Joseph "New New" Adkins
May 19, 2009
Irene Marie Deroche Lajaunie
May 22, 2009
After five years in business, Jaime Cheramie clearly has “savoir-faire,” the knowledge to do something well.
Cheramie was first introduced to the word “savoir-faire” as a child when her grandmother used the term to describe someone who was good at a particular skill or task. When naming her shop, she said it was a natural fit. As a business owner, finding a balance was sometimes hard, but Cheramie said she had the know-how to get the job done.
“It has been interesting, but I have learned a lot,” she said. “Though I was completely unprepared to be a business owner, I wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything. I am much more assertive.”
Cheramie holds a degree in hospitality and business administration from the University of New Orleans. Before opening her own business, she spent six or seven years working in New Orleans as an event planner.
“I originally worked for a four-star hotel in the French Quarter that mainly dealt with very small upscale events, whether they were weddings, social or corporate events,” she said.
Her ultimate goal was to be her own boss. “I thought it went really well with what I was doing,” Cheramie said. “I felt that I was really knowledgeable in offering people advice.”
Initially the plan was for her to buy a place to host events. Cheramie’s five-year plan was to start off consulting and raise her client base. Then, her hopes were for the business to generate itself to include a place similar to Cypress Columns in Gray.
However, she inked the deal to start her own wedding coordinating business in Houma in 2004. Savoir-faire was as unique as its name. The business took form on Corporate Drive. In her first year on the job, Cheramie organized more than 14 weddings.
By 2005, the Christmas Place, formerly located on West Main Street in Houma, wanted to expand its business to include a bridal registry. Cheramie and the owners at the time felt they would benefit each other by joining forces to offer brides the best services south Louisiana had to offer.
Savoir-faire was a part of the Christmas Place offerings for three years before it was sold to its current owners, who combine the premiere Christmas décor place with their standing business on Enterprise Drive in Houma.
Cheramie moved back to Corporate Drive. This time the business focused on fine stationery. Savoir-faire provides south Louisiana socialites with the finest invitations and stationery to make any event have flare.
“We have a lot of people in this area that love to do scrapbooking,” she said. “They love to make things, and we really try to focus on fine, unique stationery. We care about their parties. We care about things going well. We are very much perfectionists when it comes to addressing and etiquette.”
Being a wedding coordinator was time consuming, Cheramie said. Running the shop during the week with appointments and organizing and late nights on Fridays and Saturdays was a bit much for a person with small kids.
Cheramie said the transition was perfect. At the time, there was no other business in Houma that was focused on fine stationery.
“Traveling with brides to New Orleans, Lafayette and Baton Rouge for invitations gave me the idea that this business would be really great for this area,” she said. “Everybody’s always throwing parties around here.”
“I believe that paper stationery is one of the best gifts,” Cheramie added. “But we really just wanted to do something, and do it well.”
Savoir-faire offers customers wedding invitations, social stationeries, personalized correspondence, designer bride accessories and unique gifts. With each order, Cheramie can offer full design, layout and printing services, as well as addressing options for busy south Louisiana socialites.
“We have invitations for every social event that you can possibly imagine,” she said. “We do a lot of corporate businesses that have large events, bridal showers, lingerie parties, barbecues, crawfish boils, wine tastings and birthday parties.”
Savoir-faire also gives back to the community that has kept it in business all these years.
“A few times a year, we do fundraisers for organizations,” Cheramie said. “We do thousands of mailouts so that they can have big fundraisers. We try to give back to the community because we have had a really great five years. We have a really good customer base.”
Savoir-faire’s clientele includes Terrebonne, Lafourche and St. Mary parishes, as well as out-of-state customers.
“That speaks a lot about your business,” Cheramie said. “People have access to finer stationery shops, but they choose you.”
Jaime Cheramie, owner of Savoir-faire in Houma, wraps wedding invitations for one of her clients. The shop offers fine stationery for any special occasion. This season, graduations and wedding invites make up a majority of Cheramie’s business.
