As our 2016-2017 KWP intern program comes to a close, I wanted to share Lexie and Rachael’s final thoughts! Lacey and I fell in love with these 2 young ladies from the minute we met them at their initial interviews. This week, we’ll be sharing their final blog posts and their final project with you! We’re so sad to see them go – we loved having their bright spirits in the office every week to keep us company! We appreciate them spending their senior year at UCF with us, and can’t wait to see what big things they’ll do in the future!

Rachael’s final photo shoot was taken by Lacey, from the KWP sister company, Eleanor & Pete!

Rachael

I remember the first day I came here. It was my interview for this internship and I was so nervous. After talking to Kristen for even the first minute, everything flowed as a conversation and my interview jitters faded out… next thing I knew, I got it!

The past six months have flown by and these are my highlights…

Being a photography assistant for the 1st time

It was really inspiring to watch Kristen in her element. It was also surreal to see a blank venue be turned into this beautiful, fairytale, dream wedding all before your eyes. Perks included: I got to hold a huge cactus branch to stabilize a cool ring shot (above), be a by-stander as I watched how the intimate shots with the bride and groom were shot, and even snuck in a few drinks at their delicious cider table. Who knew working weddings could be so fun?

Holidays with the KWP fam

Having our holiday party! KWP’s previous intern/marketing manager and my-in at landing this internship, Erin Kelly, posted this really cool flat lay she designed on Instagram last year. So when it came time to make our own, I had high expectations of how great mine would turn out. Of course mine didn’t turn out as cool as hers, or win the Instagram contest, but there were a lot of other pluses. Shoving Papa John’s pizza in our face, endless desserts, and playing dress up with the photo booth all in our holiday onesies was definitely a fun night at the studio.

Our Modern Ethereal Inspiration Shoot

But I am most proud of our final internship project. This is what we’ve slowly been putting pieces and pieces together since our first couple months of being here. Even though I felt like in the beginning I was confused and stuck with choosing an original styled shoot concept, it definitely turned out even better than I could imagine. Collaborating with Lexie was a good move.

We were both excited when it came to the shopping part. Styling shopping was really fun, but a little nerve-wracking for such a bad driver as myself to have over $600 worth of Anthropologie glassware, lanterns, trinkets, etc. in my car. Any wrong turn or little accident, and this would all be on my tab. Thankfully, we got all the pieces back to Anthro, so I’m safe. Finding the groom’s suit was also a little bit of a challenge at first. Lexie and I had in mind this really cool and chic velvet tux, but we waited too long for it to be shipped, so of course we had to wing finding a similar outfit. Slowly losing hope by having no luck at H&M and Express, our prayers were answered on a random sales rack at Macy’s – hallejulah. There was a men’s black velvet tux that was half off. Sold.

Turning our Pinterest board into the real thing

The day of our shoot finally came and our optimistic vision came alive. Every uncertainty worked out, the plush white pillows were a perfect bohemian accent for the chairs, and it wouldn’t have looked as good without the two staggered Edison bulbs we hung over the reception table (that Lexie impromptu grabbed at IKEA, thank you). We are both so proud we successfully made our industrial boho idea come together! But let me tell you, coming up with the name for this shoot was a whole other story…

Like every fun summer camp summer, our time has come to an end. These past 6 months have been so insightful, fun, and rewarding. I will miss the small, intimate work environment here, going back for seconds and thirds for chocolates in the pantry, randomly having a kid-size pool filled with new born puppies (although, I won’t miss that dog smell), or when we need a short break and play exploding kittens.

When your internship ends and now you have to get yourself a big girl job

What’s next for me? Good question. I’d like to know myself! Just kidding. Not really.

I’m on the job hunt for that perfect job that just doesn’t feel like work kind of thing. For now, I’ll probably have to settle for something that’ll pay the bills, but in the future I hope to own a social media consulting company or open my own little boutique in Nashville. Let’s see where the wind takes me…

Our favorite ‘Country Eggroll’ – we know you will find your dream career whether it’s Nashville or New Zealand! – Kristen & Lacey