During a recent brainstorming session about the Give Back section of the blog, Naomi and I were running through the list of people we knew who were doing great things for others through their businesses or blogs. Lydia, from Ever Ours was a name that instantly popped into our minds and topped our list of people we’d love to know more about. You may have heard about her recent effort with Utterly Engaged called For Japan, With Love. Many of you may have even participated in the effort or donated money. However we wanted to dig a bit deeper to find out more about her motives, her passion, and her thoughts overall on this amazing fund raiser in hopes that it might inspire others. It is my true honor to introduce you to the adorable, Lydia.

• First, tell us a little about yourself, your blog, your background in the wedding world, etc. 
• My name is Lydia and I’m originally from England, and currently living in Los Angeles, California.  I started the blog out of boredom from my day job and just for fun since my friends were in the stage of getting engaged and married.  I began the blog in 2009 and I have been in awe with what it’s become, thanks to the tremendous support of this whole wedding industry and the blogging community.
• Tell us how the For Japan With Love idea started and why you wanted to try to help
• I’ve always been one to jump right up and quickly think of ways to donate to any kind of heavy impact natural disaster.  I know there is never very much that I personally can do.  But I firmly believe in “every little bit helps”.  When Haiti happened, I had a campaign for $5/comment and donated the money out of my own pocket.  This time around, Lucia from Utterly Engaged, knew I was antsy about what had happened in Japan and contacted me right away to join forces and start a fundraising campaign for Japan and thus, For Japan With Love was born.
• What was it like to see the project grow so rapidly? Were you expecting that?
• It was overwhelming in the best way possible and just so incredible to see the word spread so fast and so hugely.  We had NO idea what we had started.  We initially thought maybe about 50 bloggers would want to be involved with the Day of Silence and we even thought that the initial goal of $5,500 might be too much!  So we definitely did not expect what we got…definitely not.

• How much was raised and in what time frame? 
• Through the initial campaign, we raised $66,733 in the span of two and half weeks.  Then some fabulous ladies up north in the bay area- Blu Bungalow, Lovely Little Details, Floral Theory, Bustle Designs, Heritage and Craft, held a benefit and raised over $5,000 in the span of three hours!  So I guess the end amount really is over $72,000!
• Have you always been involved in charitable efforts? If so what other things are you passionate about?
• Throughout high school and college, I’d always been involved with all sorts of fundraising and whatever charity events I could help with.  I used to volunteer at hospitals and animal shelters.  Since I’m scarce on time now with a full-time job, the best I can do is donate whatever I can.  I know it’s not much, but I’d rather be able to do a little something, than nothing at all.
• Why did you want to blend your blog/business with this effort as opposed to just keeping it personal? 
• To raise awareness.  I believe it’s super important for people just to know.  Whether they do something about it is up to them.  But throughout For Japan With Love, we received so many comments about how glad people were that we set this up as they had wanted to help, but didn’t know how or where to help.

• Were you worried about how it would be received, if readers would be interested?

• We were not worried about how it would be received.  We just put it out there and were hoping for the best.  Whether we attained our initial goal or not, we knew we were doing our best with whatever we had.  The people in Japan needed any kind of help and this was our small little part.
• What advice would you give to other vendors who may want to make a difference?
• Don’t be afraid to go for it.  Again, every bit little helps.  What you need to keep in mind is that you are doing something, big or small.  You are making an impact in some way.  I’m so thankful that Utterly Engaged reached out to me to do this together.  What started off as something little ended up being so much bigger than we had ever thought.  We just put it out there because we felt it was important.
• What is the status of For Japan with Love now?
• We are in a Phase Two where we currently just have an open donation tab.  We just aren’t being as aggressive about it.  Utterly Engaged just had a pop-up bridal show event in the Bay Area, Fizz and Frills, where $1 from every ticket sold was donated to ShelterBox.  So it’s in our minds constantly.  How could anyone ever forget something like that.

• Other than the huge amount of money you raised, what was the biggest reward/benefit you got from doing something for others?
• The biggest reward was seeing how so many jumped up to the plate and how so many people from all over the world got involved.  It was just amazing.  I’m not sure how many times I’d blank stare at the amount raised and how many bloggers got involved (1200+ in the end) and I’d sit there and just be in awe.  I believe that there were 1,400+ INDIVIDUAL donations to make up that $66, 733.  Every once in awhile, I still just take a look at it and it’s a great reminder that this blogging community and wedding industry is just so supportive.  It’s reassuring to know that if something bad happens, there are people that will help in any way that they can.  Truly blessed.
• Anything else you feel like is important to this story…
• Never underestimate the power of social media.  Social media helped us get the word out about For Japan With Love.  I kid you not.  Without it, For Japan With Love would still have been a great fundraising campaign, but with it, it made it tremendous and we definitely owe our gratitude to the so many that helped us out through social media.

*All photo credit belongs to Volatile Photography. Photos were taken during the For Japan, With Love event at Blu Bungalow.

Lydia is the editor of Ever Ours, a wedding blog dedicated to all things romantic. Unlike many wedding bloggers, Lydia isn't a Bride to Be nor does she plan to be one anytime soon. However her love for weddings could rival any bride's and her knack for finding lovely inspiration and sweet details is top notch.