The Big Day - Gorgeously Green Gathering

Gorgeously Green Gathering Event September 2015
Left to Right: Caroline (Weleda), Olga (The Rose Tree), Rachael (Myroo), Rachel (All Natural Aspirations), Sarah (Sugarpuffish), Jen (Jen's Green Skincare), Elijah (Bodhi & Birch), Kim (Botanical Brands)

To be honest, I am not sure where to begin when it comes to writing about the Gorgeously Green Gathering event which I co-hosted with Jen and Rach. It was an amazing day and the brands we worked with are personal favourites. We are thankful to Elijah (Bodhi & Birch), Rachael (Myroo), Olga (The Rose Tree), Kim (Botanical Brands) and Caroline (Weleda) for giving up their Sunday to come and hang out with us. They were extremely generous and donated to goody bags and our raffle, which by the way we raised over £160 for our charity, Facing the World.

I thought I might take a different approach and write about my experience organising a blogger event. I'm going to be completely honest there were tantrums and tears. Working with two other bloggers who I admire and have become great friends with had its ups and downs. We are all strong minded and each had different ideas for the day but I think we made an awesome team and learned to compromise where needed. On a personal note, this was something I had never envisaged I would do when I began blogging. Organising this event is so different to what I do on a daily basis. We began our planning with many fears, What's the best location? What venue should we chose? Would brands give up a weekend to see us? Could we attract enough bloggers to fill our room? Would people be willing to pay for a ticket? Yesterday our fears were long forgotten when we saw everyone's happy faces and they kept smiling until the end of the day.

From my viewpoint, I dislike events where I have to approach a stand, then muscle for attention to get five minutes chat with a brand owner. I wanted to have the time to get to know more about the people who create the amazing products I love so much. Of course everyone wants to get hands on with skincare so that was the idea behind the makeup demonstration and the final networking session of the day. Natural and organic skincare is often an online purchase so to get stuck in with samples is a pure delight.


Gorgeously Green Gathering Bodhi & Birch Living Nature Lippy Girl Botanical Brands Weleda Myroo The Rose Tree Consider It Primal Pantry


During planning stages, a lot of bloggers were requesting a makeup brand to attend the day. I personally think this had us working the hardest. Natural and organic makeup is far behind its skincare cousins and majority of brands seem to come from the US. We set out to find a UK brand who was willing to participate and it was a struggle. Thankfully, Botanical Brands were able to help and that was a huge relief. We were so keen to make everyone happy and I think we achieved it judging from the feedback. I'd also like to thank Ailish (The Glow Getter) for stepping in as MUA for the afternoon and Amber (Amber's Beauty Talk) for volunteering as her model.

I asked our brands if they would like to provide a little quote about their day....

"My take on the day is that it was both fabulous and inspirational. Having the chance to share my passion for skincare with other like minded people was a pleasure, and in addition to that I got the opportunity to talk direct to customers and also learn from the other brands." - Olga, The Rose Tree

"it was such a lovely event and great that members of the green beauty community could come together. I really enjoyed meeting all the wonderful bloggers in person and putting a face to the blog" - Kim, Botanical Brands 

"I can never get over how social media brings the world together: how people I've never met before meet like long lost friends. And it has been both enlightening and inspirational meeting fellow brand owners too! Gorgeously Green Gathering has been a great success. It all boils down to great teamwork and organisation from Sarah, Rachel and Jen. Well done!" - Elijah, Bodhi & Birch

Aside from gaining a better understanding for the brands, I took away from the day (and this is where I get sentimental) that I have formed amazing friendships through blogging. I really feel that my fellow green bloggers are true real life friends. These are ladies who look out for one another and care about each other beyond our love for natural skincare.

I would also like to thank Consider It and The Primal Pantry for contributing to our bags. I am pleased I managed to get them onboard because they are personal favourites which I wanted to share with everyone. Also a huge thank you to Rach and Jen's friends and family for their enthusiasm to buy tickets and attend our event. It was a pleasure to have you there. We appreciated all your lovely feedback. I hope you enjoy your goody bag treats and find new favourite products. 

For all of you that asked for a GGG2. At this moment we're not sure, although it was fun it took up a fair amount of our spare time and personally with my wedding next year that currently feels overwhelming but we shall see, I'm not saying No just yet :D

Sarah x

Disclaimer - Gorgeously Green Gathering was sponsored by Botanical Brands (distributors of Living Nature & Lippy Girl) and The Rose Tree. Group photo credit to Rachel All Natural Aspirations.

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