{"id":59,"date":"2021-02-27T07:45:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-27T07:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lilyroseevents.com\/the-LRE-life\/?p=59"},"modified":"2021-02-27T14:05:10","modified_gmt":"2021-02-27T14:05:10","slug":"celebrating-black-women-in-business-a-boho-inspired-wedding-photoshoot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lilyroseevents.com\/the-LRE-life\/celebrating-black-women-in-business-a-boho-inspired-wedding-photoshoot\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Black Women in Business: a boho-inspired wedding photoshoot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Images by Amber Robinson Raleigh Wedding Photography – boho wedding party<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In June of 2020, in the wake of George Floyd\u2019s murder, the local wedding and events industry, in Raleigh, began to have conversations about the lack of diversity in our professions.  As with many people and groups, we tend to recommend vendors and work with the people that look like us. We may only refer our couples to black-owned businesses because they are black themselves.  Or maybe we don\u2019t even know about all the black-owned businesses in our area.  It was time to get out of our comfort zone and begin to \u201cBridge the Gap.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The amazingly talents of Elana Walker (Elana Walker Events<\/a> & Elux<\/a>) and Aneesa Glines (Harmony Events<\/a> & The Graham Mill<\/a>) put together a phenomenal virtual forum, \u201cBridging the Gap\u201d, in order to bring industry professionals together.\u00a0 The goal was to 1. Introduce us to black-owned business owners in our area and 2. Begin an open discussion about race and the wedding industry.\u00a0 We heard from over 30 business owners, some of which I admit I had not heard of previously.\u00a0 Others I had known of, but never worked with on an event.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Images by Amber Robinson Gavin Christianson Bridal S Dot Davis Makeup<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Images by Amber Robinson Gavin Christianson Bridal Boho Wedding<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Images by Amber Robinson Taji Natural Hairstyling Lily Rose Events<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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The panel discussion challenged us to see things differently.  For example, when a black photographer walks in to shoot a wedding, accompanied by a white person, she was often mistaken as the \u201csecond shooter\u201d rather than the owner<\/em> of the business.  We were also challenged to set goals and make changes to the way we do business that reflects the people we serve and want to work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so the work began.  I took a hard look at our company, and engaged in some hard conversations with black friends and black business owners.  It was easy to make some changes to our vendor list \u2013 where we make recommendations to couples on who to hire.  I admit, it did not reflect a diverse group of vendors, and we needed to make some changes.  Secondly, we added more specific language to our contracts that protects employees from being targeted or harassed at events.  If an employee is discriminated against due to race, either by a client or their guest, or another vendor, they have the freedom to leave that event and not continue working. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Images by Amber Robinson Raleigh Wedding Photography Lily Rose Events<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Images by Amber Robinson Raleigh Wedding Photography Amazing Graze<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Images by Amber Robinson Gavin Christinson Bridal Fall Wedding<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In a conversation with Amber Robinson (Images by Amber<\/a>), she called me out on the lack of diversity in my social media content and website.  She pointed out that it does not reflect the clients I say I want to work with.  And so, we decided to create some of that content.  Because I also wanted to work with more black owned businesses, one the planners on my team, Dawn, and I and collaborated to put on a styled shoot in the Fall of 2020.  This boho theme was fun to create.  This was our first styled shoot ever, we are proud of how it turned out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More importantly, I loved getting to work not only with black business owners, but WOMEN in business.  You guys, things are changing.  I know this is just a couple steps in the right direction, and we still have a ways to go.  But I am confident that the tide is turning.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Images by Amber Robinson Quizine Orleans NC Fall Wedding<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Images by Amber Robinson Raleigh Wedding Greenhouse Picker Sisters <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Images by Amber Robinson Fall Farm Wedding<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Images by Amber Robinson NC Fall wedding Lily Rose Events <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I believe black lives matter.  I believe women are competent and strong.  I believe that everyone deserves a fair shot at making a living doing what they love, and we all bring something to the table. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Images by Amber Robinson Sugar Post Raleigh Boho Wedding<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I was honored to collaborate with the following black-woman-owned-businesses for this shoot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber Robinson \u2013 Images by Amber Robinson<\/a>  (photographer)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tay Brown \u2013 Amazing Graze Barn<\/a> (venue)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taji \u2013 Taji Natural Hair Styling<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharon Davis \u2013 S. Davis Makeup Artistry<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crystal Butler \u2013 Quzine Orleans<\/a> (catering)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gineen Cargo \u2013 Gavin Christianson Bridal<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Images by Amber Robinson Raleigh Wedding Photography Lily Rose Events<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Florals created by Dawn Carr of Lily Rose Events<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specialty rentals provided by Greenhouse Picker Sisters<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cake\/ cupcakes provided by Shanda at The Sugar Post Raleigh<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thank you to our models:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will Little<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamine Terilli<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jabril McNeill<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ama Kwabia<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eleanor Burns<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Chapman<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In June of 2020, in the wake of George Floyd\u2019s murder, the local wedding and events industry, in Raleigh, began to have conversations about the lack of diversity in our professions.  As with many people and groups, we tend to recommend vendors and work with the people that look like us. We may only refer … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Celebrating Black Women in Business: a boho-inspired wedding photoshoot”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[22,20,23,21,24,25,11],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/lilyroseevents.com\/the-LRE-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/lilyroseevents.com\/the-LRE-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/lilyroseevents.com\/the-LRE-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lilyroseevents.com\/the-LRE-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lilyroseevents.com\/the-LRE-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/lilyroseevents.com\/the-LRE-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96,"href":"http:\/\/lilyroseevents.com\/the-LRE-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions\/96"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/lilyroseevents.com\/the-LRE-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lilyroseevents.com\/the-LRE-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lilyroseevents.com\/the-LRE-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}