Our Dreams to start our own business....
259 Old County - Designs by Ed & Lori
Seeing each other every day at our “real” jobs we would talk about our ideas and brainstorm on how we could bring them to life.
It finally started to come together when we decided we would dive in and make candles. Ed had dabbled in candle making but I was new to the candle-making process. We ordered some supplies and set up shop in my kitchen. We didn’t have any fancy equipment but improvised with what we could find in my pantry. We had watched numerous YouTube videos and thought “how hard could this be?” We had a great time and thought our first batch was a success. After our first batch had cured, we noticed that our scents were not as strong as we wanted and as they call it in the biz, we had the dreaded “cave-ins and wet spots”. We spent countless days researching how to increase our scent throws, use proper wicking, have the exact pour temps, and find the perfect container and lid. With each candle batch, we learned something new. It was important to us that our candles smelled and looked great. Ed was meticulous, wanting extremely smooth tops with no sinkholes or cave-ins. We enlisted our friends and co-workers, passing out sample candles to take home and report back with their feedback. Three months later, we believe we finally created our perfect candle. Not only did it smell great it looked great too!
The next step was designing our candle labels. Our first thought was to do something simple with just our company and scent name. As I started to design our simple labels, it just happened. The ideas and scent names started coming to life with different images and backgrounds. I wanted to make a label that I would put in my own home not just to burn but could also be used as home décor. As we started to get busier, I thought to myself wouldn't it be different if we let the customer decide and make our candles customizable? The Mix & Match collection was created and the rest is history!
One day my friend Diane asked me if I could create a label with a special saying and a photo of her precious dog “Lola”. I thought to myself this is a great idea, offering a customizable label design with the option to create personalized messages or add a photo. It was a huge hit with our customers offering a one-of-a-kind gift.
As we started to grow, we realized that we needed somewhere other than my kitchen to make our candles. My husband John and my son, Masen were extremely supportive and believed that we would be successful. They worked day and night to get our workshop ready and in July of 2022, 259 Old County had an official home.
We cannot express enough how thankful we are to all of our friends and family for their feedback, ideas, and continued support. We are excited to take the next step in our journey and offer our products through our website. We finally made our dreams a reality and look forward to the future.
