Today we’d like to introduce you to Lizzie Lumley.
Lizzie, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When I was little, I loved putting on tea parties and weddings for my stuffed animals. I fell in love with weddings, but it wasn’t until I saw the movie “The Wedding Planner” that I learned that wedding planning was a real job! From that moment on, I was fully focused on becoming a wedding planner. I went to the University of Florida and graduated with a degree in Event Management. While in college, I completed a rigorous 2-Day Wedding Certification course, which in order to complete I worked 200 internship hours with different wedding vendors and planned 4 weddings from beginning to end. It was important to me to not start my business right away as I wanted to gain more experience in the industry. So, after graduation, I went on to work in different areas of the wedding and event industry with caterers, florists, dress shops, designers, etc. For the last 5 years, I worked with an event production company in Orlando and planned over 800 events during my career there, while at the same time working as a freelance wedding planner. You know how people say – “when you know you know.” Well that moment happened for me while planning a wedding in the beginning of 2017, I just knew that I was ready to start my own business, and thus was born, Hakuna Matata Weddings & Events.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I have been blessed with a fairly smooth road, but I believe a lot of that can be credited to my forward thinking and planning. I worked many, many hours and late nights to gain the experience needed as well as saving money so that I could start my own business and not go into debt. Everything has been a learning experience though. Although school is great, it can’t teach you everything about marketing and the practical application of it in the real world – so it’s been a process trying to figure out the best way to market my business to potential clients. YouTube tutorial videos on marketing trends have been a big help!
Hakuna Matata Weddings and Events – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Hakuna Matata Weddings and Events is a wedding and event planning company. We design weddings, social and corporate events and coordinate all the details of these events including decor, catering, lighting, entertainment, etc. We specialize in wedding planning – especially month of/day of wedding planning. Our month of/day of package begins a month prior to the wedding. We confirm all the vendors, create a detailed timeline, and on the day of, handle the run of show. The achievement I am most proud of for my company is a solid 5-star review from all of our clients. My wedding assistants and I work so hard to make sure that our clients’ events go off without a hitch. It’s so rewarding to know that our hard work is recognized. Hakuna Matata Weddings and Events is different from other companies because I took the time to gain a solid foundation in the event industry. Our clients can trust that when they hire my company, they will always have professional, prompt, knowledgeable, and flawless service. Also, I have a true passion and love for events. I’m not in it for the money – I truly enjoy coordinating the details and executing the event. I believe that sets us apart from other companies.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
There are so many facets of success – life, career, love, family…. In all of those, I define success as finding happiness and balance. I believe this saying sums up the definition of career success – “when you love what you do, it’s not work”, I love wedding and event planning – even after a 14 hour day on my feet, I am still smiling.
But overall, life success is not all about work; it’s also about having a work/life balance – spending time with your family and friends, enjoying nature, traveling, and doing your hobbies.
My criteria for success – a ‘never give up, never surrender’ attitude. There are so many stories of very successful people failing time and time again, but then something finally goes right. If you hit a road bump, that doesn’t mean you won’t be successful in the future. As Dory says “Just keep swimming!” I would say another good criterion is to just be nice and be true to you – you never know if the next person you meet could help you out big time in life! It’s ok to accept help from people – being humble can get you pretty far. Taking risks, learning from my mistakes, making to-do lists for everything – those things help me to be successful.
Pricing:
- Wedding Planning Packages begin at $800
Contact Info:
- Address: 6778 Skyline Drive
Delray Beach, FL 33446 - Website: www.hakunamatataweddings.com
- Phone: 561.706.0974
- Email: hakunamatataweddings@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hakunamatataweddings/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hmweddings
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/hakunamatatawed
- Other: https://www.weddingwire.com/biz/hakuna-matata-weddings-and-events-delray-beach/15c6273eb5e2ce88.html
Image Credit:
White House Wedding Photography
Steve Miller Wedding Photography
Lilly and Lilly Photography
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