Jessica Chard, owner of To the Moon Party Designs, brings creativity and joy to Nocatee through custom balloon designs and community events, making life’s milestones even more memorable.
Tell me about your background.
I’m originally from Boise, Idaho. I lived in Minnesota for a few years, too. When I was about 12, my mom and my sisters started working at a party company and I spent a lot of time hanging out with them, watching them. I got my BSN, my bachelor's of science in nursing, and I was a nurse for many years. I loved nursing. The altruistic component of nursing really kind of drew me in. I loved helping people, and I loved my community. When I graduated and was looking at different jobs, I noticed that there was a position in Jacksonville at the Mayo Clinic campus, so it was a no-brainer. We moved to Nocatee over a decade ago.
What drew you to Nocatee?
At the time when my husband and I moved here, there was nothing. Not even the SR9B highway, but my husband heard it was a really promising area. We looked at one house and knew that was it for us. We moved in 2014 and got married at Crosswater Hall in 2015. It's been really awesome just seeing all the growth and the Nocatee community grow. I mean, it was very apparent from the moment that we got here that it was a special community. When I had my twins back in 2017, I joined a group in Nocatee that had a mom's meal program, so any new mom could just sign up for meals. The community did that for me and my husband every night. Nocatee is just such a special place. Definitely the best decision of our life.
How did you end up transitioning out of nursing?
One of the surgeons that I worked with at the Mayo Clinic opened up a clinic, so I eventually moved to clinic work before I had my first children. I absolutely loved it. And then, you know how they say “When you make plans, God laughs?” That's exactly what happened because I got pregnant with twins and I ultimately made the decision to stay at home to be with the babies. That was a wonderful decision, as well. Being at home with my girls was so important to me. In 2019 I got pregnant again, and a few years later I started To the Moon Party Designs.
Why did you open To the Moon Party Designs?
I think that I needed something for myself to get out of the house and to have something to do. I'm a creative person. I love art and being creative, so I thought, “What could I do that would really touch on that?” I thought about new moms, how they're always throwing parties, and figured I should start blowing up balloons as a side hustle. It turned out that there was a huge demand here and it blew up from there. I started blowing up balloons in 2021 and the rest is history.
How is To The Moon Party Designs involved with the community?
This year I had the opportunity to partner with The Link, which I'm really excited about. They've opened up the platform where I can do To the Moon Party Designs branded events in partnership with them, and it's been super fun. The one that I did most recently with them was the Festival of Trees. It was a super successful event where we were able to highlight a lot of the local businesses in our community, as well as the charities that are really important to our local community, and just create a space where people could come and create memories. This year my business is also launching our ‘Adopt a Grandparent’ campaign and I’m excited for the Mahjong Galentine’s Day event at The Link on February 21st.
What’s your favorite part about what you do?
For me, being a part of people's milestones, their birthdays, their milestone birthdays, their weddings, celebrations of life, graduations, baby showers, all of these really sweet and precious moments for a lot of people– I get really sentimental about that. They'll look back at those pictures and a little part of me will have been a part of it.