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| A Bride Interview With Gina |
| Please take a moment to read this before hiring Gina and her planning team. {How long have you been doing what you do and how did you become a planner & designer?} I've been passionate about design since childhood. My father is a commercial interior designer and I have very fond memories of playing with swatch books, samples, and catalogs and watching him sketch at his drafting table. He inspired me to want to have my own business. I always thought it was so cool that he had his own thing; even from a young age it made me feel proud that he was different in that respect. I’ve also always had an enormous passion for music. I danced tap and jazz from the time I was very young through my early teens when singing became my focus. I loved being on stage performing. My love for music moved me into some work for a few record labels promoting different bands and album releases. I thought for sure I'd end up in A&R at one of those labels, but then Napster {dating myself!} came along and changed all of that for me. At that time I began working for a dot-com company in their event and advertising departments assisting with planning national career fairs for the high tech jobs industry and managing traffic for their high tech jobs magazine. When that company was sold and disbanded, that led me to a career in field advertising where my focus was to create brand experiences for consumer goods clients. These experiences included concerts, product launch parties, and brand loyalty campaigns. That's when I fell in love with the whole world of branding and with what you and I consider to be "special events". I absolutely LOVED the work and when the agency I was working for asked me to relocate in 2005, I chose to stay in my hometown of CLE, and Shi Shi Events was born. Looking back on my journey from there to here it's easy now to connect the dots in that my entire professional life's work has been about creating experiences for people. Whether it was through music, a job search, a brand they could identify with or now through an ultra personal, high style wedding day - it's the experience that matters and that's at the heart of everything I do. {We love your services and your portfolio; everything sounds fantastic… so can you tell me what sets you apart from all of the other wedding planners & designers out there?} We're experiential people over here; I plan and design your wedding using a tactile, sensory based, color outside the lines approach. It's through my experiential approach that we’re able to create ridiculously personal, high style weddings. Immersing your guests’ five senses in all things your style is what makes your wedding standout as an unmistakable memory: a timeless event. That's why couples choose to become Shi Shi brides & grooms. Given that, it's safe to say I feel pretty claustrophobic when faced with too many spreadsheets and check boxes, but I know they definitely have their place in the planning process. What…a conundrum. So my planning tools are designed to keep me creative, and you fully and uniquely on track. I put said planning tools in a central online location accessible to you and me anytime, anywhere, which means your planning process is not only custom, it's mobile. You won't find any cookie cutter, one-size-fits-all anything here. In the end, you get the best of both worlds; an open minded, slightly left of center, style savvy design house that knows how to keep things black and white as needed. {This all sounds so wonderful but it also seems expensive, are we going to be able to afford this?} What’s most important to a Shi Shi bride is value. And while it’s hard to mentally place a monetary figure on a service vs. a tangible product, you can put a monetary value on the time, effort, and undue stress you would invest planning your wedding on your own. Think of the hours and stress you’ll save traipsing all over town and the Internet trying to find the right venue, vendors, design concepts, etc. by choosing to work with a planner & designer who already has access to all of those things and can deliver the end results you want. Think of the fun you’ll be able to have making planning and design choices with each other and your families knowing any of the options we present to you are wonderful and value laden and you couldn’t go wrong if you tried! Think of the relief you’ll feel knowing on your wedding day you and your fiancé and your parents will be able to enjoy the day as guests, without having to worry about every little detail or hiccup that may pop up. Think of how incredible your wedding will look and feel when we bring it to life with your team of vendor partners whom we’ve matched you with perfectly based on your style, budget, and personality. Then ask yourself, how can I not afford this? The peace of mind alone is invaluable. {Who do you work best with?} I want to work with brides and grooms who want to have FUN in their planning process, are true to their own sense of style, and who trust me fully. My clients know I’m not going to ever show them something that’s out of their reach or encourage them to do something with which they’re not fully comfortable. I need that level of trust so we can get into the nitty gritty of what you really want and make that experience come alive for you and your guests. Planning a wedding is a completely unique experience from any other planning of events you’ve ever done; this is a very personal process and my best clients and I become true friends in our time together because so much of the work we do has to come from elements of yourself you would only share with a friend. It is a completely collaborative process and my best clients and I have an incredibly open communication system when it comes to what they’re all about and what excites and inspires them; that in turn really energizes and inspires me and it’s how we turn out our best wedding experiences. {Who is not going to benefit from your help having you doing planning & design?} One of my favorite quotes is “There is nothing in the world that some man cannot make a little worse, and sell a little cheaper, and he who considers price only is that man’s lawful prey.” from John Ruskin. Anyone who has the philosophy that price shopping is the best way to plan a wedding will not benefit from our services. We believe in value, and finding you the best value for your dollar. What that doesn’t mean is finding the cheapest means to an end. My clients are also from that philosophy; they appreciate quality and understand the need to pay for it. Also, I completely believe that every vendor is not for everybody, and so you need to find someone whose personality you enjoy and connect with immediately. For me, those who have the need to micromanage, check and recheck all of the work we do, or who believe the only way to plan and manage a process like this is to have it all in multiple spreadsheets, with everything very defined in little boxes, is not a good personality match. That personality type will more than likely feel let down and confused by our sensory based, more tangible planning process, and I’ll feel frustrated and upset by the lack of trust in the process and the lack of desire to really get into the planning with me. That’s a big disconnect and absolutely the best way to be sure neither side will be happy. Please don’t misunderstand, I don’t think that type of personality is wrong or bad or out of line; they’re just not the best fit for us and I want all brides and grooms to have a good fit, even if it means it’s not with us. {Will I lose control of my wedding if you’re planning it for me?} Absolutely not! I would never remove you from your planning process! Nor would I remove your mom, your fiancé, your best friend, or any other planning cohorts you so desire. This is a collaborative effort and it really does take a village. Your stamp of approval is on every decision we make. {Will you work with the vendors I already found, or people I really want to work with?} Definitely! I do have a preferred roster of those vendor partners who have proven themselves easy and fun to work with and who also turn out incredible wedding day results, but I’m definitely happy to work with anyone you prefer! I’m also not shy about letting you know if I think you should steer clear of someone or something either – being honest and objective with you is one of the reasons you hired me! {Do you take credit cards and can we have a payment plan?} Yes and yes. While I do prefer payment via cash or check, we definitely accept credit cards. Our service fee is already split into two payments, but if you need to make other arrangements just let me know and we’ll see what we can make work! {Do you have liability insurance?} Yes and we can provide a certificate of insurance upon request from any venue or vendor requiring it. {Do you take more than one wedding per day?} Yes; we can take up to two weddings per day, but never more than that and never more than three per weekend. We have three wedding teams at Shi Shi Events; one lead by me, and two led by Lead Day Of Coordinators, Dara and Casey, who have each been with me for many years and who I trust completely. You will know which of us is available for your wedding day prior to booking your wedding date with us. {What happens if you can’t make it on the wedding day?} While I greatly hope this question remains a hypothetical {knock on wood} as to date it has never happened, should I be incapacitated on your wedding day, either Dara or Casey would step in for me. {This sounds like everything we’ve been looking for, what happens next to start the process?} The next step is for you to call me at 440-623-3822 or email me to set up your get acquainted complimentary consultation. I want to hear about your needs, see if we’re a good fit, and which of our services suit your personality, style and budget best. {May we contact some of your former clients to see what it’s like to work with you?} Yes absolutely! You can also look at our client testimonials here right now. {We have a couple more questions before getting started, can I call you to discuss further?} Yes, in fact we highly encourage and require all of our clients to schedule a complimentary consultation so that we can get all your questions answered and make sure we’re a great fit for one another. Again please call 440-623-3822 or email me with any questions you may have. |