Event Planners, or as I like to call them – the fairy Godmothers of all things wedding and special events – are really the glue to every single aspect of your wedding day/event. They help piece together your dream vision while giving you ideas and feedback about each decision from the catering and floral designs to the guest experience.
Ashley Douglass Events is the total package with the motto of “seamless planning for luxury events.” We have worked with her and her team for the past few years and the work that they have done is stunning. We have shared the final images of numerous we have worked with her in the past, but we thought it would be fun to learn about the process of making those events a reality. So grab a cup of coffee and enjoy some one-on-one time with the one and only Ashley Douglass.
ess planning for luxury events.
Her experience in this industry:
Before event planner, Ashley was involved in professional theatre both in NYC and regionally. She grew up in a professional theatre family and was a serious ballet student all throughout childhood so “production time” was just part of her life. While still in the theater, she worked as a staff trainer for a larger NYC restaurant group. For her it was ideal because when she needed a job, be it for a month or four, she always had a restaurant to be placed into and sometimes was helping to open a new restaurant too. She moved to LA in her late 20s and did the same work on the side and eventually her name started circulating as a subcontracted wedding or event coordinator. That was when she first got the wedding bug. Ashley shadowed some designers as well, laying the groundwork for a future job, all the while still treading the boards. She then went back to school to become a therapist and in tandem started to book her own weddings. (Is there a more perfect pairing of professions? Planner and therapist? She can make your event beautiful AND help you through the inevitable meltdowns!) Without planning it, a new career emerged and picked up speed prior to completing her training hours as a therapist so she went for it as a full time wedding/event planner. That was about 9 years ago.
How she got started and what made her choose this career:
Ashley always wanted to work for herself. That was a must. She says she is for sure right brained but also loves detail and a hard challenge. The harder the job, the better she will do. With weddings and events, you see the final outcome which is the ideal reward. Ashley also has a few other business ideas up her sleeve, but we will get back to her on that!
What geographic areas she services:
She works in NYC, Hamptons, Hudson Valley to the Berkshires, Vermont and Fairfield County CT. But really she works wherever her clients take her. They have also planned in CA, CO, FL, TX and Mexico.
Her favorite part about being an event planner:
Happy clients make a happy planner. Ashley feels good to be in a job in which she excels, as silly as that may sound. She is good with people (thanks therapy degree), detail and an absolute pro design.
What Ashley likes about working with a tent for a wedding reception versus an indoor space:
She finds that its important to have a tented event even if you are in a location that does not get much rain. Having a main structure calls for guests to focus and gather in one space and you are able to do what you want aesthetically. You can be anywhere – a patio, a field or even outside in the woods – and have a formal event. She loves lighting and a barren tent gives you options!
How she discovered Greenwich Tent and why she enjoys working with us:
She began working with us back when we were first Sperry Tents Greenwich. We’re a growing company that still feels and operates like a small family company and she and her clients value that.
Some of her favorite events she has done with us!
A New Canaan wedding the night after the Supreme Court ruled same sex marriage as legal. Click Here to see the full story! (No big deal – Justin Timberlake showed up…)
A wedding at Glenmere Mansion where the bride actually let her mother do a majority of the planning since she was busy with her career and wanted her mom to have some fun with it!
And a wedding at The Country Club of Fairfield where her parents got married sixty two years before. Click Here to see the full story!
If you are equally as happy seeing her gorgeous events, then pop on over to their Instagram!
