Believe New Year’s Eve 2019 Recap

December 31st was a magical night. Believe New Year’s Eve 2019, as our first inaugural event was absolutely beautiful, amazing and all the great adjectives!

The event planning started in September when I got back from our honeymoon and my friend Jenna Switzer approached me to ask if I’d like to co-host a NYE Yoga event with her. I didn’t even hesitate and just said yes! Over the course of the next few months the event would take shape and come together to execute so much in flow that it shocked us. I’ll explain more.

Jenna explained that she wanted a warehouse space but because we were planning so late in the year it was hard to find. I simply googled warehouse space Ottawa and found this amazing listing on thisopenspace.com which was near Hunt Club and Merivale with ample parking and no downtown New Year’s Eve traffic. It was the second floor of a commercial building that hasn’t been rented out by a corporation/company yet (we’re hoping it stays empty for next year too!) It was free for NYE so we booked it literally a day after finding it.

Despite having no wall outlets and only 2 outlets in the beams in the middle of the room that was our only complaint about the space. I think we did a really good job of setting up the day before with all the ceiling lights, extension chords for the DJ and more. Mike had purchased solar-powered twinkle lights from the dollar store for our rehearsal dinner earlier in the year so those we easy to string along the windows and we didn’t need power for those!

To each and every ticket holder we couldn’t have been more grateful or amazed at the energy and community you created in the room that night.

The night started with people arriving to a food spread by Pure Kitchen, being greeted by some of our amazing volunteers, Jenna or myself and being able to peruse the 3 vendor tables (dōTERRA Wellness Advocate – Shannon Cadieux, Magik Mala, and Designs by Mumtaz). We also created a little cozy area from our own blankets, rugs and meditation pillows. Basically Jenna and I have a problem that we can furnish an entire section of an event with things from our house.

Mumtaz got busy by the light of the flashlight on her phone and created beautiful henna tattoos for anyone that wanted one.

At 9pm, we handed out all the amazing Byoga Mats and got started with an intention setting led by Maddy MacKenzie which flowed into mala bracelet making with Magik Mala, I then led a mediation that I wrote inspired by the podcast Live Awake and the hypnosis I do on the Grace Space app, then we seamlessly transitioned into a yoga practice led by Jenna. We poured the Laurentien Brew Kombucha quietly during the yoga practice and handed out the champagne glasses to everyone shortly before midnight.

Throughout the evening we dolled out the amazing door prizes! 2 free floats from ISO Spa to the oldest and the youngest and a sit set from Half Moon Yoga to the person who had travelled the farthest and did a draw for 4 bottles of dōTERRA Essential Oil (2 Peace and 2 Cheer bottles) which I donated from my personal collection.

We literally ommed in the new year, cheered each other, and handed out swag bags (thank you again to Pure Strength Bars, Elevate Yoga and Pranashanti for the donations – I also threw in samples of Deep Blue Rub samples & PB Assist Jr+ probiotics for people to try) as everyone hightailed it out of there as fast as we could tear down the venue and get home safely in crazy freezing rain.

We can’t thank everyone involved enough from my husband who helped us set up and tear down, to our amazing DJ, to Maddy, to our volunteers, to our attendees, to our vendors, our sponsors and the venue! See you next year!!!