As our 2016-2017 KWP internship 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!
Lexie’s final photo shoot was taken by Lacey, from the KWP sister company, Eleanor & Pete!
Lexie
I’ve been a part of 5 or 6 internships throughout my college career and almost always found myself doing tasks that didn’t exactly help me learn anything. This internship is a completely different story. Working with KWP, I have had a hands on experience that allowed me to get an understanding of the business side, as well as the fun side (plus there were puppies!). When I started here, I didn’t really know what to expect. I had never even considered being a part of the wedding industry! I’m so glad I applied on a whim for this program because it opened me up to a whole new world that I didn’t know would be something I would love!
This whole program has been nothing but fun. Working with the team here has been a blast and they are so willing to help me learn everything! I’m convinced Lacey is a superhero and can do just about everything, Gabe is the sweetest sweetheart in the world and I adore him, and Kirsten is the fiercest girl boss I have ever met. She inspires me to work hard and follow my passions in life (she also makes me want to adopt more cats but that probably isn’t a good idea… yet).
The Best Of…
I have so many memories from this program, but here are some highlights:
- playing exploding kittens when things got stressful
- playing with puppies and cuddling Mama dog
- assisting at a beautiful wedding at the Alfond Inn
- eating cake at the beautiful wedding at the Alfond Inn
- creating our lay flats at the KWP holiday party
- trying on wedding dresses with Rachael at Calvet Couture when we were searching for a dress for our styled shoot
- accidentally shooting a confetti popper onto the girls of Blush by Brandee Gaar during their branding shoot (sorry!)
- playing with any and all babies that came into the office
- awkwardly posing in front of a camera and trying not to look stupid
- inhaling cupcakes with Rachael, Lacey, and our shoot planner Kaylin after finishing our styled shoot
- being a part of a team of strong working women
Basically, If you’re considering applying for this internship, DO IT. You’ll get so much more out of it than you expect and you will learn everything there is to know about this industry.
Photography is something I’m studying right now, and something I’m passionate about which is why I sought out KWP in the first place! This internship has only made me love photography more and given me the tools I need to continue to build on my own skills. Being able to watch and learn from masters in this business is something I am so grateful for. Hopefully, I can take what I’ve learned and one day start my own business, based on the foundations I have learned here. (Running a business is hard, but they make it look like a breeze!)
Final Project
From the start, we knew a Styled Shoot was in our future. The process of planning and bringing it to life was such a learning experience and was honestly super nerve-wracking . I’m not the greatest at talking to strangers on the phone or even sending professional emails, but I got over that pretty quickly here. Rachael and I pretty much jumped right in and made things happen, whether we were ready to or not. Of course all of the vendors were so lovely, we really didn’t have a reason to be worried.
Through the creative process and the planning, I grew a lot more confident and was ready to take charge on the day of the shoot. Rachael and I are really proud of the final product and still can’t believe we made it happen so smoothly! I think planning events like this is something I’ll continue in the future, probably not on such a big scale, but the process of seeing everything come together was so rewarding!
A quick note from Kristen: I was SO impressed with Lexie and Rachael and how they pulled everything together for their final project! We also sweat over this, and it’s SO hard to keep our hands out of the cookie jar sometimes! But it forces the team to rely on each other and come up with creative solutions to problems they encounter. The day of the shoot, everything ran flawlessly and little hiccups were resolved quickly and fearlessly!
Life After The KWP Internship
Now that my final internship of my college career is over, it’s time for me to graduate! After graduation, I’m planning on traveling to Europe over the summer and spending my days exploring new cultures. If/when I come back, I’m going to head to the West Coast and look for inspiration and jobs out there. Mostly, I just want to travel as far as I can!
Career wise, I’m still not sure what I want to do. I have so much experience in so many different fields that I could go in any direction I choose. But, I’ve been thinking about a photography business (go figure) and working here has really encouraged that idea. Obviously I have a lot to live up to, but starting small might be a good idea for me. I’m going to miss this team and being a part of something so exciting!
Onward and upward little Lexie! We’re going to miss you so much here! – Kristen & Lacey
