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<\/p>\nNow that I officially have my own event planning company, I\u2019ve been doing a lot of reflecting lately. It\u2019s kind of wild to think how long this has been a dream of mine. And even wilder to realize how far it\u2019s come.<\/p>\n
I still remember the very first event I ever coordinated. It was back when I was working at a marketing agency in Baton Rouge. One of our high-profile clients was celebrating their 75th anniversary, and somehow\u2014I was given the reins to plan the whole thing. No pressure, right?<\/p>\n
It was April 5, 2014, at the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva, WI\u2014with around 350 people in attendance. The Grand Geneva is a gem tucked about an hour north of Chicago, right on the Illinois-Wisconsin border. The property is surrounded by rolling hills and breathtaking views. It\u2019s the kind of place that instantly makes an event feel elevated and unforgettable, just by the setting alone.<\/p>\n
On top of everything else, this was a destination event\u2014a plane flight away from my home base. That added a whole other layer of complexity to the planning. We made a few site visits leading up to the big day just to make sure we fully understood the space and had a solid plan. There were lots of moving parts, and months of planning went into getting it all just right.<\/p>\n
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Beyond the design and the “pretty” details, I was deep in the weeds of coordinating vendors, managing logistics, confirming deliveries, keeping the event timeline on track, and making sure all the puzzle pieces fit together. From catering to signage to transportation and A\/V\u2014I was juggling all of it. It was the first time I really got to flex every muscle it takes to bring an event to life.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll never forget walking into that ballroom, seeing everything come together after all that work. I had spent hours with the speakers perfecting their slides, queued up the A\/V team, and obsessed over every little detail to make sure the event\u00a0felt<\/em>\u00a0just right.<\/p>\n And for this particular event, that meant one very specific thing: silver chiavari chairs.<\/p>\n Now, the client wasn\u2019t convinced they were necessary\u2014especially since the guest list was mostly men. But their company color was silver, and I just\u00a0knew<\/em>\u00a0those chairs would tie everything together in a way nothing else could. I fought for those chairs, y\u2019all. And when the client walked into the room, looked around, and gave me this little smile like,\u00a0\u201cOkay\u2026 I get it now\u201d<\/em>\u2014that moment stuck with me. Eleven years later, I still think about how even the\u00a0chairs<\/em>\u00a0made an impact.<\/p>\n One of my absolute favorite elements of that event was the entrance to the cocktail hour. We partnered with a local company to build a near life-size replica of the client\u2019s original storefront from 75 years ago. But this wasn\u2019t just for show\u2014it actually functioned as the welcoming space for the cocktail hour. Guests\u00a0literally<\/em>\u00a0walked through the front door of the \u201cold store\u201d into the reception space. Talk about a welcome! It was creative, sentimental, and completely immersive. People were blown away.<\/p>\n That event will always hold a special place in my heart. It wasn\u2019t just my first\u2014it was the moment I realized that this wasn\u2019t just something I was passionate about. It was something I could\u00a0actually do<\/em>\u2014and do well.<\/p>\n Eleven years in\u2026 and I still love it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Now that I officially have my own event planning company, I\u2019ve been doing a lot of reflecting lately. It\u2019s kind of wild to think how long this has been a dream of mine. And even wilder to realize how far it\u2019s come. I still remember the very first ev…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gatheringsbyhb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/img-1.jpg\")
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