire company. It’s a no-brainer to hire a planner like Sydney, she knows what she’s doing and can make your day go without a hitch.
Book Sydney of A Piece of Harmony Events for your special occasion - big or small, corporate or wedding! She has some dates left for this year, so plan your party with her for September 7, October 19, October 26, or November 2nd! Even if you’re not planning a party yet, go follow her page for more!
And don’t forget to book Smokin Glory BBQ & Catering, LLC for your party, corporate event, or wedding! We are serving North Idaho with the best wood-fired barbecue around, with fresh flavors created in-house to astound the guests at your party.
