Inaugural Makers Market Sun Prairie

This past weekend we hosted our first Makers Market Sun Prairie event. Long story short it was AMAZING!!

There are so many talented local artisans out there making incredible products. We wanted to bring them to one location so you could feel like you were shopping Etsy in real life. It was unbelievable when we saw you starting to line up an hour before the event began. For those of you who couldn't attend, here is what you missed out on!

We had a total of 38 incredible vendor booths! Everything from flowers, clothing, jewelry, soap, candles, quilts, hand crafted wood items, and amazing vintage finds was on display!! Thank you, Thank you, thank you to our amazing vendors for being so great at what you do!! The shoppers loved the variety and quality of products. If it wasn't for your talent there would not have been a show to put on.

We are so unbelievable grateful for those who attended our first Makers Market. The number of people who walked through the gate blew us away! You came out big and it means everything.

Many happy dances were done by us and our incredible vendors! Not to mention all the positive feedback we received the day of and the days following . Kendall and I were both in tears of happiness after the gates closed at 4.

A frequently asked question we received leading up to the market was "Why the $5 admission?". Long story not short, this event was not free for us to set up and being a small business we needed to cover our costs. It amazed us how quickly those little things added up! Everything from the permits, insurance, marketing, and entertainment. Then there is the moment you realize you may have 500+ people and the question "where are all these people going to go to the bathroom!" pops into your head. The list of miscellaneous expenses and costs goes on and on. All that before we included any of our time invested in recruiting vendors, setting up, and promoting.

We are a small business (just the two of us) and we LOVE what we do, but quite honestly some months we get paid and some months we don't. We worked especially hard to bring this new shopping event to Sun Prairie and we hoped you loved it. The $5 entry not only covered the costs of the event, but the additional revenue allowed us a little more flexibility for our small business so that we could:

- Treat all our Makers Market volunteers to lunch

- Pay off the remaining balance of our small business loan (WOOT WOOT!)

- Pay ourselves so not only can we help out with our monthly household expenses, but Andrea's daughter can take ballet classes and Kendall's pup can keep destroying dog toys at the speed of light.

It is impossible to put into words what your support means to us! In order for us to continue bringing you the best vendors, musicians, and special add-ons Makers Market Sun Prairie will continue to be a paid entry event.

Thank you for coming out in a big way for our first event. It makes those sleepless nights, months of planning, and hectic life/work schedule all worth it and gives us that extra pep in our step to keep doing what we love....making!

For those of you who asked or were wondering.... YES, we will be putting on another Makers Market in 2018! Be sure to stay tuned for the date (maybe dates :) ) announcement!