Hello, I'm Alexandria and I would love to assist you in planning for your memorable day. Whether it's a wedding, birthday, anniversary, holiday party, gala, or baby shower, I can help! I believe that life should be full of wonderful celebrations and joyous memories and I feel it is my life's purpose to deliver those magical moments to people. I would be honored if you chose me to plan your special day.
However, it would be unfair of me to ask you to choose me if you have not gotten the chance to know me personally, and hear the story of how I got here.
My adoration for social events began just before my teenage years. My father's job came with many fundraisers, galas, and community events that he attended. I was the only child in my family who loved attending those events with him, so naturally I always got the first invite. Many of my fondest childhood memories were of going to these events with my father. One of the reasons that these events moved me so much was because of the common theme of bringing all kinds of people together. It was always so impactful for me to have had the pleasure of being around a multitude of people growing up- people with different ethnicities, people with different religions, people of different ages and stature, people with various degrees of wealth, and people of all sorts of professions. People I met, food I ate, the level of service I got to experience- these times were some of my favorite memories growing up.
I thought about my career path in high school and I knew that I wanted to help create those same lasting memories for other people. When it came time to apply to colleges, I researched several colleges in California with hospitality programs. I decided that my #1 choice was San Diego State University. I tried not to get my hopes up too much, because I know that it is increasingly competitive to get accepted into San Diego State. When I received my acceptance letter, I sat in my car and cried like a baby, because I knew that I was one step closer to achieving my dreams.
I can't even begin to summarize my college experience in one paragraph. I learned so much about business, leadership, life skills, and hospitality. I was pushed to be my best ALL OF THE TIME. Even when I didn't have any energy left in me, I had to keep pushing. Our hospitality program was designed to push you to your limits. With a rigorous course schedule full of business and leadership classes (yes, even finance and accounting- yuck!), and grades that were based on things like attending industry events and networking mixers, shadowing industry professionals, 2 extensive paid internships at hotels, huge projects, volunteering to work community events, and being on the board of a hospitality-based student organization, I was always spread thin. During my college years I worked for all 3 of the major hotel companies (Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott), and for 2 of those years I was chosen to serve as the President of the student organization Foodies, where we would schedule restaurant visits to taste different unique foods and talk to chefs and managers about how the restaurant industry works.
In my senior year of college, I started to wonder what I could do to stand out in my industry from all of my other hospitality student peers. I had big dreams to own my own wedding and event planning business some day, and I believed that I could start working towards that dream now. I decided that I needed to work on branding and networking. My first step was ordering business cards that I could hand out at mixers. I had ordered 100 business cards for myself as a hospitality student and I would go around at these shows and chat with vendors about their jobs. I would try and network with as many vendors as I could, and I would almost always follow up with the ones I talked to over email the next day. I also asked different industry professionals if I could meet them for coffee so that I could pick their brain on what it takes to make it in the wedding and event industry, and what other professionals they would recommend for me to contact. I even started my own Instagram account with the handle I wanted for my wedding and event planning business someday. I would post about the wedding shows and networking mixers I was attending, people I met, events I worked for or helped plan through school, or any other content that I thought might get me noticed.Towards the end of my senior year, I actually had an old high school friend reach out to me and ask me to plan her wedding. I had the honor of planning my first wedding right after college, which is something I never thought I would be able to say. I knew that I had chosen the right profession when I came home that night, exhausted out of my mind, thighs chafed to the max (I wore a dress at the reception), covered in sweat, and I just cried I was so happy that I had achieved my dream of being someone's wedding planner.
After that wedding, I decided to start branding my business and get more vendor and client contacts. I became (and still am) a member of the Association For Wedding Planners International, and I became a member of Meeting Professionals International-both of which have given me some great contacts. Not only do I post tips and other helpful and inspirational content on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, but I also started a mini Instagram live series called Live With My #PartyPeople, where I have conversations with various unique and talented wedding vendors across California. I hoped that this could be a resource for any brides planning their wedding during this time. I also started this blog, which was something I feared for a while (I'm not much of a writer). My whole career has been about risk-taking and going outside of my comfort zone, which is why I would be the ideal planner for your upcoming wedding. Let's create a wedding that your guests will talk about for years to come. Let's create an extraordinary experience together.
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