I guess anyone could call themselves a wedding or event planner. To call yourself an event planner, you just have to have planned events. Have you ever thrown a birthday party? You’re an event planner! Did you plan your own wedding? You’re a wedding planner! It would be like saying, have you ever taken your temperature or used a band aid? You’re a doctor! Lol
Experience and expertise separates the amateur from the pros. Would you rather have a med student, or the Chief of Surgery removing your appendix? Do you want the person doing it for the first time, or the 100th time?
I’ve been planning weddings and events, professionally, since 2005. I got my start working for a marketing company in Kansas City (we lived there at the time). They were all about “experiential marketing”, which is just a fancy word for bringing products to big events and letting people put their hands on it. Think a bunch of brand new trucks at a state fair. Stuff like that.
Along the way, I was planning my own wedding, then helping my friends plan their weddings. Turns out, I was pretty good at this stuff! And, I was a lot more creative than I thought I was! It was fun!
Over the next several years, I continued to work for two different marketing companies planning and executing events throughout the midwest. In all, somewhere around 400 different events, in a million different places, doing a million different things. Car makers were big clients of ours, so we put fancy new cars in front of people every chance we got. Every major sporting event, in every major venue, college and pro, from Tennessee to South Dakota. Downtowns, uptowns, out-of-towns, and in the middle of nowheres.
Have you ever seen the girls that shoot t-shirts into crowds at a baseball game? Or the guys that come out during halftime to do some crazy demonstration. Those were planned by an experiential marketing agency. That’s what I used to do. Sometimes it was fun, sometimes just boring.
All the while - planning events on the side for friends and family, just for fun.
For the past several years, I’ve worked as an Event Planner for a really amazing church. We have six campuses, over 20k members, and do events almost every week. At least 50 different events, big and small, per year. Some were massive - like our Women’s Conference, others were easier to manage - like baby dedications or baptisms.
I only recently left my role as an Event Planner at the Church to give all my focus to starting and growing Adorist Weddings and Events. I still help plan events with them, just not full-time (and now as a volunteer).
So - what makes me qualified to call myself a wedding and event planner? I’ve planned and executed over 1,000 events throughout the midwest. I have built up relationships with 100’s of local vendors. My creativity and love for design drive me to learn and stay on trend.
Lastly - and most importantly - it’s what I LOVE to do!
Whether it’s a wedding, trunk show, or corporate retreat - either myself or someone on our team has first-hand experience with it. If not, we love surprises! Let us do what we love, for the people you love!
XOXO
JZ