Today we are talking to Andrea Ashley, a popular event planner in the GTA who incorporates holistic health, wellness and eco-friendly aspects to create truly unique and original events. She loves creating the “ultimate happy” for her clients and has a passion for encouraging a healthy and respectful lifestyle for both event planning and day to day living.
1. Hello, and welcome Andrea! Thanks for chatting with us today. Why don’t we start with you telling us what got you started in your business?
I actually started out in the holistic health field as a practitioner and skin care therapist, and absolutely loved learning and soaking up all I could in this industry and helping others live a healthy, happier lifestyle. It came to a point though where I did not feel at my own personal optimal happiness, and it was because something was missing: my creative outlet. Through managing spas I gained experience in creating promotional events, opening launches, customer appreciation events and found my little glow of happiness always came back when I was planning. It was at that point I decided to return to school and specialize in Special Event Planning.
2. That’s awesome. 🙂 Can you tell us how you incorporate your past experience in holistic health into event planning?
Absolutely. I will give the client as much or as little on the topic as they wish, but most love to find out there are little ways to add in some health and wellness to every event. Some clients are health and fitness fanatics so it’s great that I can really share both my passions throughout the entire process. Others are eco-friendly, or prefer to eat healthy but still want to enjoy their day by indulging. There is always a way to find a happy medium so you can respect the earth and your health while having an outstanding wedding. Lastly, some clients just want the expertise to help them pre-wedding: getting them into shape, doing spa pamper sessions to get them beauty ready and their skin wedding day flawless or relaxing holistic therapies to de-stress before the big day. A common favourite is a relaxing yoga class for the bridal party the night before or the morning of the big day.
3. We did yoga in the morning before one of the weddings that I was a bridesmaid for, and it was awesome. I love that you do that! What you do is very creative. What are some of your favourite out-of-the-box ideas you’ve been able to share with your clients?
I definitely encourage all clients to tune into their own wants and desires as it is so easy to get caught up in people pleasing especially when it comes to a wedding. Once I reassure them you cannot make everyone happy so to just focus on yourselves and I will handle pleasing everyone else, they tend to relax and let me see the real versions of themselves and then I can really give some personalized unique ideas that reflect the couple.
4. What is you favourite style of event to plan?
I will always have a soft spot in my heart for weddings. They will always be a number one as there is nothing more gratifying than sharing such a special and memorable day with someone and being part of making that experience come to life for them. However, the number one spot has most recently be shared with the lead up events: creating Spa and Yoga Bridal Showers, Relaxing Retreats for Bachelorettes, etc. I am all about creating a cool, hippie, eco-chic, healthy sophisticated alternatives for clients who are over the drink yourself into an oblivion cliché of a party.
5. When people come to you to consider partnering with you, what is the one thing you want them to know about you and your work?
That I will do anything to make things “perfect”. It is kind of counter intuitive as the holistic yogi side of me knows there is no “perfect”, however that has transitioned well into working with wedding clients as although I am a workaholic for my clients and will not stop until it surpasses their expectations. I also know there will always be unfavourable or unpredictable occurrences that arise during an event. Some maybe stressful big things, other minor discrepancies, but I will always be able to handle it and 99.9% without the clients knowing there was a hiccup.
Thanks for your time today, Andrea! I’ve really enjoyed getting to know more about the service you provide.
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