

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Hickey.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Chelsea. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve been artistic and creative my entire life, and coming from an entrepreneurial family has led to my strong desire to create my own business. I’ve never been happy working for someone else, and always want to do things my way. I have a BFA in art and design, and have worked as a freelance graphic designer, corporate designer, run a corporate print lab, and had my own businesses designing and selling t-shirts, wedding items, CD artwork, logos, and much more.
I began Chickey Little shortly after my wedding. I’d made most of the details for my big day myself – invitations, favors, menus, place cards, decorations, signs etc. I really loved coming up with new ideas and decided to open up an Etsy shop. The shop gained traction quickly, however I was also looking to expand my audience locally. I began looking around for Bridal Shows to participate in. It was difficult, as most were priced much higher than my small business could afford. I finally found one that was more money than I should have spent, but I decided to give it a shot. It was a flop. Most of the vendors were representatives from national companies or much more established and traditional business owners. The event was small, and focused on being a swanky affair. People seemed to like my items, but this was not my audience. I got zero business from it. I began searching for something that would be a better fit. I looked around for quite some time and finally found the perfect show! In Great Britain. It was then that I got the idea of putting on my own show, geared toward vendors like myself – small business owners with more limited advertising budgets, artists, local designers etc.
I gathered a couple close friends and our first event was April 2014.
After our first event I gave birth to my first son. It was this that began my interest in baby/child/family photography. I began practicing on my son and my friends’ children, taking courses, practicing editing, investing in equipment and building my portfolio before I began taking on clients and I’m still continuing to grow and learn about what interests me most. Fortunately my background in art gave me a leg up in some of the technical aspects of composition. But the thing I like most about what I do is capturing real moments, memories and personalities and editing them to create beautiful fine artwork. I specialize in outdoor on location shoots of babies and toddlers, and have just begun working with newborns. I think it is very important for parents to understand that these moments only last a short time, and it is truly worth investing in a way to hold on to them.
Has it been a smooth road?
I’d say the biggest struggle regarding Craft My Wedding has been establishing a team. I began working with two friends on the first event, however they each had to go their separate ways. Since then I’ve found another partner, but still feel there’s a lot to work on to make the event more streamlined successful and alleviate some of the work on my end.
Being a stay at home mom with a toddler and a baby on the way certainly also makes things challenging!
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Chickey Little: Craft My Wedding/Chickey Little Photography – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Craft My Wedding:
Craft My Wedding was created with vendors in mind. It is designed to provide an affordable platform for them, while also creating a unique marketplace for brides with a variety of goods and services they won’t find other places, as well as a fun day for the brides and their friends/family! Many of our vendors are just beginning their businesses, and some are just too unique to fit into more traditional shows. We want to give them the opportunity to showcase their work. We jury our event, allowing us to pick and choose the most unique businesses that are the best fit for our audience, especially when it comes to popular categories like photography, event planning and jewelers.
We just had our third event at the Center for Arts at the Armory in Somerville, which was another success. The event features a variety of entertainment and interactive activities that are designed not only to be fun, but to create relationships between the brides and vendors.
We hold the event at the Armory each year as the space fits the feeling of the event perfectly. Somerville is also the perfect area for our target audience – those who appreciate things that are a bit different! As far as I know we are the largest event like this in the area. We have live music, performers, demos and workshops, food and drink samples, a fashion show, unique goodie bags, games a cash bar and much more!
Chickey Little Photography:
The process of photography that I love most is editing and using those tools to create a look and feel that might not exist in real life. I also love to play around with composite work, which is always fun, allowing me to place the subject in a completely different location and create impossible scenarios.
I specialize in natural, more candid moments, rather than poses, capturing the personality of the children and freezing memories in time.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love Boston! I moved to Boston right after I graduated college and lived in Brighton for 8 years before we moved into Boston Proper for 2 more. Before we had our first child we lived in Bay Village, roughly 3 blocks from Boston Common. I love the size of the city. It has so many different neighborhoods with different personalities, yet they’re all so close together and walkable. I love the pride that Bostonians have in their city. I love the endless selection of fantastic restaurants, and now, as a mom, I appreciate the variety of events and attractions for kids! I always feel more comfortable, at home and connected when I’m downtown than I do in the suburbs.
I dislike very little:
Green line home from work on a game day. 🙂
The constant wind tunnel that is Stuart Street.
Housing prices!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.craftmyweddingboston.com and www.chickeylittlephotography.com
- Email: craftmyweddingboston@gmail.com and chickeybrand@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chickeylittlephotography/
Image Credit:
Chickey Little Photography
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
Holly Gay
May 22, 2017 at 11:54 pm
Wonderful write up, I enjoyed reading this. It is always interesting to learn what other artists are up to and how they use their creativity.