What 2017 will Bring!

Well it's officially 2017! Read or not here we come. The ladies of Elegant Affairs are ready to take this wedding season by storm.

Right now we are gearing up for the Seattle Wedding (Learn more about the Seattle Wedding here on the bog!) and then as of right now we kick off our wedding season in March.

What I am most excited about is the addition of three new associate wedding planners (Emily, Lisa and Mimi). if you are coming to the Wedding Show at the Washington State Convention in 2 weeks then you will meet all of these incredible ladies. You will instantly fall in love with everyone of them. I am so honored to have them part of Elegant Affairs' future. They can't wait to start their own journey with our 2017 and 2018 couples.

Something you are hearing about first is the roll out of our new online client workbook. We have been working on this for a few weeks and it was finally finished tonight. If you are one of our lucky couples, make sure you check your inbox tomorrow as you will be able to get your hot little hands on our latest creation we are so proud of. Our goal is for this "workbook" to is let our clients be a little more interactive with their own wedding planning.

I have a little secret, well I guess it's not all that quiet especially if you have been on our Web site, but we are about to introduce our Mentorship Program (official name TBD). This has been my baby of sorts that I have been working on and off for some time. Over the years, we have received inquiries from individuals interested in becoming a wedding planner which gave me the idea for this program. I am not committing to a specific date when this will be introduced, but trust me you will know when it does. If you are interested, send us an e-mail to info@elegnataffairswa.com and we will add you to our mailing list.

A few of our 2016 goals that we will be continuing this year is working more from our new office location and "trying" to work less from home. It's a constant struggle but I am always working on finding a good balance between work and family especially when we are deep in the wedding season. One thing that really helped was taking Sundays off and only committing each of our planners including myself to one wedding/event per weekend. We have received great feedback from our clients and this is one of our selling points when meeting with potential clients. Ultimately, we want to give each of our clients 100% of our attention for their event with no distractions.

We are so excited for anything that comes our way in 2017 and ready for any challenge! 

Welcome to our Team, Emily, Lisa and Mimi!

If you have been following Elegant Affairs all over social media, then you know we were in search of some new members of our team. And after two weeks of interview and meeting some amazing candidates, we decided on bringing on two new incredible individuals.

I would like to introduce Lisa Owens, she lives with her husband and two small children in Puyallup and she brings a wealth of knowledge to EA as she is a florist and has experience in wedding + event planning.

From Lisa:

"Hi my name is Lisa Owens and I am extremely thrilled to join the Elegant Affairs team. I began working as a florist here in Tacoma. My passion for floral design in weddings and special events began to flourish. I graduated from Tacoma Community College with my degree in Business with an emphasis in Wedding Planning. I was then given the opportunity to intern as an Event Specialist at the Tacoma Art Museum. Overtime I learned many event logistics which included weddings, corporate events, holiday parties, and birthday celebrations. Since 2010, I have executed creative and unique weddings and events. I look forward to sharing my knowledge and experience with the team at Elegant Affairs and working with our couples, making their experience unforgettable!"

New to Washington, coming from North Carolina by way of Nebraska, Mimi Merliss is ready to start her dream career in wedding + event planning.

From Mimi: I’m Mimi Merliss and I so excited to be a new planning assistant for Elegant Affairs! I’m new to Tacoma from Charlotte, NC, where I was working for an internet marketing firm. I am so happy to be following my dream of being an event and wedding planner. I found my talent for event planning as a member of Kappa Delta at Elon University and her many leadership positions in high school, where I was heavily involved in the arts. I have an eye for elegant detail and knack for coordinating for seamless service. I am looking forward to learning lots in my new role and meeting the Elegant Affairs couples of 2017!

In addition to our newest wedding assistants Lisa and Mimi, I am thrilled to introduce our newest Associate Wedding Planner, our very own Emily. We asked and she graciously accepted and we couldn't be more excited.

From Emily:

I am so excited to announce my new role as a wedding planner with Elegant Affairs!  Aside from continuing to manage and write our blogs, I will also begin taking on weddings for the 2017 season. I am ecstatic to bring my enthusiasm for this industry to every couple I have a chance to work with, and can’t wait to dive into the 2017 season. Lastly, I couldn’t be more grateful to Lori for making Elegant Affairs such an exceptional company for work for and supporting my dreams. 2017, here we come! 

But with the changing of the guard it is also said that we have to say goodbye to Jen, who is moving to Boston in just a few short weeks to join her fiance in Boston who is currently in grad school there. But don't fret, you will be hearing from and about Jen as we are planning her July wedding in Roche Harbor which we can't wait for.

And for Melissa, we can't be more proud of her as she was promoted in her position at her other job with a major hotel chain in downtown Seattle. While she won't be planning weddings, she will still assisting with weddings when her new schedule allows. 

We wish both of these amazing women the best of luck and then know and hopefully one day they will find their way back to Elegant Affairs.

Finally, we are still accepting applications for our Wedding Day of Assistants and Interns for 2017, if you are interested, please e-mail us at info@elegantaffairswa.com