It has been a pretty mad year so far. CollaGin launched in March 2017 but I (Co-Founder Liz) was also on a big countdown to a particular day soon after our launch: my wedding day.
In between ordering labels, bottles, lids and gin, I was also ordering wedding flowers, bridesmaid dresses, wedding shoes, decorations and of course a wedding dress. My world was becoming very busy and my mind was full to capacity. The thought of doing anything more before the big day was very overwhelming and fuelled a growing sense of anxiety. But…
Our gin journey has been so crazy that of course I couldn’t prevent anything else happening in the countdown. In fact, ‘ginmin’ got even busier in the build up to the wedding because we were actually getting married on World Gin Day – 10 June 2017. This made the wedding even more special. A fate I had never predicted and one that made the day even more heartwarming.
CollaGin really is my life now. I think about it every day and check emails and social media just before bed and first thing in the morning. I celebrate every single order and beat myself up with every mistake or set back. I even sneak off during parties to repost, like, favourite and share pictures to keep our CollaGin squad up to date. So to get married on World Gin Day, combining my two worlds of gin and my soon to be husband, did seem very appropriate.
What was made even more special was that my Co Founder Cam attended and went above and beyond the asks of a business partner to man a VERY busy rose gold CollaGin bar to a crowd of friends and family who were desperate to try it. I took a moment in between doing my bridal socialising to step back and just look at what on earth was going on in the marquee to try to take it all in. To say I felt proud and emotional when I saw most of our 185 guests drinking CollaGin with a star anise or cinnamon stick bobbing up down in the tonic water’s sparkling bubbles was an understatement.
It made me realise that not only had I actually done it: got married and survived the pressure and anxiety of organising a wedding (alone… not even my mum was allowed to intervene!) but I had also done it whilst creating something I was so proud of and for once I am immensely happy and motivated by the job I do.
If someone told me a year ago that I will have just launched my own gin brand and got married on the busiest day of a gin brand’s calendar: World Gin Day, I would have laughed and not believed a word. But this proves to me that life can’t be planned, is never ordinary and everyone should take every opportunity that comes their way. If doubt, lack of confidence or disbelief stopped me getting involved with CollaGin, I would never have witnessed my two immensely special worlds collide and feel what I felt on 10 June 2017. Say yes to everything your instinct agrees with and doubt nothing… absolutely nothing… about yourself and what you can achieve.
