Today we’d like to introduce you to Saira Orozco
Hi Saira, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started in the wedding industry at the end of my high school career. I was in an orginazation called FFA and I got my certified floral certificate thinking I can potentially do something with it in the future.My Ag Teacher at the time would take me with her to weddings and she would select students that had the talent to create arrangements so I learned a little bit there. However when I graduated High School in 2015 I went in to get my nursing degree. I ended up finishing half of what was required at Lone star College and dropped out due to realizing the career is not for me end of 2017.
Let’s reverse back to how I got into the wedding industry.
I was working at Spring Creek BBQ at the time and a server there showed me photos of this really cool venue she started working at. I told her she needed to get me in. She said there was no availability at the time however she will try. I received a text from the venue manager months later during busy season to work at as a beverage server – at the time it was called Chateau Cocomar. I was elated!!! I said yes. Mind you I have been working there since 2013. This was 2016 now. I was in college and was in honors while take 12-15 credit hours of classes.
I had so many things going during that phase of my life I had about 3-4 jobs. I was a beverage server at the venue, worked at spring creek, babysat children at night and also worked at lone star. I really loved working at the venue. I made so many connections that later that year I started working at a floral company doing big productions. I was so happy to see another perspective of the wedding industry. Remember I had my floral license so it was very easy for me to go into it. While doing that and everything else the venue managers saw talent in me and started using me as their assistant in 2017. From then on I quickly learned as much as I could behind the scenes of managing a venue while also coordinating a wedding. I really enjoyed it!
I enjoyed it so much that I was so confident to do it on my own. So I did. I got my first gig as a coordinator and to design the wedding. My friend referred me to the bride. So I did both and it was a success !! I had a clue of what I was doing but I definitely just jumped in the woods. It was my very first solo gig. I was still working at the venue and told myself one day I will do big things. I always believed in myself. Note, that it was a random opportunity and I took it however I wasn’t knowledgeable enough business wise yet to fully scale into it so I kept doing what I was doing.
I was then offered a full time job at the venue to do maintenance. I said ok I will take it to learn but I was not too into it. I really wanted to be a logistics manger. I was doing full time for about a year and an half until I went full time at a production company. In 2019 I went from being at the venue learning as much as I could and go an opportunity to see and learn what goes behind the scenes with staging, lighting design, DJs, Music, Setting up LArge scale events etc. It was a completely different world and I enjoyed it so much!! I still had a million other jobs. Doing floral, babysitting here and there and doing that.
I also met my husband/fiance there too! Then Covid hit. I got furloughed. I was devastated and heart broken to say the least. I was so sad. It was the end of my career I felt. I still had large dreams for myself. I kept believing. Right before the world shut down. Feb 2020 I coordinated this huge XV for a famous influencer and because of that – it helped me take off a year later. It was a huge blessing. So covid happened – we were all in our homes for a very long time. I was very confused just like everyone. I started dating my now husband/fiance during the time. I also got the opportunity to work at a venue and help with pop up weddings. I would help coordinate them with the owner and her business partner. Couples still wanted to get married and they saw that so they would do what Harris county allowed. Well we would do 3-4 weddings in one day. They would be short maybe an hour long but we made it happen. I learned so much there too that once things got better end of 2020 -2021 I worked full time at the venue remotely.
2021 came along and as the world shifted so did the industry. It was a hard time and I had to get another job. Things weren’t going too well. I worked at a company to do social media but quickly learned I wasn’t up for 9-5. I actually hated it so much. I was so depressed. Management saw that I was not into it so they let me go.
My fiance at the time were living together and then we quickly learned that we were pregnant and so I took a break. I got very sick and once I felt better I traveled. I will never forget being 15 weeks pregnant in Tulum thinking to myself this is the life I want. I just want to be free and have my own schedule. I encountered a European man at the boutique I was staying at. He was in his late 40s. He had been in the computer all day – I went up to him and asked him what he does for a living that he has been so glued to his laptop. He was an architect but he said that even though he’s been working all day he’s free. He can work anywhere he wanted and enjoy the little things in life like nature. Life is not about living to work.
That was my mindset and I had an epiphany. I came back home refreshed. I started working at Eddy Vs. I had to take a break off of weddings. I would work with other companies here and there. In Nov of 2021 I had my baby. Life went on and I was still assisting other companies but I really had the itch to do my own.
I got the opportunity in March 2022 to work back at the venue I started in. So I did! I was going to manage the venue and do logistics for weddings that were booked until end of year. I asked the owner if she allowed me to coordinate weddings there that didn’t have a coordinator on it already and also if I could post the weddings for content on my socials. She agreed. I also worked remotely from home to be with baby. It was great. During the time I got my first solo wedding at the venue. It was a South Asian wedding and it was a hit. I got so many leads. Working together with the owner and doing my own thing at other venues was a full on blessing. I know that any other owner would have not given me that opportunity. I was so appreciative and grateful – still to this day. She helped me scale.
2022 was a great year. It was the boom after covid. We had so many weddings and I started booking on my own. She eventually sold the venue end of 2023 and that was my time to fly officially by myself. So I did and I’ve had so many weddings and events on my own that looking back at everything I’m so happy I learned and went through it all.
Now – 2024 It’s been a year full of blessings and also a year to rest. I was pregnant and just had my second baby on October 13th. Truly blessed with all my clients. I had a boom 2022 and 2023 that I quickly learned to take on certain events and not to over book myself.
I feel as if my career hasn’t really started it’s only the beginning. God has a lot stored and I can’t wait to see it happen!!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I am a wedding planner in Houston, TX. As a wedding planner we do everything. We are the fairy god mothers of your wedding. We make the entire thing happen from start to finish! Hundreds and hundreds of hours behind the scenes. A lot of brainstorming and creating. Making the couples dreams come true. We offer different services. Full Planning, Partial and Coordination. What sets me apart is that I am very skilled and knowledgeable with pretty much every aspect because of my experience. I’m also so great to work with. I have so much patient that every time I coordinate a wedding the day of the bridesmaids or parents always comment “how are you so calm!!” Idk. It’s a gift!! I am calm in the storm. Everything is controlled chaos. We control as much as you see. My speciality is designing and I do have a niche. South Asian, Middle Eastern and large scale productions. I also do Quinces and other events too.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Go for it. Don’t think twice and learn learn learn. Believe in yourself
Pricing:
- My Minimum $2500-3000
- My average weddings are $75k-250k
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.eventswithsaira.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7z9LtipU6G/?igsh=dWZvcDF6dG1jcjIw
Image Credits
First Row – 1. Nate Massera 2.Always Us Photography 3. A&A
Second Row – 1. Rizwan Photography 2/3, Ana Perez Photography
Third Row – 1. A&A 2. Good Omen Photo 3.A&A
Fourth Row – 1. A&A 2/3.Inez Lara
Fifth Row – 1. Inez Lara 2/3. Ana Perez
Sixth Row – 1.-3 Ana Perez
Seventh Row – Rizwan Studio
