Diary of an Intern

Hi there!

I’d like to introduce myself.  My name is Savannah and I am the new intern at Carolina Food Design.  Woo!  I am absolutely loving working with Ali and all the fabulous brides we have booked for the upcoming year.  My latest assignment is to work on the blog, so I thought I’d start by introducing myself.

I am a Junior at the wonderful College of Charleston.  I grew up in a quaint little town in rural South Carolina in an old historic home, possibly steering my personal appearance and preferred decor towards a classic and antique style.  Spoiler alert…I’m a self-professed “wedding freak.”  I kid you not, I began planning my wedding at the reception of the first wedding I was ever a part of (I was a flower-girl).  This wedding happened to be when I was 3 years old…told you I was crazy.  After my first performance as a flower girl, I was in several aunts’ and cousins’ weddings, also as a flower girl.  I loved all of the drama, excitement, and emotion of walking down the aisle, knowing the beautiful, blushing bride was right behind me.  The only part that ever upset me was that I was never tall enough to catch the bouquet. 🙁  Now, I’ve come to realize that there were other, older girls at those weddings that needed the encouragement that they would find Mr. Right more than I did.  Nevertheless, I dreamed that one day that would be me walking down the aisle with my dad by my side and my dream man waiting for me at the altar.  So I kept plotting and planning in my head.  Then, when I was about 10 or 11, I began designing my own wedding dress, a design that in 10 years, along with fashion and decor, has definitely changed A LOT.  But, at 10 years old, Mama told me I needed to stop…or at least hide my designs from Daddy.  He freaks out a little now when he thinks about his little girl growing up and getting married, so I’m sure it was not something he wanted to be thinking about when I was a child.

Me and Aunt Chrissie at her wedding.

Anyway, flash forward to the summer of 2011.  I was at a loss of what I wanted to do after graduation.  I had half of my college career in front of me and I wanted to make it count.  My passion and intensity for politics had begun to wane after declaring a Political Science major.  I did a lot of soul searching and came to the conclusion that political science, and the careers it entails, were not what I wanted.  I knew campaigning and working in the fickle world of politics and government was not something I could enjoy and want to do for the long term.  I began thinking, what are some things that I love doing that I could possibly turn into a career?  Obviously shopping and going to the beach came to mind first, but I’m still waiting to be offered a job where I can go to the beach all day, get tan, and get paid for it.  So, I started thinking about other things, and it didn’t take me long to realize that what I have been obsessed with since I was a little girl could be a possible job.  I envy people that have always known what career they want because I am the complete opposite.  If the profession exists (or not), I’ve probably wanted to do it…horseback rider, veterinarian, doctor, lawyer, personal stylist, stay at home mom, personal shopper, pharmacist, nurse, interior designer…you get the idea.  I’ve always wanted to have a career doing something that I can support myself with (I’m very independent…some might even call it stubborn), but money is not the end all and be all of what I want.  The most important thing to me is that I do something I enjoy.  Many people go to their 9-5 jobs and are miserable and spend the entire time counting down the minutes until they can go home.  That is something I absolutely did not want because 40 hours per week is a lot of time to waste doing something you aren’t passionate about.  So there I was, in the middle of summer, changing my major for the third or fourth time.  That fall, I began working toward my degree in Hospitality and Tourism/Business Administration.  One of the great things about the Introduction to Hospitality and Tourism class I took was the opportunity to hear different speakers from the Charleston area talk about their respective professions in order to give us an idea of what kind of jobs are out there. One of the speakers was Ali Fisher.  She talked about how her job was a lot of work, but that it was rewarding.  She mentioned that it isn’t a normal 9-5 job, but that she uses her creativity and people skills to help convey to vendors what her brides (and grooms) want.  I applied for the internship and the rest is what-they-call history!

So far, I have absolutely loved working with Ali and all the vendors that she uses.  I knew a lot of planning went into an event, especially one as momentous as a wedding, but wow!  Things that I would not even have thought about, Ali has already checked off the list.  I’m telling you, she is on top of her stuff!  I’m learning so much as the days go by, and I can’t wait to share more with y’all about the weddings we’re taking part in and different ideas, decor, and happenings going on at Carolina Food Design.

Until next time
xoxo,
Savannah

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