Community Highlights: Meet Stephanie Hopkins of Pretty & Planned Events

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Hopkins.

Hi Stephanie, 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 backstories with our readers?

I started wedding coordinating as a side hustle in 2007 for travel money because I always loved weddings and wanted to get into the industry, and I’ve always loved to travel and my extra money always went towards trips.

In 2015, when I became a new mom, I decided I wanted to quit my corporate job to pursue my business full time. To offer some flexibility as a mom that I wouldn’t have had in my previous job. It took about 10 months to get my business to a full-time status that replaced my old salary but it’s been the absolute best decision of my life!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I would not say smooth at all. Haha. Anything worth having takes a lot of work and business ownership is not for the faint of heart. It was a lot of hard work balancing being a new mom and worrying about my business being able to cover what salary, “security” and the benefits I had given up. My husband was so supportive and my biggest cheerleader along the journey. That helped immensely having that support.

Even some of family and friends told me not to risk it starting a business, but I knew I could not keep my old job and balance motherhood the way I wanted to. It’s been a long journey, but by far the greatest reward is working for yourself as a mom. You get to make your own schedule, money, you get to give yourself a raise or time off whenever needed. I get to be the one who takes and picks up my daughter from school every day and that wouldn’t have been possible in my last job where the schedule was set by someone else. Business success to me is about having clear goals and making things happen. Not waiting around or getting discouraged. It’s the people who can keep chipping away at their goals even on the bad days.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Pretty & Planned Events?
My business is Pretty & Planned Events. We do wedding and event planning and stationery design. It is myself, 3 lead planners, and a team of 8 assistant planners for weekend help. On average we coordinate (as a team) around 30-40 weddings and events a year. We do stationery services for our clients as well. Invites, menus, save the dates, place cards, etc.

We have had a storefront in Historic Downtown Parkville since 2016 and absolutely love it. Our client does too. We are one of few planners in KC that offer that in-person experience. It sets us apart because we have a common work area to really bring a clients vision to life in front of their eyes. I’m really proud of what we’ve built and truly feel we are one of a kind in what we do. People have a consultation with us and immediately get it.

People value when they can trust someone and that’s always who we want to be. We have been really blessed to curate one-of-a-kind relationships with the people who hire Pretty & Planned Events. We really get great clients and families – who in turn refer us to their friends and families. Which is the best feeling!

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Anything practical for a planner. I’m a planner in my very core and heart. I love to goal set, brainstorm, and put any kind of plan into place and action!

So I am often reading, listening to podcasts or YouTube videos just on becoming better at anything that is practical and useful in everyday life. Those things make a great wedding planner and overall business owner.

Pricing:

• We have three core planning packages. Our packages range from $3750.00 to $10k plus depending on the package and what our clients need the most and want/need for their planning experience.

Contact Info:

• Email: hello@prettyandplanned.com
• Website: prettyandplanned.com
• Instagram: @pretty_and_planned

Image Credits
Bailey Pianalto Photography