When I told everyone I was going to intern at a wedding and nonprofit events planner this summer I got one of two reactions: “Wow! I am so jealous,” or “Good luck dealing with bridezillas!” But I would not have traded this summer for the world. Stepping out of my comfort zone allowed me some of the best opportunities for growth and learning about another industry’s trends.
From May to the end of July, I interned at Chappelow Events, a wedding and non-profit event planning company started by Beth Chappelow. I first learned about the internship from a family friend, who thought I might be a good fit for the position. The application process was a fun challenge that required creating a vision board for a stylized shoot, drafting sample emails for vendors and creating an event timeline. After submitting my application materials, I was offered a video interview and received the position a few weeks later. That spring I attended the internship orientation in Kansas City where I was able to meet Beth, her assistant and the other intern from the University of Missouri.
A few of my responsibilities this summer included attending vendor and client meetings, creating materials for both internal and external events, managing client profiles and timelines, providing assistance for event days and assisting in the development of social media strategy and content. While that may seem overwhelming, the work was fun because it was something new or different everyday.
Some of the most rewarding aspects of my internship were the long event days. We had a series of different events we worked during the summer ranging from weddings, styled shoots at the Grand Hall, a venue launch party at Camp Miola, the annual Bank of America Celebration at the Station, and a hospitality event for vendors and clients of Chappelow Events. These days kept our team on our toes and were great opportunities to build connections.
My favorite aspects of the position were being able to create and design tablescape for our internship project and learning about how the event industry utilizes social media. The internship project Beth created, allowed each intern to create an original tablescape from the ground up. We were then able to learn from different vendors to create our vision. One of the most interesting aspects I experienced was learning about how the event and wedding industry uses social media, especially Instagram. Their work is very visual, so Instagram is the perfect platform to share their content. As a team, we created social media strategy to plan out the Chappelow Instagram Events for an entire year.
This summer was truly one of my favorite experiences and if I had not been able to be flexible and willing to step outside my comfort zone, I would have never been able to meet the wonderful people or gain the experiences I did.
To apply for this internship, look for updates on the Chappelow Events website: chappelowevents.com. This would be a great internship for someone who wants to live in Kansas City for a summer and are interested in social media and stepping out of their comfort zone.