Today we’d like to introduce you to Chinaza Nwogu.
Hi Chinaza, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
As a Nigerian-American, I was taught to pursue my educational studies and find a career path that would make me money; the pressure to excel and achieve greatness was always there! Honestly, pursuing a career as an event planner was NEVER part of the equation; neither was running my own business. My career plan was to go to dental school and become a Pediatric Dentist; event planning was something I did as a hobby because I enjoyed helping people bring their dream event to reality. After completing my Bachelor’s degree, my plan was to work for a bit while I completed the rest of the prerequisites needed to gain admission into Dental School, again, being an Event Planner still wasn’t on my radar. The plans of being a Pediatric Dentist quickly changed, and Beauty of Life Events was born. It all happened in 2016 when a good friend of mine reached out to me and insisted that I plan her entire wedding (this included the traditional Nigerian wedding, and the “American” white dress wedding), my friend simply said “Chinaza, I want you to be my wedding planner for both my Nigerian Traditional and White Wedding ceremony”, you can imagine my shock because I had never worked, planned, or coordinated a wedding before!
After encouragement from my then-boyfriend, now husband, I decided to go for it! I was terrified to say the least because this was someone’s wedding, a day most women dream of since childhood! I truly did not want to mess anything up, but even with the fear I still persisted. The traditional wedding happened first, and to my surprise we had well over 700 guests in attendance! YES! A girl who had NO IDEA about the world of wedding planning or what exactly a Wedding Planner does was thrown into a wedding with a guest count of well over 700 people! My girls and I somehow miraculously survived that night and I vowed never to do wedding planning EVER AGAIN. I was so discouraged that I wanted to contact the bride and refer her to another planner for the White Dress Wedding. I didn’t know then how much it truly took to manage an event on the actual day of. As I was pouring out my feelings to my now-husband, he had the nerve to say, “I think you should do the white dress wedding and after that, start your own event planning business.” I knew he was out of his mind!
Hesitantly, I proceeded to do the white wedding ceremony; before the big day, I sat down and mapped out ALL that I had missed with the traditional wedding; what could have been done better, etc. That helped me develop a different approach towards the white wedding ceremony, and the change of mindset truly made a huge difference! My girls and I had so much fun! The execution of the White wedding ceremony was 100x better than what I felt about the execution of the traditional wedding. After the wedding, my now-husband, who was already in the wedding industry with his company Tehila Weddings (wedding photography & videography), asked “Are you ready to start your own business as an Event Planner?” I dismissed it until I received a call for another wedding! At this moment, we proceeded to the drawing board. After much deliberation with him, we arrived at the name Beauty of Life Events. I want people to celebrate life and, there is always a need for people to gather, and we want to be in the middle of it all; displaying the beauty of each life event!
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?
The road has not been easy at all. I was only 24 years old when I officially started. I knew nothing about wedding planning.
I took an event planning certification course to learn more. When it came to writing my contract and proposals, I had no idea what to write; but thank God for my husband, whose business background and experience came in handy. I have no idea how I would have survived the business aspect if not for him. One of the biggest challenges is determining what type of clients you want to have. Some event planners have made a living from luxury weddings, while most are still struggling with clients that are on the economical side. Being in the industry within five years, I am slowly craving a niche of what kind of clients we want to take on.
As you know, we’re big fans of Beauty of Life Events. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
Though I have my Master’s in Healthcare Administration, and undergoing my Project Management certification, I am also a Certified Event and Wedding Planner. We do mostly weddings compared to other events like birthdays, anniversary parties, bridal showers, etc. The process typically starts with a consultation, followed up with a deposit and contract (if they approve the price), and we start working for our Clients. While we have our preferred vendors, we approach each Client differently. Our work begins by selecting vendors based on Clients’ preference and budget, negotiating prices and contracts on behalf of our Clients, and attending most (if not all) of vendor meetings, and assisting our Clients in all decision making to ensure that our clients are blown away on the day of their event.
One thing I am most proud of, coming from a no business background, is that 90% of the weddings we have done and booked are strictly by referrals. That to me is a huge success, because it shows that people appreciate it enough to send more clients our way. Having most of my clients by referral helps sift through the type of clients we want to service.
We would not be able to get these referrals if not for MY TEAM. Like my husband says, “Your team can make or break your business quicker than money will,” and I thank God for this group of girls who have been working hard and effortlessly to ensure that each client has the wedding of their dreams. My Team is the BEST and I can PROUDLY say that!
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
With social media and how easily technology has made it convenient to find someone to look up to, I would seriously advise anybody looking for a mentor to look “locally.” My experience when I started was not great. I reached out to some planners that were in the game for a long time and no one was really responding and for those that responded, their advice was rather vague.
I simply do not want the next person to go through that, when people have approached me for any mentorship or how to get into the industry, I make myself available to answer as many questions as detailed as possible. Another thing we do is to have them partake in one of our weddings and from that experience to determine if they want to move forward. Last but not least, look out for vendor focused Open House, or even conferences designed for specific areas of the industry (planning, decoration, catering, etc.).
In this industry, always evaluate your mistakes, move forward, and get better. Make sure that your clients get the best experiences from you and through the process, no matter what.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beautyoflifeevents/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeautyOfLifeEvents/
Image Credits
Image 1: Photographer: @tiffanycouture_ Coordinator: @beautyoflifeevents Makeup: @iriejadebeauty Hair: @hairbykemz_
Image 2: Photographer: @tehilaweddings Planner: @beautyoflifeevents Decoration: @sheilaburkidesigns Bride Makeup: @toniaoartistry Bride Hair: @chicbeautehair
Image 3: Planner: @beautyoflifeevents Floral Decoration & Production: @royalluxuryevents Bride Day of Stylist: @iamsegungele Bride Makeup: @nikkifacesmua Bride Hair: @vainkhemistryhair_
Image 4: Planner: @beautyoflifeevents Photographer: @candorpictures Decoration: @d.onegrouptexas Bride Hair: @chicbeautehair Bride Makeup: @nikkifacesmua Bride Dress: @klothouse_official Groom: @afroviine
Image 5: Photographer: @shotbytony_ Coordinator: @beautyoflifeevents Bride Makeup: @toniaoartistry Bride Hair: @chicbeautehair Outfits: @royalwaydesigns
Image 6: Planner: @beautyoflifeevents Day-Of Coordinator: @doyinfash_ Stage Decoration & Rentals: @royalluxuryevents Photographer: @tiffanycouture_ Bride Makeup: @beautymarkedbyjoelle Bride Hair: @chicbeaute_1 Wedding Dress: @klothouse_official Groom Outfit: @forthegodss
Image 7: Photographer: @tiffanycouture_ Planner: @beautyoflifeevents Decoration: @sheilaburkidesigns
Image 8: Photographer: @tiffanycouture_ Planner: @beautyoflifeevents Makeup: Noella Nwosu Hair:@chicbeaute_1
