Stacey and I have been friends for a while now, and our beginnings are quite funny. She moved into my old room at what was once called The Brotherl apartment by The Grove. The Brothel was technically before my time there, but we did have a rotating group of friends that lived there at one time or another. Now all of my old roommates are fashion industry rockstars. When I would visit, Stacey and I would chat, and soon we became friends one night over a Dateline episode and wine. You see how my Fridays tend to be- they don't call me Grandma for nothing! Since those times, we've both become rockstars ourselves, and I love being able to bounce ideas around with a friend in the industry. The InterviewHow old were you when you knew you wanted to do event and wedding planning, design, and production? I don't know. I have always loved to entertain and have guests over. I like to create new experiences for people. It was a natural progression. What's something you were surprised by when you got into the industry? I began in the advertising world working with large corporate clients. They expect an extremely high level of detail and customer service. I bring that experience and level of attention to every client whether its designing a tablescape, or a 500 attendee launch party. When I started SLD I was SHOCKED at how long it takes people to respond to requests and how slow their communication can be. That type of service kills me. If you don't need to give amazing customer service, than I don't need you! How cut throat is it really? In California, there are SO many wedding and event planners. Its UNREAL! It is pretty difficult to distinguish yourself. However, a little competition never hurt anybody and I think it keeps everyone performing at their best. There are plenty of events and weddings for us all. Its just convincing clients they need us in the first place !! (which they do ) Any horror stories? We like to hear the juicy stuff! I was recently working on a video shoot where a very popular band was to create an intro video for an upcoming live event. We were hijacking another video shoot to get about 15 minutes of quality footage for this intro video. The shoot we were interrupting was a pool party scene and the talent only had on silver speedos. This was NOT going to work. After a lot of sweating and running around, we found an appropriate shirt, the video was shot from the waist up, and the crises was averted with 30 seconds to spare. What advice would you give to an aspiring planner and/or entrepreneur? Everyone will tell you, its not easy and you have to work hard to get where you want. But thats not the only part. You have to really love it. If you love it and you have a bit of talent, it will show - and the success will come. It also doesn't hurt to do good work and be nice to people. What's the greatest job you've ever worked on? This one is easy. My own wedding! As a planner and designer, I am always working hard to make sure intimate events reflect the couple in every detail. It was fun to figure out what kind of event would represent us. Red or white wine? Red, White, Rose, Bubbly, they are all close friends of mine. What's your favorite curse word? (Taken from Inside the Actor's Studio) Carly, you should know I am not big on the curse words, but my faces usually say it all. Follow Stacey at @staceylynn and check out all of her green ideas at @thenaturalbride
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Click Here for Website Design ServicesCategories
All
The Flower ChefNewsHow Did She Do ThatEditorial
Archives
July 2014
|