Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Pickney.
Hi Michelle, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
In 2012, I was working in Corporate America and found myself not being fully fulfilled at work. I have always been really crafty and able to decorate for friends and family. One of my close friends mentioned that I might want to think about doing event planning professionally. At the time I thought she was completely nuts and I didn’t think my work compared to Event Planners. As I further explored the idea I started comparing my work to the work of others. From that point, Bella Event Planning was created! I started with a business plan to only focus on Social events (Birthday Parties, Baby Showers, etc.). As my business started expanding my Brother got engaged, he asked me to do his Wedding, my response was “I don’t do weddings…lol” he encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone and decorate and coordinate his wedding.
In 2015, I completed my first Wedding of 250 guests, I quickly found that my organizational skills coupled with my decoration experience really fit well with Wedding Planning, Design and Coordination. Today, we average about 20 weddings a year while still doing social events. In 2020, when COVID hit our event calendar was impacted significantly and we quickly pivoted and expanded out our Social Event side of the business to Balloon Design. We soft-launched Bella Balloons and More in 2020 and officially launched our first Retail Store in Southeast Texas (my hometown) in 2021. So currently we have Bella Event Planning (Wedding Planning, Design and Coordination) Bella Balloons and More (Retail store in Texas providing one-stop-shop balloon design and crafts) and a Bella Crafts or Etsy store that sells Crafts (Baskets and Custom Gifts). Overall the Bella Brand is strong, versatile and unique to the markets we serve.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has pretty much been a smooth road until 2020. We were planning for a knock-out year in 2020 with 15 weddings and events on the books and quickly had to pivot to ensure we maintained a revenue streams. I had always dabbed in balloon design and crafts but saw an opportunity to maximize on both during COVID at a time when people were quarantined and not going to stores. During this time we focused on building out our Craft and Balloon design side of the business. We started doing Graduation Baskets online through our Etsy store and had great success with selling over 15K in baskets in 2020 and 10K in 2021 just during graduation time. We also started providing our customers with Balloon Marquees which are custom balloon statements for any occasion, since we were in COVID we were able to do door delivery and our customers were still able to celebrate their special occasions even through quarantine. So in summary overall we had some COVID hurdles but was quickly able to pivot and expand in ways that have us uniquely positioned in the Event Planning industry.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m an Entrepreneur that is focused on ensuring my clients have a quality event that leaves a lasting impression. We specialize in Wedding and Social Event Designs that are unique, fun and leaves a memorable experience for my clients and their guest.
I’m most proud of being in the Event Industry for over 10 years, building a solid team that has been with me for over nine years.
What sets us apart is that we truly connect with and care about our clients. Wedding planning is very hard and there are many trials and tribulations that occur and we are right there with our clients, providing motivation, guidance and support through the whole process. Sometimes we are even spiritual counselors to help manage the stress that comes with determining the wedding guest list, family, rsvp’s and making decisions. Our clients appreciate and know that we have their back 100%.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
What makes me the happiest is seeing my client’s face after we have worked hard on the concept and design to the final results. The shock and sometimes tears reassure me that I have executed the job to their satisfaction. We also get many compliments for the professionalism of our team, we show up on time and ready to go! I guess my experience in Corporate America has helped group me and my team on how to show up when it’s time to execute and get things done.
Pricing:
- Wedding Coordination – 1200-2000 Depending on the size of the Wedding
- Wedding Consultation – FREE! Let’s start designing
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bellaep.com
- Instagram: @Bellaeventplanningatl
- Facebook: @Bellaeventatl
Image Credits
Social Shots Photography (Top two photos)
