Parties, Parties, Parties

Today we hosted 3 bridal parties (4 to 10 people per party!), one girls night party (8 women), as well as several pairs of girlfriends.

I love bridal parties. At our last one tonight, each of the friends of the bride made a toast, sharing stories and words of wisdom. Despite having only met the bride the hour before, I was entirely teary eyed, listening from the computer where I was trying to keep track of who was doing what to whom.

We also welcomed back two of our growing cadre of regular guests. I love getting to know these guests, their various moods, idiosyncrasies, thoughts and ideas. One very nice woman has already come back several times in the three weeks we've been open - and has even sent in her daughter and daughter-in-law!

I feel really lucky to have this time helping to build our parlor into a home for communities of women.

"Spa voices"

I’m really excited about Julep providing a place in the world for women to get together and hang out with their friends to celebrate each other.

Men have all the places in the world to hang out together – baseball games, football games, basketball games, bars, golf, etc. etc. The beauty parlor used to be a social gathering place for women (remember Steel Magnolias?), but it really isn’t for most of us anymore. When’s the last time your girlfriend said, “Come and get your hair done with me?” Hair is much more about the relationship with an individual stylist than a group gathering.

The times I’ve participated in business or bridal get togethers at spas have been a disaster. After you check in, you don’t really get to hang out with the people you came in with, since you’re all whisked away to your separate treatment rooms. You can try to catch up between treatments in the waiting area, but it’s tricky.

First of all, if I’m trying to take a work colleague out for a special bonding event, being in a robe is a little TOO bonding for me.

Even if you’re with good friends, the zen-like spa is just not the place to celebrate a birthday or upcoming wedding. I was at a bridal shower with six girlfriends at a spa in Chicago a couple of months ago, and no fewer than 3 times did the spa manager come over to shush us and ask us to use our “spa voices.” I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a “spa voice.” I thought we were using our “indoor voices” but apparently that wasn’t enough. But get six women together to celebrate the wedding of the coolest, kindest, most awesome friend you’ve got, and it’s unlikely that “spa voices” are going to happen.

I want Julep to be a place that I’m excited to share with my mom, my sisters, my best friends, and my work colleagues. A place where we can gab, gossip, celebrate, commiserate, and update each other without fear of being shushed. Won’t that be beautiful?