Life & Work with Stephanie Callaway

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Callaway.

Hi Stephanie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
In early 2021, my god-daughter was getting married & I wanted to give her a unique bridesmaids luncheon for her and her bridesmaids. I live here in the Atlanta area and the wedding was in Nashville. I needed someone at the last minute to step in & help me set up this entire event as I had been attacked by a dog the previous weekend. I contacted a local luxury picnic service I’d come across on Instagram. They were very helpful, and with my ideas, we were able to pull off a beautiful event! The bride & her bridesmaids had a blast! I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed coming up with ideas for this special luncheon!

My partner, Laurie, has a successful jewelry & home decor business/website, The High Cotton Collection. We’ve known each other for more than 30 years, through our best friend Tasha!

At the wedding, Laurie (who lives in Memphis), & I got to catch up. After sharing my interest in starting a luxury picnic service, I asked Laurie & Tasha for their opinions about this idea & if they had any catchy name suggestions for this new venture! Laurie came up with “The Epic Picnic”! I asked Laurie if she wanted to join me in this new endeavor and not 2 days later, The Epic Picnic by Stephanie C & Laurie E was born! And we’ve been going strong ever since!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It absolutely has NOT been a smooth road!! This is a physically demanding and time consuming business (a LOT more than it would seem, on the outside looking in!)!!

Laurie & I are extremely detail oriented and set high expectations for ourselves personally AND professionally. We have learned that you cannot just show up somewhere & “plop” down a picnic without investing a significant amount of money in beautiful, over-the-top set ups, liability insurance, event permits, a great website & more!

Not to mention the social media do’s and don’ts in the e-commerce world to market our entrepreneurial endeavors! We’re learning along the way & making changes as needed, to curate the high-end picnic experience we constantly strive for!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Laurie and I both have long careers in health care. Laurie was a dental hygienist and I have spent countless years as an Echo Tech in medical sales. As mentioned before, Laurie now has a small business where she specializes in boho earrings & upcycled coastal-style home decor.

Our knack for creating gorgeous luxury picnics is inspired by other women across the country, in our picnic niché & by countless wedding/event planners, as well! We LOVE to take ideas we’ve seen in magazines & on social media platforms, tweak them to reflect our unique ideas and create our own version of what a luxury picnic should be!

We are best known for our attention to detail and our dedication to curating an experience the client and their loved ones will remember for a lifetime! It’s all about the memories created with those we love!

Because we are both diehard beach lovers, we are most proud of our beach set ups! We have expanded to not only include the greater Atlanta & greater Memphis areas, but also the Orange Beach, AL/Perdido Key, FL areas!

We always go the extra mile to meet & exceed not only the client’s expectations of what a luxury picnic experience should be, but also our own vision of what a truly high-end picnic looks like! We believe our clients deserve that!

What sets us apart from others in this industry, is our ability to create picnics that are each very unique in style, according to the vision the client sees in his/her mind. We LOVE & encourage input from the client, to bring to life the picnic of their dreams! You won’t see any “cookie-cutter” picnics with us!

We also offer an expansive list of add-ons that a client can choose to add to their picnic. A few of those are rose petals, a margarita or bloody mary bar, a photographer & a “bubble tent”! Check out our “Add-ons” section on our website & you’ll definitely see why this is so special & why this sets us apart!

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
We are constantly getting inspiration from Instagram & Pinterest! One of our preferred books from this summer has been “The Picnic: Recipes and Inspiration from Basket to Blanket” by Marnie Hanel, Andrea Slonecker & Jen Stevenson. Very educational and entertaining!

We love watching tutorials for unique flower arranging (such as Jun Piñon), interior styling (such as Sana Sherwani, of A Piece of My Glam Home & Sara McDaniel of SimplySouthernCottage) & tablescaping (such as Nahibas Table, Rose-May & Lorraine from Picnic Nation on Seychelles Island, East Africa, Southern Living magazine & of course the Queen of all party & event planning, Martha Stewart)! We absolutely LOVE learning new things….& there’s always room to learn more!!

Contact Info:

• Email: Info@theepicpicnic.com
• Website: www.theepicpicnic.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/the.epic.picnic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/the.epic.picnic/

Image Credits
Stephanie
The Epic Picnic