A month of preparations and the day of the launch party has dawned!! It was so lovely having Leanne and Claire with me this morning as it meant they could help me with taking my photos down to the bar and general support and encouragement. I had been waiting for a few more prints to arrive through the post so was a little worried this morning when they still hadn't arrived!! Fortunately I use local Sheffield based businesses so I was able to phone them and stop them from posting my prints so that I could go and pick them up later this afternoon. Nothing like last minute!
Claire, Leanne and I took the photos down to the Lounge Bar and put them up on the wall and left the smaller prints for Daniel, the owner, to put up during the day. We then went out for lunch and got home just in time for Craig, Ruth and Jenny who arrived ready for the evening. Whilst they settled themselves in front of the Wii Leanne and I went to pick up the last few prints. We then had a mad panic trying to cook pizzas to eat, shower, change and get out of the house and down to the bar for 7pm. We didn't quite make it but weren't too far off which was impressive considering there were 6 of us!
Once we got down to the bar we literally had about 10 mins to get the last print up on the wall and get the wine glasses out before the first few people started to arrive. It was an AMAZING evening and went by so fast. The bar was full all evening and it was such a wonderful feeling to look round the bar and think that I knew everyone there and they were all there to support my photography and my friend Kim's vegetarian and vegan catering business. I had friends/contacts from Luton (Icknield), Aston (my school in Sheffield), BNI (my business networking group which I'd joined), the local walking group I joined in January and contacts/friends who I've got to know through flickr, some of who I'd not met in person but who had come down to support me. I also had friends there who I've known since my last time in Sheffield. I was sorry none of my family were able to make it, especially my cousin Ben who's been so supportive of me and who built my website but I'd had lots of phone calls of support so knew they were thinking of me. The biggest surprise of the evening was when my friend Marion walked through the bar ... she'd driven up from London specially! It was so wonderful to have her there and meant so much to me. Marion drove up after work and only stayed for about an hour before driving back to London. Having so many people there, seeing my photos on the wall and hearing people's comments was overwhelming. I felt so supported and can only say a big THANK YOU to all my wonderful friends for your love and support.
I managed to take a number of photos of the evening which you can see on my flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/katysnaps/sets/72157603905477665/
It was quite difficult trying to choose one photo for my Project 365+1 so I chose one of Kim's delicious food. Kim has been one of my biggest supporters and encouragers in Sheffield. It was so wonderful to be able to do the Launch Party together and to hear so many people say how wonderful her food is. Love you Kim! x
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