Hello friends! I just got back from the most incredible week running a Blogging event for 24 bloggers in my community, and I want to tell you all about it! This is one of the most rewarding experiences I have had since starting The Foreign Fork and I want to introduce you to what life has been like for the past year putting this event together.
Every year I attend a food blogging retreat with 24 bloggers to discuss blogging, make friends, and learn and grow from one another as we hone our craft. Blogging can be a kind of lonely job, especially when you work from home with no local colleagues!
Every year a group of bloggers join together for the best weekend ever. It includes:
- A 4 night stay in a gorgeous mansion
- A private chef to make all of our meals for us
- A massage
- Another pampering service (this year it was facials)
- Lots of time in sweatpants on the couch
- 2-3 Blogging centered mastermind sessions per day to learn from and grow with each other
- Hot tub chats, walks, and work sessions to make friends and work together!
Want to attend a retreat? Put your name on the waitlist so I can let you know if spots become available!
How It Started
Back in 2022, my friend Karli from Cooking with Karli had the idea to start an annual Blogging retreat named Blogging Elevated Elite Business Retreat! She posted about it in a food blogging Facebook group to see if anyone would be interested in joining her, and the response was awesome! Karli put together an incredible retreat that year, renting out a massive retreat house, hiring a private chef (LK Cooking!), and fostering an awesome vibe within the community.
Everyone adored the retreat and encouraged Karli to run another one the next year which she did! And then another one in 2024.
By the 2025 retreat, she was ready to pass along the baton for the retreat planning so that she would be able to attend and enjoy the retreat without having to worry about planning the logistics. Karli is one of my best friends in the world, so when I heard this, I offered to take over the retreat from her, and she allowed me to do so!
My Experience Planning the Blogging Elevated Event
When I returned from the 2024 event, I got to work the very next Monday putting together 2025. I knew that Karli had put in so much time and effort into making sure each retreat was amazing, but I hadn’t realized how much work truly went into it! There was a retreat task on my to do list almost every single week for the entire year, but I loved it.
My tasks included booking the retreat house, working with the private chef on the menu, finding and securing pampering services for all of the attendees, including a massage and facial. The most time intensive part was something I did not expect, which was putting together swag bags for the attendees (see below for a list of items that were in our swag bags)!
Despite the fact that it took a lot of time, I truly loved the experience and having an outlet for my creativity that was not directly tied to my blog!
How It Went
The event itself went swimmingly! I was nervous that the attendees would be comparing my retreat to Karli’s and be disappointed in some way, but, at least from what I have heard, that turned out to be a silly worry. I kept the main elements of the retreat that everyone loved, but was able to personalize my own twist on it by choosing a retreat theme and putting together some awesome swag bags.
It was especially fun this year because after four years of many of the same people attending, friendship was truly in the air. In past years, everyone certainly felt like friends, but the friendship stemmed from being colleagues. Now that we have had four years getting to know one another, this year really felt like the retreat was a group of friends that all happened to do the same thing for work! We shared so many funny and embarrassing stories, got to know each other so much better, and, of course, talked about work ad nauseam.
Each day we had 2 to 3 planned discussions where we shared what is working for us in different areas of blogging! There were a few chats that a specific person led, and other ones that were purely a group conversation.
Over the course of the weekend, we had sessions on the following:
- Email marketing
- Getting unstuck and refocusing our vision (led by our retreat sponsor, Mediavine)
- Instagram growth
- Refreshing and republishing old content
- Building a brand, backlinks and media appearances
- Figuring out what content to write in 2025
Each talk was immensely helpful, and it was great that so many different bloggers had so many different strengths, meaning that there wasn’t one singular person that was leading the entire retreat. Instead, we all got to learn from different people, and where their strengths lie! I came home with pages and pages of notes of things that I am excited to take into my business over the next year.
Swag Bag Items!
I had so much fun putting together our swag bags this year! Below is a list of what was included in each attendees swag bags along with links:
- Notebook & Gel Pen Set
- Owala Water Bottle
- Electric Eye Massager with Heat and Sound
- Laneige Lip Mask
- Beige Waffle Robe
- Bombas Women’s Sunday Mule Slippers
- Diamond Art Set
- Energizing Eye Masks & Illuminating Eye Masks
- Affirmation Cards
- Inspirational Stickers
- Personalized T Shirt from Rose to the Occasion
- Personalized Horizontal Bar Necklace from Rose to the Occasion
- Paper Incense & Paper Incense Discovery Set from Optatum
- Tote Bag
The electric eye massagers, Bombas slippers, and robes were all a huge hit!!
What’s Next?
I was very pleasantly surprised when tickets went on sale for this event in February and both ticket types sold in under 10 minutes.
There were so many people that wanted to come to the fall retreat in Utah that didn’t get a chance to grab a ticket before they sold out, so I decided to take on an entire extra event! I quickly got to work, planning a spring retreat in Asheville, North Carolina, which will take place in April. I am so excited and also so nervous… I want to make sure it is as universally loved as the fall retreat! I will keep you posted on how it goes.
I want to give a special thank you to Mediavine, my ad management company, for sponsoring this retreat! They made it possible to spoil the girls immensely with awesome swag bags, great food, and a lot of relaxation, blog knowledge, and friendship. I will also be partnering with them on our Spring Retreat in Asheville and can’t wait!
If you are a food blogger and want to get on the waitlist for either the fall or spring retreat, please fill out this Google Form with your information so that I can contact you if/when spots open up.
This retreat was such a reminder of why I love this blogging community so much. It’s not just about pageviews and recipes, it’s about the people behind the screens who understand the ups and downs and cheer each other on. I can’t wait to keep this tradition alive for years to come 💕
Amy says
You did such an amazing job and everything so was well thought out, planned, and executed. I feel like I learned so much and came away with so many good ideas to tackle heading into Q4 and planning for next year! Love you and cannot wait for next year’s retreat!
Alexandria Drzazgowski says
<3 <3 <3 Thank you for trusting me with the retreat and for all the kind words! I'm so glad we have it as a constant way to see each other every year :)