On Saturday, July 27th, 2019, Social Butterfly successfully hosted our first event! The Social Butterfly Women’s Empowerment Movement event turned out so much better than we could have ever imagined. Since we are all from the Laguna Madre Area, we decided to host our first event on South Padre Island, which is part of the Laguna Madre community. It was a perfect way to honor our home and the family and friends that helped shape the women we are today. It also was a great opportunity to gather and reconnect with the women of our community and showcase inspirational local women.
Location
The Hilton Garden Inn on South Padre Island definitely helped to make our event run seamlessly. Director of Sales, Alina Rivera, made sure we had everything we needed and provided excellent service. Our guests were treated to a delicious brunch buffet including eggs, potatoes, waffles, cream puffs, pasta salad, grilled chicken and steak among many other choices. Champagne cocktails were also served liberally to the delight of our guests. Everything ran incredibly smooth from start to finish. I highly recommend this venue for your future events on South Padre. (See link for venue details and information below.)
Signature drink
We also decided to spice up our event by treating our guests to a signature cocktail called a Paloma, which was made with Jamaica juice, a twist of lime and Kimo Sabe Mezcal provided by one of our sponsors, Joseph Castillo. It was refreshing and delicious and paired perfectly with our tropical vibe. Our guests loved them, and I will say I may have had more than one myself.
Swag Bags
The first 50 guests received a cute swag bag with the Social Butterfly logo on it, courtesy of Chic Little Things Boutique. We chose perfectly sized burlap bags for a beachy feel, and filled them with goodies like, coin/cosmetic pouches, a reusable water bottle, pens, koozies, keychains, postcards and more fun items from our sponsors like Vive Cosmetics! (We’ve linked some of these items and sponsors below.)
The Vendors
Guests thoroughly enjoyed shopping for goods and learning about services from our many Pop Up Shops including Chic Little Things, Judge Helen Delgadillo, The Family Porch by Christa Dawn, Kendra Scott, My Fashion Baby, Pure Romance by Angelica Cantu, Remax Elite, Renew Med Spa, Scentsy by Miriam Salazar and SPI Realty. They were also pampered and treated to hair and makeup demos by The Crystal Rose Salon, LimeLife by Nancy Davalos. It was really special watching women from various backgrounds coming together to network with and support one another!
The Panel
Our panel consisted of 5 inspirational women, all from the Rio Grande Valley, who have stories of perseverance, determination and success. Judge Helen Delgadillo, an accomplished Attorney, Municipal Judge, community leader, Mother of 4, Grandmother of 4, and friend to everyone, inspired us all and proved that it’s never too late to pursue your dreams. Rita Garcia, an educator for over 40 years and community leader, wow-ed with her vivacious spirit and inspiring story of perseverance through tragedy. Lola Linarte, an international model, actress, TV host, and creative director joined us virtually from a set in New York City and motivated us to love ourselves and follow our dreams. Iliasis Muniz, a self-made photographer and business owner, motivated us to find something that truly makes us happy and create a life with it. Renea Perez a mother of 3, fitness guru, and owner of the Bod Squad gym, inspired with her unwavering faith and determination to follow a passion even if it’s new. Our very own Victoria Castillo served as emcee throughout the event and guided the panel discussion with questions concerning the inspiration behind their success as well as their opinions on women’s rights and how women can/should move up in the business world.
Below are some of my favorite inspirational quotes and take-aways from the incredible panel:
“Don’t let anybody tell you, you can’t. I did it at 39 years old and so can you!” – Judge Helen Degladillo
“Tragedy doesn’t define us, it is our resiliency and how we empower ourselves with love.” – Rita Garcia
“Fully embrace and love yourself. Your only challenge is yourself.” – Lola Linarte
“We have every right to fight for what we want. Women are more powerful than ever.” – liasis Muniz
“If God continues to open doors for me, I walk through them.” – Renea Perez
Giving Back
Being that this was our first official event, we did not select a specific charity or organization to support, however we were extremely moved by two local women in the Port Isabel community who several of us grew up with. Both of them are championing their children’s fight against cancer, and we felt our event would be a great opportunity to raise some funds to donate towards their medical bills and expenses. We raffled a family 4-pack of tickets to Schlitterbahn on South Padre Island and a 2-night stay at the South Padre Lodge Hotel, both donated by some of our generous sponsors.
Special Thanks
We want to thank all of our guests who came to support us and join our movement to empower each other and all women. Everyone looked beautiful and perfectly Island Chic. Thank you to all of the vendors who presented amazing products, art, services and information.
Our event couldn’t have been as seamless and smooth without our volunteers. Diana Castillo offered her decorating services for the entire event and created the most beautiful arrangements and pineapple centerpieces. Rita Garcia gave us slots of helpful pointers and support throughout the planning process and contributed door prizes and giveaways. Laura Orive helped us plan and arrange our event from start to finish, and played a huge role in getting t-shirts and printed items for the event. Dear friends Lauren Barrera, Cindy Perez and Emily Thibodeau volunteered to help us with tickets and registration and they all did an incredible job of helping to keep our event organized. In all, we our volunteers generously came together to form an incredible team
Last, but certainly not least, we’d like to extend a huge thank you to all our incredible sponsors. There is certainly no way we could have provided our guests with such an incredible experience without their support and donations. We are overwhelmed with gratitude for each and every person who came together to uplift, support and inspire local women from in and around our community. This organization and movement has turned into so much more than we could have ever dreamed of. It has continued to make a difference in the lives of so many women.
The success and great response of our first event has us so excited for the future of Social Butterfly. Stay tuned for more events, blogs and activities aimed at empowering women everywhere. We can’t thank you all enough for the incredible support.
