Alumna starts business as seamstress and wedding coordinator | Penn State University

READING, Pa. — During the fall of 2009, while designing clothing in Rome as part of a fashion study-abroad program, Camrin Edwards had an epiphany.

«I was going to school for fashion design,» said Edwards. «My dream was to design wedding gowns.» Suddenly, she realized that all she wanted to do was «get back to working directly with brides.”

«I knew I wanted to work directly with brides instead of sitting at a desk designing clothes,» she said.

In spite of having only two semesters left to graduate with a fashion design degree from Philadelphia University, she returned home and applied for the business degree program at Penn State Berks.

In spring 2010, she began courses at Penn State Berks, where she heard about the entrepreneurship minor in one of her business classes and decided to enroll. «It was a hands-on program of only a handful of students,» Edwards said. «I really enjoyed being challenged in the program. I was asked to solve real problems and think outside of the box. We were also encouraged to research and pursue our own career goals. It was great to have a small group of my peers to bounce ideas off of.»

She graduated from Penn State Berks with a bachelor of science in business with a concentration in fashion design and a minor in entrepreneurship in 2012. Penn State Berks does not offer courses in fashion design but allowed Edwards to choose an individual option within the business degree and apply some of the credits she had earned at Philadelphia University.

Edwards always had an entrepreneurial spirit. While in high school, she started working at her hometown bridal shop in Pennsburg. She explains that the shop was always busy doing alterations for customers, but they could not handle the demand for alterations by anyone who did not purchase their gown from the shop.

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“During one of my college breaks, I realized this was an opportunity to help these people,” said Edwards. “I began giving out my phone number and started doing alterations from my home. I was willing to work hard to earn extra money for school. I never realized it would end up being my career.”

In 2009, her family moved to the Reading area. She heard that Sweethearts Bridal was opening and contacted the owner to see if she had a seamstress. The store opened in fall of 2010, and Edwards has worked as an independent seamstress for the bridal shop ever since.

She was sometimes asked to accompany wedding parties to the church, and emergency situations would arise, from the bridesmaid who ripped her dress minutes before walking down the aisle to the mother of the bride who spilled cocoa butter down the front on her dress. Soon Edwards recognized another opportunity and Camrin Edwards, Seamstress & Wedding Coordinator was born.

Today, she offers a “stress-free service.” Her services include steaming the brides and bridesmaids dresses the day of the ceremony, helping everyone dress, and covering any emergency that happens before the wedding. If requested, she will also remain on-site until the start of the reception to coordinate details. The last thing she usually does is bustle the bride’s dress before sending her off to enjoy the party.

My goal and my hope is that the word will spread about my stress-free service, and I look forward to having many more weekends filled with wedding coordinating. I absolutely love what I do, and I really can’t imagine doing anything else.”

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Source: http://news.psu.edu