Today we’d like to introduce you to Allison Gaddis.
Hi Allison, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Wedding Planning found me. After gaining a job at a local bridal boutique, I found brides asking my advice about centerpieces and ceremony seating. After only a few months, one of my clients asked me to coordinate her wedding day and I jumped at the challenge. Soon after, I began booking one wedding coordinating job per month, as well as being the top salesperson at the boutique. In late September 2008, I took the plunge and created Live Laugh Love Weddings.
I have always been a unique combination of planning and artistry. In the beginning and due to the 2009 recession, I mainly coordinated weddings. One client came along, and let me design her wedding with all my creativity flowing. It set the bar for me not only as a great coordinator but a fantastic planner and designer. Soon, I was creating unique designs that not only create beautiful weddings, but convey my clients’ fashion, home life, and heritage.
Tile, wood, paint chips, are just a few of the unique items I use to really create my clients’ designs. I have used oversized tiles for place settings, built wood herringbone centerpiece accents, set paint chips for escort cards, and lettered oversized menus to name a few. All my clients and colleagues know to expect the unexpected details, in an elegant timeless setting. I will always abide by my 4 simple rules:
1. I don’t do ugly weddings
2. If you can’t buy it, I build it
3. Sugar Coating belongs on a cake
4. Respect is always shown
Through my wedding career, I have fallen in love with woodworking and painted hand lettering. My clients are thrilled to have a wedding planner that not only keeps the event running seamlessly but one that can creates those personalized details.
With the Covid-19 pandemic, and weddings always in the balance, I decided to launch my second business, Handedness, to deliver those wood creations year-round. Creating wooden cake stands, charcuterie-type trays, and various home decor items throughout the past year has allowed me to not only provide for my family but also add unique touches for my eloping couples.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Running any business means hitting bumps, guiding through the valleys, and climbing mountains high. My three biggest hurdles have been: launching my business in the 2009 recession climate,
navigating the current pandemic, and above all finding my style and brand in the wedding world, I unexpectedly decided to launch Live Laugh Love Weddings when the recession of 2009 hit and hit hard.
Not many were looking to spend big bucks on a wedding planner. They couldn’t afford it! I did take notice; not one mother wanted to be setting up chairs and orchestrating all the photographs on their daughter’s wedding day. Parents wanted to enjoy the moments. To establish myself, I concentrated on coordinating weddings. As time went on, I got hired one after another. Now 12 years later, I am mainly hired for the unique design approach I take.
Navigating the pandemic today is similar to a few more hurdles. Weddings are smaller, and health is at the forefront of most clients’ minds. No one wants to host or attend a super spreader event. Creating a plan A, plan B, and plan C without losing quality is more crucial than ever. I recently contracted Covid-19 with an event to happen only three days after my diagnosis. My team stood ready. Vendors knew what to expect, my assistants knew how to handle every detail, and the clients never had to worry. The morning after the event, I received a message from the client saying, “Everything was perfect.”
Above all the rest though, my biggest hurdle has been finding my design. Pinterest became a great and quick resource and a great rabbit hole for brides. I started seeing the same images from every bride, and the bride wanting 5 different ceremony backdrops. All personalization and creativity were being lost. I decided quickly, my clients aren’t going to lose themselves in the Pinterest world. Today, I glance at my clients’ Pinterest boards to understand what they like. Then I talk to them and ask non-wedding questions. I want to know what their dream home would look like, what are their favorite foods, and I always notice their wardrobe.
If you wear Lilly Pulitzer-inspired fashion, why would you want an all-white wedding? If you are known for your love of burgers and hate crowds, why would you host a 300 guest event with a chicken marsala dinner? I absolutely adore my brand of creating personalized events based on my clients.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The color navy, patterned tiles, wood creations and a go big or go home attitude is what I am known for in the wedding world. I thrive at researching inspirations, hunting for the perfect shade of linens or spray paint, and calculating wood dimensions. You will find me researching weddings among home improvement stores and fashion journals. On my best days, you will find me at my miter saw, crutched over an oversized sign, or lifting furniture.
I am most proud of my talent to really dive into a clients’ style and merge two people’s lives into a wedding design. A wedding is like a window display celebrating a couple. I adore hearing of my clients’ contrasting personalities, and taking the challenge to create an atmosphere that welcomes their guests, and hosts an amazing wedding.
“I don’t do ugly weddings” and “If we can’t buy it, we build it” has really become proud slogans for Live Laugh Love Weddings. I have proposed a 24-foot wooden runway/aisle way for a summer, southern living-inspired wedding; as well as created and assembled over 700 pieces of herringbone wood for an East Tennessee lakeside wedding. I go all in and I go big, but always will go elegant and timeless.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I only know how to be completely hands-on for each of my clients’ weddings. Many times, potential clients ask “Will you be the one from Live Laugh Love Weddings there on my wedding day?” The answer is YES! I put so much of myself into my clients’ wedding I can’t fathom creating the design, and planning every detail then handing it to an associate to execute. It’s just not me.
On wedding days, I am lining chairs, rolling tables, and triple-checking seating charts. I am full hands-on. I have unloaded 20 centerpieces from a florist truck, climbed ladders to assist with lighting, and bundled honey sticks for favors. Several fellow vendors have told me they appreciate working with my clients more than others because they know I am not barking orders or scrolling through social media on a wedding day. I am getting the job done, no matter what it requires of me or my team.
Pricing:
- 4 packages from coordinating to full design
- average price $3500
Contact Info:
- Email: livelaughloveweddings@gmail.com
- Website: www.livelaughloveweddings.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livelaughloveweddings/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livelaughloveweddings
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/lllweddings/
Image Credits
Jennifer Crook Photography and Ancelet Photography
