My First Jewelry Home Show...

I recently hosted my first jewelry home show. Still new to the idea of inviting customers into my home, I sent out a small number of invitations to my regular customers and neighbors who have purchased from me in the past. 

I scheduled it for Saturday December 1st from 1-4 pm. I thought that having a home show the first weekend of December was perfect timing; close enough to Christmas so that people are ready to start buying gifts, but not so close that they have other holiday events lined up.

This is the invitation I sent...

Maybe a little fancier than necessary, but as some of you know I am a packaging geek! I am a strong advocate for beautiful packaging, right down to cards and invitations! Plus, it sets a tone for both the event and my jewelry.
I included a 10% off discount and also wrote "feel free to bring a friend".
Most people did, which was great as I now have some wonderful new customers!

This is the first view attendees had upon entering.

 We live in a unique five floor townhouse, where each room is on a different level, so I decided that the living room would be the most inviting room to display my jewelry. We rearranged our furniture a bit and ended up with a really nice "retail" space. My husband even found a "fireplace" on Netflix to play on our TV! It helped add some nice atmosphere to the room. The guests loved it!

My tables always have touches of nature-it is my signature style!

 It is always a good idea to serve refreshments at a home show. 

It is the little touches that make an event memorable and fun!

My amazing husband prepared all of the food. He spent the night before cooking and baking! 

He also purchased some gourmet cheese and crackers from Whole Foods.

Here, he is putting the macaroons that he baked onto a platter. Mmmm.

Glassware and coffee cups for organic brewed iced tea and fresh roasted, ground and brewed coffee (Brenton's specialty). We used glassware as opposed to plastic cups because we felt it added more sophistication to the event. Again, it is the little touches that make all the difference.

He also made two types of dips for the bruschetta;  roasted red pepper and artichoke with olive. Tasty!

His chocolate dipped macaroons-these went fast! 

While I expected a home show to be a bit more relaxed, giving me time to talk with my customers, that really wasn't the case! Within half an hour, I was ringing up sales non-stop. I did my best to talk with customers as I was writing up their sales slips and packaging their purchases. I do know that everyone was having fun! My husband commented "those ladies were having a ball trying on your jewelry and complementing one another". I love that there was a "girls day out" vibe going on! It really was a fun afternoon and I feel honored to have been in such wonderful company!

It was a very successful first home show. I got to interact with my customers in a comfortable environment, had a lot of fun and had a great day sales-wise. I have already made plans to make it an annual event!