Wow! What an amazing first day at TSOS Nashville!  The TSOS team spent the morning and afternoon prepping for a fun group of ladies. We ironed beautiful linens sent over from Nuage Designs, went grocery shopping, arranged amazing lounge furniture from 12th Table, put together welcome boxes that were filled with goodies from wonderful sponsors, and decorated the space with lots of organic flower arrangements by Vintage Florals.  

Finally, after lots of hard work and MONTHS of preparation, it was time to meet all of these talented women! Everything, from each sponsor reach, to an intentionally designed space, led up to this very moment when we would meet these talented women from all over the country. As they arrived, they were greeted by a beautifully created sign made by  Sola Creations, that read: THE SCHOOL OF STYLING NASHVILLE, in the shape of Tennessee.  Once they entered The Cordelle, they were welcomed by a cookie in the shape of the TSOS crest created by Southern Sugar Bakery and delicious flavored popcorn from Kernels Nashville. At each seat was a personalized name plate, made by Moon and Lola, and a welcome box filled with goodies! The box included: homemade granola by Harvest Small Batch Granola, a cute notebook by Sugar Paper, a watercolor calendar by Simply Jessica Marie, a custom print by Sidney Hunter Design, a spool of hand-dyed silk ribbon by Adorn, an apron by Oatmeal Lace, and a custom wooden cutout of TN with their names in calligraphy by Sola Creation, and a custom TSOS tumbler!

After everyone arrived, we mingled, met new friends, and everyone got a brief chance to introduce themselves to the crowd. Then began Kaitlin’s opening talk, The Fundamentals of Design. After she shared her knowledge, all the ladies got to put this new-found information to practice. Jessica Clinch of Simply Jessica Marie created a variety beautiful mock invitation suites for the attendees to style, and they incorporated various other props from the classroom and welcome boxes in their design. They did such a great job! I can’t believe it was some of their first times ever styling props!

 

After the attendees spent time trying their hand at prop styling, they moved onto critique groups, led by speakers and staff, where they sat down with one another and talked through their designs. These small critique groups allowed each woman to learn from one another and progress towards confidence when it comes to styling props! The last part of the evening, we chowed down on delicious food and drinks at the cocktail party. Our fun drink of choice was a white peach sangria, white and red wine by Speak Wines, served with heavy hors d’oeuvres by Flavor Caters. The food and drinks were so delicious, and these new friendships made the time even sweeter! We got to know each other a little more intimately, as we sat down for the last event of the evening- speed dating. We LOVE this fun ice breaker, as it allows all these strangers to become friends. We ask silly questions in hopes that each woman can let their guard down a little more, chat with women who are in all stages of life, and truly feel connected by the time they leave for the night. It is our hope that this first evening– filled with a fun hands-on session, scrumptious food and drinks, and lots of new conversations, ultimately allows for each woman to fully invest themselves into the rest of the week and dive head first into new knowledge, new skills, and new friendships. 

Photography by: Love, The Nelsons + Ally and Bobby 

Attendee styling by: Laura Kilts, Ali Daugherty, Caroline Lacaille-Gaudy, Chelsey Laughinghouse