Being in a creative industry, I’ve had the pleasure of working and getting to know quite a few amazing fellow creatives! So, I wanted to start highlighting certain vendors I love and just share insight about wha they do! :)
For my very first mini Vendor Highlight, I am so excited to be sharing the story behind Handmade by Sara Kim! If you haven’t seen her personal store yet, you might have seen her work at BHLDN, or seen her work as a DIY guru for Utterly Engaged a while back! Her work has also been around in a couple smaller bridal boutiques, too! If you’ve never had the pleasure of seeing her work, let me tell you first hand that her work is gorgeous. They are absolutely perfect for the romantic DIY/handcrafted bride.
How did I get to meet this amazing person? About three years ago, I stumbled upon a lovely online boutique Sara had originally started with one of her good friends. At the time it wasn’t Handmade by Sara Kim, yet, but I instantly fell in love with her work. That same year, I ended up reaching out to Sara to borrow one of her gorgeous headpieces for the styled shoot I was working on! You can take a look at at the styled shoot here!
As her boutique changed and turned into Handmade by Sara Kim, I continuously followed her work on Instagram, amazed by all of her creations! I looked up to her and her amazing talent! One day, out of sheer bravery (I’m a bit shy at meeting other creatives), I sent her an email asking her if she had remembered sending me one of her pieces, and I asked she’d like to grab a cup of coffee because I wanted to get to know her and her brand a little better! Sure enough, she surprised me and said yes! And here we are today!
Getting to see Sara’s office space and really get to see more of her stunning collections, I was even more amazed at the fact that every little detail was seriously hand made. I love it! So without further adieu, here’s a little bit about the girl behind the beautiful headpieces and paper flowers!
Sara, like many other creatives, saw her craft as a hobby at first. And one day that hobby grew and furthered into a real craft and growing business!
“I first started with jewelry and card making as a hobby and that eventually got me into making headpieces for my niece (newborn at that time). Then one day, I turned those baby headpieces into white and started getting a bridal line.
I was lucky to have a friend who happened to be a freelance web designer at the time and he approached me to make a website with some of the things I have been posting on my personal Facebook. In the early stages, my website was really just a portfolio of images and eventually became an online store. “
Her daily personal mantra?
“Always learn from yesterday, absorb today, and be better tomorrow!”
These aren’t all from her newest collection, but let me assure you that her newest collection is stunning! See for yourself here!
“My biggest inspiration for my current collection was the silhouettes of orange trees and flowers I saw on my morning walks down my historic neighborhood (Victoria Ave). It started with me just trying to get some exercise in and realized this street had so many trees and flowers. Eventually, I started taking images of these silhouettes during the foggy mornings and those are the shapes that I was inspired by for creating some of our headpieces.”
Sara is seriously such a genuinely kind and encouraging human being! This mini session we had in her office was so much fun!
Since the time I first saw her gorgeous head pieces, she’s ventured off into also specializing in paper blooms! They’re so much fun, and so sweet! I tried on several occasions to be able to make it to one of her amazing paper flower making classes, but so far my schedule hasn’t lined up just yet! Hopefully one day! ;)
“Paper flowers got started when I first made greeting cards. It wasn’t until more recently when I started re-creating some specific flowers, my favorite has to be our paper dahlias.”
I’m sure after seeing these gorgeous blooms, you’re probably thinking “I WANNA LEARN HOW TO DO THAT!”! At least that’s what I always think when I see her work! Haha! Well if you’ve had the same thoughts, you can totally find out about Handmade by Sara Kim’s events here!
“We like all the locations we currently hold our workshops at. They are all such a great hosts- West Elm, Oh Hello Friend, Smitten On Paper, Pigment, Happily Ever Etched and more. We are so grateful they open their space for local artisans like me to share and teach.”
Maybe one day I’ll run into you at one of her classes! ;) I love, love, LOVE the DIY/handmade bride! Those personal touches, whether made by the bride herself, or by other amazingly talented creatives like Handmade by Sara Kim, make things even more beautiful than they already are! :)
To close things off, I asked this all time DIY guru if she had any advice for the brides-to-be (or grooms-to-be) out there, and this is what she said:
“My number one advice for all our brides is to really invest in a wedding planner. I was a DIY bride and honestly hated my life for the 3 months I was planning my wedding. It really wasn’t worth all the trouble, time, and even the money I thought I was saving. Even on a budgeted wedding, make sure you budget a wedding planner first.”
YES. What excellent advice! And how timely! My next Vendor Highlight will actually be on an amazing wedding coordinator friend of mine and some words of wisdom from her line of expertise! I look forward to sharing that soon!
Happy Friday! :)