I am a fan of the entrepreneurial spirit. I love the DIYers out there, making their way in the world. In fact, I used to be one of them. But then I got … older.
As you now know, I recently enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Botswana. It was the best experience of my life besides the day I got married and the four times I was handed healthy, happy babies in the hospital. (Actually, Africa was better – but I had to write that other stuff because my children are learning to read and my husband usually buys me jewelry for anniversaries and God knows I don’t want to shut that door.)
Africa was phenomenal for a myriad of reasons, but the biggest? I. Did. Not. Have. To do. ANYTHING. I did not plan this trip. Instead, Uncharted Outposts did all of the work. My little sister was intimately involved, but she also got to get her ears pierced at five years old and I had to wait until I was 10 – so she owed me.
Using an expert, whether it is for a root canal, an African safari, or party planning, is usually worth the money. We receive several calls every year from lovely individuals who were once Ambitious Catering DIYers and are now hoping to become Happy Epicurean Clients. Why? Because we’ve done the catering and event-planning thing for 35 years; and party platters from Costco leave a lot to be desired.
I could have NEVER pulled this off.
Hiring professionals often causes people to panic, fearing that the costs will be enormous. Not so. Using an expert actually saves money. Companies, such as Epicurean Group or Uncharted Outposts or whomever, know what they are doing. They have relationships with vendors, allowing for bulk discounts that are usually passed on to the client. They have trained professionals that can coordinate staff, work within a budget, act as a single point of contact, and save you from the headache and heartache and exhaustion that comes from trying to do everything yourself.
I was considering knocking down a bunch of walls in my kitchen because I never felt like I got to spend time with my guests during parties. Then I started using Epicurean for my catering (I have an ‘in’ you might say) and realized I didn’t need to renovate, I needed to delegate. I’m done standing in my kitchen while everyone else is celebrating on my patio. I’m done trying to do it all myself. And talk about saving money! Using the pros saved me thousands in renovations – and probably millions in marriage counseling. The Blackfords don’t do renovations well, let’s leave it at that.
I guarantee I could have never pulled off an 18-day trip to Africa – one that included a private helicopter tour, a morning spent feeding an orphaned baby elephant, and a hike up the cliffs at the Cape of Good Hope – and I wouldn’t have wanted to. It would have taken a bit of the shine off the whole adventure; instead I simply got to be.
Epicurean is all about allowing our clients to be a guest at their own party. After all, we are in the business of celebrations (a good business to be in – everyone is happy, happy, happy!) and being the host of a party, big or small, should be enjoyable – and shouldn’t include a meat and cheese platter from a big box store. Come on, you deserve more than that…right?
You deserve this. You do.
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