Happy birthday to us!
September marked one whole year since we launched Mustard in the UK so we threw ourselves a party!!
Being your own boss(es) means it's all too easy to let the days slip by without really stopping to see how far you've come, to actually reflect and maybe even to reward yourself for your hard work. So we did the one thing that all small business owners know how to do well: create more work for ourselves! ;) Yep, throwing a party takes a lot of work but we totally think the fun we had made it worth it! When Jess first came up with the idea it was for two reasons:
- In September we would normally have planned to do a trade show but we have a really good number of wholesale stockists so this wasn't necessary for us at this time. So we had a bit of a window in our year with nothing to get excited/stressed about! Plus, we really believe in investing back into the growth of our business, trade shows are one way but a party sounded more fun!
- Over the year we have connected with a bunch of incredibly cool brands and the even cooler people behind them. This community has been a huge support and never ending fountain of inspiration. We wanted to tap into this. We wanted to hang out with them because life is better when you have friends.
We serendipitously met Clare from Turmeric House when she responded to a facebook ad and came to Jess' house to pick up a sample locker. She's the brightest, bubbliest person and happens to be an epic event designer. A few weeks later we told her our idea and she got straight to work, pulling together all the components we needed for a seamless, sparkling birthday party.
We filled the Covent Garden venue with our lockers (obviously) and invited four brands to join us that have become friends of ours: House of, Oh Squirrel, Antipodream and Beards & Daisies. Spending the day in a room with all these create people and their products was a huge highlight for us and we're so thankful to have discovered/created a community.
Stationery by Oh Squirrel
Homewares by Antipodream
Plants by Beards & Daisies
Lighting by House of
Sofa Session
During the day we invited some special people to hang on our Oliver Bonas sofas to offer some value, laughs and insight to our guests. It was an all female, small business conversation about the journey of four unique brands.
The crew: Tabara - La Basketry, Sofie - Baby Grey, Becca - Mustard and Molly - Molly Meg, hosted by Danielle of F Equals.
And workshops too!
To bring even more fun and creativity to the day we welcomed stylist Lucy Gough to host a magnetic mood board workshop. Using our locker shelves, a stack of interior mags and years of experience she inspired the mood boarders to create dynamic board.
Katie from Oh Squirrel is the kind of creative magician you kind of wish you could be so we had to get her involved in the workshops too! Katie shared her unique techniques for created postcards using pressed flowers, calligraphy and hand stitching.
Party into the night
The evening was a blur! There was a queue outside when we opened and the rest of the night was packed with chats, hugs, gin and tonics and an epic grazing table! We spoiled everyone with their own 'goodie baskets' with one of our signature keyring and a cheeky discount. We loved seeing everyone walking around with their baskets (and filling them with meringues!)
Our party felt like we'd brought together all the best storylines from our first year in business and to celebrate the good stuff that have happened before it all slips by into the never ending pull of our inbox or the always growing to do lists. Sometimes, a party is just what you need to know you're on the right track.
We got to introduce everyone to our partnership with Beam in our Sofa Session with founder Alex Stephany and hosted by the magical Charlotte Jacklin. Alex tells the story of Beam with such passion and a genuine down to earthiness that is completely contagious. We look forward to sharing so much more about Beam with you. You can read more about our partnership here.
Our Friends
Turmeric House Cool as a cucumber, event designer Clare is the kind of girl you want at your party!
Oh Squirrel Creator of a jolly good range of stationery with plenty of glitter + positive vibes.
House of Fresh lighting brand who are making colourful waves in the interiors scene.
Beards & Daisies Plant people our our kind of people. Delivering the most popular plants, pots + prickly friends.
Antipodream Kate picks the very best awesome Australian brands + brings them to the UK for you to fall in love with.
Seyda Karimpour Talented product photographer + creator of a co working space for women.
The Curated Kitchen Key skills: making delicious food look even more delicious! Grazing table Queen.
Meringue Girls Honoured us with custom brand coloured meringues. Is there anything cooler?
Charlotte Jacklin Blogger, podcaster, instagram style icon, positivity spreader. Is there anything she can't do?
La Basketry Weaving her family heritage with her sense of design, Tabara sells baskets of the most beautiful kind.
Molly Meg Molly's shop will make you wish you were a kid so you could ask your mum to buy you everything!
Baby Grey Sofie aka Three Boys and a Pink Bath, creator of feeding chairs that won't cramp your style.
F Equals Danielle is a champion of women in business, writer + makes an insightful panel host!
Lucy Gough From big shoots to small rooms Lucy's style shine through all her work. Get inspired.
Beam Totally genius crowdfunding platform supporting homeless people into work, changing lives for the long run.
Oliver Bonas The shop you can't not go in! The lovely team loaned us the velvet sofas!
Gordons Created a range of G+T's that happen to match our locker colour wonderfully.
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