For this weeks interview and giveaway we came across Joy Filled Weddings on Etsy. Joy filled Weddings specializes in soaps and I must say we absolutely love the variety of colors, scents, and personalized touches that they come in. They are truly beautiful as you will see for yourself! We had to reach out to Adriana and Alan, the co-founders of Joy Filled weddings to learn more about their company and products. They have also generously offered to give one lucky winner a $30.00 credit towards a purchase of soap favors! In order to be entered into the contest simply comment on the post below. The winner will be announced on July 22nd. To learn more about Joy Filled Weddings visit their Etsy shop. They would also like to mention that they are MelMar Soap Hut® and offer Wedding favors as Joy Filled Weddings. Thanks again Adriana and Alan and good luck to all! {BH}
PTW: How did you start Joy Filled Weddings?
A & A: Well the start was a change of heart in 2003 when I left my corporate job working as a Project Manager at Oracle Corp. in Redwood Shores CA.
Once in Madera CA I quickly started looking into different business opportunities and found myself loving weddings. I founded Joy Filled Weddings as a Wedding Officiant and started to solemnize marriages for a living. I loved every minute of it. In August of 2008 I meet my partner Alan Melendez and we quickly formed a soap company by the name of MelMar Soap Hut® purveyor of all-natural handmade artisan soap products. We found ourselves loving to do weddings on the weekends and handcrafting our olive oil based soap during the week. We quickly began to offer our soaps as wedding soap favors and the brides just loved them! Every wedding bride I joined in marriage also wanted the cute fragrant personalized wedding favors. Etsy was the next step so we opened up JoyFilledWedding offering handmade all-natural Wedding Favor utilizing Etsy as our Venue since this is truly a handmade favor from start to finish. So we like to think of Joy Filled Wedding as the Bride of MelMar Soap Hut.
PTW: What intrigues you about the wedding industry?
A & A: That no two weddings are the same, each one has unique elements and style. All the flourishes and embellishments added to each wedding is a truly magical work of art I never tire of them.
PTW: What are some recent wedding related trends you’ve seen?
A & A:Hot Pink and Black Damask are in 2011! That is the rage!
PTW: What type of products do you offer that would be considered specifically for weddings, meaning… Style, product type, etc.?
A & A: What makes my products specifically designed for weddings is the custom personalized labels that we add to the lovely finished handmade soap favors. A real keepsake favor that treats the guest to a lovely shower or bath while richly moisturizing their skin with healthy all-natural soap.
PTW: What is the most popular item in your shop? What can you not keep in stock because it’s just that popular?!
A & A: Hot Pink soap scented in Pomegranate Mint or Wild Raspberry as in-stock, it does not last on the shelf more than a week, it is that popular! Also, Black Damask labeled favors they are also a hot item in my shop.
PTW: What is your typical business? We would assume that you deal with a lot of brides?
A & A: The typical business is Wedding Favors and Bridal Shower favors which are all tied into weddings. Since we opened on Etsy as JoyFilledWeddings we are slowly growing, the wedding business is very competitive so we offer small custom orders that is personalized to each bride.
PTW: What is your turnaround time for different size orders?
A & A: (Our policy is 7 days made to order).
If an order of 100 favors is requested we have the ability to make it in the 7 day time-frame we promise.
PTW: Do you have the ability to ship nationwide?
A & A: Yes we do! We are slowly on international shipping, it’s more expensive and overseas shipping cost are not cost effective for a lot of brides.
