Combine creativity with devotion to family and community, and you get Jennifer Hamaway and Gretchen Rubell's Slumber Lane, "Park City's official sleepover company," and they laugh. "One of our new themes is 'Indoor Camping,'" Jen says. "We tried it for the kids of a corporate group meeting with faux campfires, lantern string lights, and artificial pine trees. It was a hit!"
The pair met through their then-preschool-age daughters, who “now help with party design and planning," Jen says. A true family business, “we rope in husbands, kids, even parents to help during busy times,” Gretchen adds.
"We wanted to turn our love for children's party planning into a business," Gretchen recalls. Taking ownership of Slumber Lane is a dream come true, sparking exciting new themes, like 'A Night at Hogwarts' for the Halloween season, "actually an idea from a customer,” Jen says. “We love the creativity people bring us."
Devoted to families and community (Gretchen's husband Jeremy is a Park City Council member), Slumber Lane supports the Park City Christian Center and the Egyptian You Theatre for kids, where Gretchen is on the Board.
Jen recalls her childhood in the Sierra Nevadas and a T-shirt gift from her mom that became a good omen as she recovered from a ski injury. "It said 'No Guts, No Glory. Park City, Utah,'" she says with a laugh. "I had never heard of Park City! I kept that shirt for years, hoping to ski here one day." A medical field professional, Jen relocated to Park City with her husband in 2010 to assist in the opening of Deer Valley Montage. Gretchen logged years of Park City ski trips; she and Jeremy finally purchased a home here in 2013.
The pair spend free time with family, which feeds into their creativity. "We're adding movie nights, picnic parties, and family-friendly corporate events," Gretchen says, all while deepening their Park City roots. "We appreciate even more how tightly knit our community is and how local businesses support each other."