Event planning was not new to me --- I had organized and managed many over the years, from golf tournaments, to Christmas parties, team building seminars and other special corporate events. The décor was pretty much whatever the venue had to offer and I did not have budget to cover décor extras. I was working for Eastlink corporate at the time and was tasked with providing a stunning sales gala for the CEO. This included spectacular décor, which wasn’t something normally required. I sought out a local Halifax decorator to give me a hand. Karen Spurr at Grand Beginnings was my choice for decorating this fabulous event. Karen and I worked together designing unique colour schemes and room décor including centrepieces, linens and flowers for this event year after year. I realized what a joy creating a look, bringing a vision to life really was. I was smitten. These were highly successful events and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
In the Spring of 2013 I retired after 12 years with Eastlink and 37 years in the administration field. I took a couple of months off and then realized I needed something meaningful to do. Over the summer I had been in touch with Karen and she had mentioned that she could use some help with events if I was bored. I jumped at the chance. We worked on weddings towards the end of August and into September and October. During this time it came to light that Karen, after 15 years, actually wanted to retire from the business and that she had been looking for someone she felt could take the reins and carry on. She chose me at that point and I was definitely ready! I decided to buy Grand Beginnings, lock stock and barrel including business contacts, inventory, website, etc. This would be my “Weddings” event planning and décor business. Grand Central was to be established a little later as my “Corporate” event planning business.
In the Fall of 2014 my husband, Joe and I incorporated 3283689 Nova Scotia Limited and intended to work both businesses under this umbrella. Joe brought his own brand of creativity to the business and this has proven to be an excellent fit. He makes my visions a reality. I describe it --- he builds it. As it turned out, we only ended up purchasing inventory from Karen and not the company, Grand Beginnings itself. Karen had built the business from scratch and had worked it for 15 years. She was just not able to let go of it. This was definitely a hiccup in our plans as we had built a business plan around a 15 year old established company with a website and work on the books. We had to then start from scratch and change the name of the operating company to Grand Central Events and Décor so we would run one business to work both Corporate and Weddings.
We have worked very hard 2014/2015 establishing our new business from the ground up. Everything happens for a reason and I am delighted to have my own company name, logo, reputation and all that goes with it. It is what we are building and the satisfaction is totally ours. I now understand why it was so hard for Karen to let go. By the way, although Karen is not active in her business any longer, she and I still work together on occasion and I value her opinion after being in the business for 15 years.
A thought for today....
“You have the power to make someone’s day.”
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In the coming weeks, stay tuned for helpful information on planning your wedding complete with top décor mistakes that can ruin your wedding.
In the meantime, I am delighted to let you know that Grand Central will be the Wedding Planner and Decorator in the upcoming Win A Wedding being offered by Hot Country 103.5FM as grand prize at the Atlantic Wedding Showcase on January 17th, 2016. Make sure to get your ballot in……. www.hotcountry1035.com
