Simply Chic Soirées
Keep It Chic with Simply Chic Soirées Special Event Planning!
Project Description
Who is Simply Chic Soirées?
Simply Chic Soirées was created after a happy accident.
In 2002, I enlisted in the United States Army Reserves, a decision that would change my life forever. My plans to be the best soldier I could be lead me on the path to becoming an event planner. Funny enough, it was my First Sergeant, Fredrick Tucker (CSM, RET) in my unit that pushed me into this wonderful world after raising concerns about a Holiday Family Day event in December of 2004 that went terribly wrong. The following January, after being "volunteered" by my First Sergeant, I took the year to plan. As by design, the next December holiday ball was a roaring success! After that, I unknowingly became the resident event planner for every occasion thereafter. Who knew that I would fall in love with events and all that came with them? Certainly not me!
I continued to push through running my business while working a full-time job as an Optician and as an Army Reservist. Although this was challenging, event and wedding planning is a serious passion of mine. In October of 2019, I decided it was time to run Simply Chic Soirées full-time and focus on growing my company the right way. I can proudly say it was one of the best decisions of my life.
I knew our company needed a way to support our local community uniquely. Simply Chic Soirées supports a nonprofit I created called Bea’s Closet (named after my late Mother, Beatrice Henry). We clean, repair, and donate formal/wedding dresses to women and high school-age young ladies for weddings and events. It is a beautiful feeling to be able to inject normalcy into these ladies lives who may not be able to afford them due to their economic situation. I love that we created our own lane to "Give Back in Style"!
My team consists of three wonderful ladies who also express an interest in the event planning industry Crystal Harris -Lead Planner, Sharice Lee- Lead Design Consultant, Alexius Culpepper-Lead Client Consultant (not shown). They have a dream to one day own and operate their own event planning company and I am overjoyed to be the one to show them the way.
What is our mission and how will we help our community?
We are proudly a Woman-Owned, Black-Owned, and Veteran-Owned wedding and special event planning company. Simply Chic Soirées' mission is to be second to none in the event and wedding planning/coordinating, decor, and entertainment industry. Striving for excellence in customer service makes us the best, most reliable Event Planning company in the state of Georgia. We pledge to treat all present and future employees and clients with respect and dignity and exercise the utmost integrity in all aspects of our business.
Simply Chic Soirées' goal is to provide various event services and a reliable list of vendors that the client requests. The need to collaborate with the client to find more innovative ways to host their events is ever-present within target markets. Our pursuit is to always convey the importance of this to our clients effectively and creatively to drive results. During the seventh year, the company will continue to establish its brand promise and capture the immense potential market in the state of Georgia for event planning services. This will be done through aggressive advertising and effective marketing.
I am proud to say I live in a wonderfully diverse community. I am surrounded by a beautiful rainbow of entrepreneurs, and as an event planner, I want to be able to add to my community by being able to hire individuals with an interest in this vast industry and enhance my neighborhood in my own way. Covid has put us through some very tough times, and to be able to give them a clean and fresh location to showcase their skills is paramount for how event planners do business. I would like to have a vendors event once a month in my area to let my physical community and my events community come together, and support each other by pushing the importance of "Shopping Small"!
How will we increase business?
Our objective is to increase to a 40% market share in the event planning industry within the next two years. The marketing strategy includes airing six radio ads (15 seconds each) for a time frame of six months. Over these six months, the company plans to reach over 500,000 potential clients via radio ads. The radio ads will air during non-peak hours to be cost-effective while still reaching the station's core listeners. In addition to business obtained through social media and word-of-mouth marketing, we did plan 13 events in the fiscal year 2020. Even with a pandemic, we were still coveted as one of the top event planning companies in the metro Atlanta area.
I am so happy to announce that we now have a new location in Austell, GA to further help our clients achieve the look and feel of every event they want to hold. Clients can come to see designs, pick out linens, and have a place to comfortably talk about what they want for their wedding day or special occasion. Our nonprofit will also operate out of the style studio once we complete the renovations.
The intention is to become familiar to at least 100,000 listeners thus making them more apt to visit Simply Chic Soirées website and physical location for their next event over one year, increasing potential customers seriously browsing for information.
How will your donations help us?
As our company grows, we look forward to updating our website, social media, and marketing strategies. We are currently looking to expand our inventory to give our clients bolder, fresher, and more gorgeous weddings and events. Once renovations are completed, it will be a place where clients and vendors can see how we will create the designs for any special occasion.
We also plan on hosting pop-ups to showcase the most talented vendors that we work with at weddings and events. We want our community to know that we support the best and the most professional people in the industry, and they should support them too. The pop-up frequency will be quarterly at the start to get the buzz out, and then gradually increasing once a month to showcase as many vendors as possible.
Your donations will help Simply Chic Soirées carry out the needs of our day-to-day operations by hiring and training new staff. It takes support from wonderful people like you to keep us running strong. We will also use the funds you donate to provide dresses to those ladies in need with Bea's Closet.
I want to say THANK YOU for taking the time to learn more about me, how I started the company, and of course for your financial contribution.
XOXO,
Amaris Taylor
Owner/Creative Director
Simply Chic Soirées
Updates
The Campaign FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions:
What will Simply Chic Soirées use the funds for?
Great question! We will use the money to refresh our inventory to keep us up to date in the events industry. We have also acquired our new office space, so we will use it to help cover day-to-day operation expenses such as internet, payroll, etc.
How many crowdfunding campaigns has Simply Chic Soirées done?
This is our very first crowdfunding campaign! Although we are super excited about the journey, we are still learning and tweaking how we crowdfund daily. So please, be gentile :)
What makes Simply Chic Soirées unique?
We have set ourselves apart from every other event/wedding planner by offering our clients competitive rates that allow easier payments. We know that they have other vendors to pay. With the style studio in effect, clients are able to customize each package so that they don't feel as if their event is cookie cutter. From the tablecloth to the napkin to the centerpiece, our clients will have a hand in designing their special occasion.
What is your biggest challenge?
Our biggest challenge as a small business is raising business capital. Generally, our clients pay for services and this is what feeds our payroll and covers operational costs. With that we require smaller sums than most small businesses. Requesting micro-loan amounts apparently doesn't look appealing to banks or loan companies. As a black, female, veteran I didn't think it would be as difficult, so I am very thankful for companies like IFW (IFW of Color) to invest not just funds but time and resources in companies like mine.
How do your sales look like for 2021?
We are very pleased with our numbers this year! We have increased our sales and exceeded our 1st quarter goal by 300% in comparison to 2019 and 76% in comparison to 2020. We believe with the event/wedding industry opening again we will continue on this trend through the remainder of the year.
Just Because I Care
Rewards
Just Because I Care