Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Coto.
ARENLACE BRIDAL BOUTIQUE – Michelle & her husband were married on October 3, 2010. They decided that they wanted to have a really nice wedding with little out of pocket expense. Michelle started making all of her wedding decorations by hand. She fell in love with the whole process and knew that planning, crafting and decorating came naturally and wanted to share her talents with others so in March 2012, Arenlace (Iron lace) Bridal Boutique was born.
Michelle’s love for Paris, the Eiffel Tower, and the Fleur-de-lis provided inspiration for the brand. Michelle’s husband Mauricio proposed to her with a custom designed engagement ring with a Fleur de lis cut into the band. Michelle has always loved all things Paris such as Eiffel Tower and the fleur de lis and decided to combine the two into the brand logo. Iron Lace (Arenlace) is the Iron lace that is seen on the arches of the Eiffel Tower. The name seemed so fitting for the bridal brand.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As a women small business owner, it’s a challenge to set up your business model. It can be small things such as paying taxes on time to setting up and managing inventory correctly. There is not a small business model available that you can plug in and use. Developing a business using trial and error has been tough.
We also had a few challenges with people taking and using our designs. We had to file copyright infringement and walk through the process to get our designs back so that they could not take credit or sell our work. There is always new challenges and things to learn which keeps running a business exciting.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Arenlace Bridal Boutique & Events – what should we know?
Arenlace Bridal Boutique offers a variety of custom-designed apparel and gifts that make great gifts for any occasion. Arenlace’s Bridal line consists of customizable shirts, tanks, hoodies & robes for the bride to be and her entire bridal party.
Arenlace also offers wedding party gifts and accessories such as bags, coffee cups, men’s toiletry bags, picnic bags & cooking aprons. We also celebrate babes with our wifey & birthday apparel line! Every item is custom designed and developed in our shop – making it a special handmade wedding gift! Michelle and her staff have shipped custom handmade bridal & wedding party apparel orders to approximately 5,500 brides from their shop in Oceanside, California.
While they love what they do Michelle knew she wanted to impact and reach brides directly. Making and designing the bridal apparel was not enough, she was still dreaming of being involved in the real wedding process and wanted to be hands on. Near the end of 2017, Michelle went back to school and received her certification in Wedding Planning. Mid 2018 Arenlace Events was established and immediately started booking weddings.
Her vision for the brand is to provide modern event planning services with a twist by combining hand-selected pieces from the bridal apparel line and pairing them up with her event packages offering a one of a kind bridal experience from engagement to wedding day. Contact Michelle and her team at Arenlace if you are recently engaged and planning your wedding. Arenlace Bridal Boutique & Events puts the Happy in Happily ever after!
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Michelle is l such a people person. She loves being around people, learning about them and being part of their story. If she can touch someone’s life by being kind or offering help, then that is what her job in this world is. I want to be a light in my customer’s life.
Pricing:
- Wedding Day of Coordination starts at $1,200.00 + (1) event this includes coordination & bridal apparel for of one of the following bridal brunch, bridal shower or flower crown party.
- Partial Wedding Planning Starting at $2,500 + (1) event this includes coordination & bridal apparel for of one of the following bridal brunch, bridal shower or bridal flower crown party.
- Full-Service Planning Starting at $5,000 + (2) event this includes coordination & bridal apparel for of one of the following engagement party, bridal brunch, bridal shower or bridal flower crown party.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.arenlace.com
- Phone: 858-210-0248
- Email: events@arenlace.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/arenlace
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/arenlace
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/arenlace
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/arenlace-events-oceanside
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ArenLace
Image Credit:
Mauricio Coto
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