The story of how we became an "official" business

We are working on our 7th year here at C and D. Wahoo! It was seven years ago we sat at the Bear Rock Cafe in Cary and drew our plans on a paper napkin.

Even then we had a cohesive business plan..hah!

I knew I was getting engaged soon and I was astonished at how much everything cost. We sat and drew our "perfect" wedding venue. Well, the venue part took a back seat, but we decided that what we wanted to do was plan weddings. We knew that it would only aid us when we do get the money/opportunity to get the wedding venue going.

We did a job for a friend for free. It was our first gig! We were excited. It went off perfectly (thanks to the husbands..mine got stuck by a hornet, had an allergic reaction, and ended up with a hand the size of his head..that is true love people!). It only confirmed that we wanted to do this...you know, to take the leap. Well..we took a baby step. We put some ads on craigslist, did some free listings with wedding sites and waited. We never put a dime into it. We got our first paying job shortly after. See this post on the ridiculousness that we charged! For two years we steadily got jobs - not enough to quit our own, but enough to keep it going. We then got our first big job - a full plan, with a good budget. Yay! She mailed our check and contract to us and we excitedly open it up and see the check is made out to C and D Events.

Uhmm..could you please make that out to Dana..not our business, thanks?!?

Hmm...you see, we have always had people write us a personal check - they always asked and that is what we told them. We couldn't very well ask this bride to write a new check because we aren't "technically" a business yet. What to do? Well we scrambled together, got an EIN (tax ID) number, and then opened a business bank account. We became official! We were really a business. It only took a few years and a check to get our butts in gear!