ACCEPT THAT
YOU ARE
EXCEPTIONAL
dear
WEDDING PROFESSIONALS,
Every weekend, you deliver a dream like it ain’t a thing. Because you freakin’ love weddings, and what you create will be remembered for the rest of their lives.
You arrive authentically season after season, challenging yourself on a day with the highest expectations. You thrive within an industry that for better, for worse, in sickness and in health, might not always love you back.
If all the above is true, and you’re craving time and space for
conversations with your industry peers that last longer than a dinner break (and have way more impact)
the opportunity to work on your business instead of feeling stuck in it
a mid-season kick in the ass to reignite your creativity and challenge yourself
TAKE YOUR PLACE AT THE REHEARSAL
THE REHEARSAL
a Heather Davis Creative x Day One event
WEDNESDAY
JULY 24, 2024
9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Hunter Saw Pittsburgh
5688 Butler St, Pittsburgh, PA 15201
We’re lining up 50 Pittsburgh wedding vendor veterans, talented up and comers, thought leaders, and creatives changing the game to meet up on purpose and see what happens. And we need you for that.
We believe that the couples who hire us are–fingers crossed!–one and done, but the potential collaboration within that ‘us’ is where the real value lives.
If we invest in our relationships, that return will grow our success far beyond one single wedding.
If these wedding pros aren’t on your radar, then your radar’s broke.
COLLABORATION > COMPETITION
The Rehearsal Collaborators:
Alexa Frankovitch Photography
All Occasions Party Rentals
Amy Lindsey
Angela Kilburg Creative
Black Radish
Thank you to our team of collaborators linking up to make your experience 11/10.
LET’S GO
off script
Produced by wedding creatives Heather Davis and Rachel Hampsey, The Rehearsal is structured to invite improv, create opportunities to interact with peers you’d never cross paths with on a wedding day, and outgrow any assumptions or beliefs you have of others and yourself.
There will be vendor-specific breakout sessions, one on one discussions, a bomb lunch catered by Black Radish, and a group town hall hosted by Pittsburgh wedding officiant Amy Lindsey. Her soothing NPR voice and biting humor will make us all feel less nervous, and more excited. WE LOVE YOU AMY!
We’ll also have the talented Katie Hyslop of Pgh Wedding Portraits on site taking headshots and group photos yearbook style! Raise your hand if you didn’t peak in high school!!!
Will The Rehearsal solve all of your problems? Nope! The point of this day is to start a conversation that carries over to all of our businesses.
HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL GET:
BREAKOUT BY BIZ AGE
Ever shoot the shit with Pittsburgh wedding vendors that started the same year as you, but offer a different service? It’s the best.
Prompts will include: Where do you want to be in your business 1 year from now? What boundaries keep you grounded? What moment of a wedding day is the best / worst time to ask you a question?
PEER PRESSURE
A ‘let’s go there’ working lunch with your category-specific peers that offer the same service to talk honestly about pricing, values, industry standards, advice, and referrals.
Play nice <3
SHUFFLE MODE SPEED DATING
Exactly what it sounds like! Shotgun one on one time to meet all the people you follow on Instagram, but have never had a conversation with.
…The bar will be open for this.
FULL ROSTER TOWN HALL
You can’t wrap these things up without a group chat.
Play nice 2.0 <3
ALL THE BEST REHEARSALS
END WITH COCKTAILS
Stick around for a cocktail and mocktail party courtesy of Steel Town Bar Services in Hunter Saw’s charming af courtyard!
DJ Jess will be mixing while we mingle.
“Talking about the zoomed in, fine details of running a wedding business and solving little problems to help with the bigger picture lit a fire under my butt I didn't know I needed."
November 2023 workshop alumni Emma Ervin, Gemma Bridal
WE KNOW OUR WORTH
just like you
IN THIS HOUSE, WE SAY PAY TO PLAY OUT LOUD
INDIVIDUAL TICKET $900
Includes one individual registration, collateral, lunch by Black Radish, one digital headshot, coffee + tea, one cocktail/mocktail drink ticket, and unlimited ‘a-ha’ moments.
A $300 deposit with your RSVP required to hold your spot. The final two payments of $300 will be invoiced to you via email on June 3 and July 1.
TEAM TICKET $1350
Bring your business partner, favorite second shooter, or assistant.
Includes two registrations, collateral, lunches by Black Radish, two digital headshots, coffee + tea, two cocktail/mocktail drink tickets and unlimited ‘a-ha’ moments.
A $450 deposit with your RSVP required to hold your spots. The final two payments of $450 will be invoiced to you via email on June 3 and July 1.
EXTRA TICKETS $500
Perfect for wedding companies with more than two people—the more the merrier!*
Includes full registration and collateral, lunch by Black Radish, one digital headshot, coffee + tea, one cocktail/mocktail drink ticket, and unlimited ‘a-ha’ moments.
A $250 deposit with your RSVP required to hold your spot. The final payment of $250 will be invoiced to you via email on July 1.
*Must purchase at least one individual ticket.
YOUR INVITATION WILL EXPIRE IN FOUR WEEKS
Cancellation Policy: Your RSVP deposit is nonrefundable.
If canceled on or before July 17, payments 2 and 3 are refunded. If canceled on or after July 17, 2024, no refunds will be given. If you need to cancel after July 17, you can transfer your ticket to another wedding pro.
“It empowered me to invest in my future."
August 2023 workshop alumni Alex Robba, Alex Robba Cakes
ABOUT
Hey! I’m Heather Davis. And I’m a bit of a wedding industry renegade.
Most Pittsburgh wedding people know me as the CEO of the often imitated, never duplicated wedding planning company, Day of Pittsburgh, and the host/winning personality behind Reception to Follow, a wedding industry podcast.
The only thing I love more than planning weddings and then podcasting about them? Strategizing, writing and consulting with the creative people who make the wedding day magic every single weekend. People like you.
The Rehearsal is the Pittsburgh-wedding-people-only track of my newest career genre: Heather Davis Creative. It's the vision I’ve been building toward since cueing my first bride down the aisle in 2017. Seven years later, I’m less about lighting taper candles, and more about lighting a fire under all of our asses.
If you’re ready to see your wedding business from above the trees, feel yourself outgrowing the game plan that got you here, and refuse to waste another season wondering what’s next…Shut the door.
Have a seat.
HEATHER
ABOUT
Hiya! I’m Rachel Hampsey. When I was like 9, my sister Sandy screamed at me “I am sick of you and your over-confidence!!” And I’ve been riding that high ever since. If you, too, are wondering who gave me permission? I did. <3
…I also stacked my resume with as vast an array of experience as I could juggle:
Working with the OG woman-owned event planner in Pittsburgh, Leave it to LaFever, I learned the mechanics of event planning in a corporate setting. In my nonprofit era, I made a lot happen with a little, and walked away with an impressive list of what not to do. As a farmers market manager, I discovered the insane value of setting up my collaborators to succeed.
Then I planned my own wedding, sent Heather a cold email asking to learn the ropes with Day of Pittsburgh–which she ignored–and here I am! You may also recognize me from my time with the talented Wanderlust girls, or as Alyssa Thomas’ willing and eager shadow, and (after becoming one of her first-ever HDC clients), eventually assisting Day of Pgh on site. #paytoplay
Ali and Sam showed me how to go above and beyond for my couples, and why being part of a team with a strong identity takes you far. My eye for thoughtful design and heart for compassionate entrepreneurship is rooted in my time with Alyssa, and Heather…had me fix the DJ a plate of dinner so he didn’t have to get up from his booth. I’ve paid my dues.
My company, Day One Wedding Co., is the culmination of my personal journey, and pulls inspiration from my professional experience learning from the best of the best. I call my planning style “holistic” for a reason!
I might have doe-like eyes that suggest I have no clue what’s going on, but they’re just the gateway to my brain that is always absorbing inspiration, always asking questions, and always thinking of the next ridiculous idea I can pitch to Heather. Like The Rehearsal!
RACHEL
10(ish) REASONS WHY YOU WON’T ATTEND THE REHEARSAL, NEGATED.
By: Heather Davis
BECAUSE THE NAME THE REHEARSAL IS STUPID.
OR! It’s my cute marketing concept for a new full day wedding industry workshop based on the belief that if we all collaborated on a larger scale, with no pressure from our couples, we’d not only do a better job on wedding days…We’d also have more fun, and make more money.
The event name is a nod to the purpose of having a wedding ceremony rehearsal: When the major players meet up, walk through their expectations and ideas, and acknowledge their role in the bigger picture, the real deal will be something great.
MY 2024 SEASON IS SLOW AND SAD, AND I’M USED TO THE TOTAL CHAOS OF A POST-COVID WEDDING BOOM WITH DEPOSITS SMACKING ME IN THE FACE.
VALID. It’s slow for us too right now.
…SOOO SPENDING ~$900 ON A ONE DAY RETREAT SEEMS KINDA RISKY.
To borrow the most repeated sentence on every wedding photographers’ website, this isn’t a price. This is an iNVeStmEnt: One in yourself, in your business, and in the city that we get to create wedding day magic in.
PROVE IT.
LOL we already did. After hosting three 4-hour mini workshops that over 50 of y’all joined in the past nine months, Rachel and I realized we needed to go bigger. We took the strongest moments of our past events and merged it into The Rehearsal. Then we set the guest list–and price!–accordingly.
Here’s the actual numbers for you:
We charged $150 for the first ever workshop.
Workshops II and III were $350 per person.
The Rehearsal is $900.
Your ticket includes coffee, collateral (including a dope branding headshot) and a bomb catered lunch. The rest of the value is in the programming.
Because we’re worth it, and so are you.
I ALREADY SPENT MY ADVERTISING/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT BUDGET FOR 2024.
Honestly? Delete something to make room for this. Things y’all invest in every single season that I believe isn’t as valuable as what The Rehearsal will give to you:
• Paid advertising listings in local and national media who don’t know your name
• Your time, ideas, and cost of materials for styled shoots that don’t have a ROI
• National, nonlocal conferences that make you feel small and underdressed
• Ticketed happy hours with shitty wine, zero depth, and no clear intentions
THIS LOOKS LIKE A GLORIFIED VENDOR HANGOUT AT BEST, AND PANDERING PANEL DISCUSSION AT WORST.
Listen…If you wanna hang with your vendor friends go ahead and do that for free. Start a group text and talk about it for a week and then never set a date.
The Rehearsal is a full day event that will make you stress about your outfit beforehand, and have you rethinking your goals for your next five years in business after. It will be a little intense at times. You’ll feel uncomfy and vulnerable. You’ll also feel amazing. Can drinks at Federal Galley do that?
This is not a panel discussion. If I wanted to talk at you…I’d hit record on my podcast.
I’m allergic to laminated nametags, and chairs on a stage with plants, and group stretches. The Rehearsal is my authentic attempt to start dialogue for all of us. And the value of our time together increases with every RSVP.
I’M ALREADY COMMITTED TO ATTENDING SOMETHING SIMILAR THIS YEAR, LIKE ENGAGED OR ONE IN EUROPE OR SOME SHIT THAT’S SPECIFIC TO MY CRAFT.
If you feel seen in Engaged’s programming, I love that for you. I never have. I also think craft-specific workshops are SO important to further your education and challenge yourself. There is a need for both types, but The Rehearsal is not like the other girls.
It will give you something neither of those events will: Time and space with your Pittsburgh wedding peers. It’s so local, we didn’t even invite anyone from Ohio, WV, or Deep Creek. If your services are based in the 412…It’s worth investing in.
I ALREADY HAVE ALL OF THIS FIGURED OUT AND DON’T WANT TO COLLABORATE WITH ANYONE.
LOL okay byeeeeeeeeeee!
I WAS *ACTUALLY* PLANNING TO CREATE THIS MYSELF SO THE FACT THAT YOU’RE DOING IT IS OFFENDING ME AND I DON’T WANNA COME.
GO AHEAD! Pittsburgh needs more than one wedding industry retreat. You should come to this one, take notes on how you’d do it better, and then…do it. I support you!
Also please invite us. We hate being excluded <3
HEATHER, YOU’RE EXHAUSTING, AND I’M OVER ALL OF YOUR SHIT.
I bet you know where Taylor Swift is right now against your will.
I’M TAKING A VACATION THAT WEEK.
GOOD FOR YOU! Enjoy your vacation and we’ll invite you to the next one!
I DIDN’T GET INVITED, BUT SOMEONE YOU DID INVITE SENT THIS LINK AND PASSWORD IN OUR GROUP CHAT SO NOW I’M CREEPING ON THIS EVENT AND FEEL TOTALLY LEFT OUT.
We only have 50 spots to fill, which feels like a lot, but it’s nowhere near enough.
Email me and we’ll put you on the waitlist! heather@heatherdaviscreative.com.
