Today we’d like to introduce you to Lettie Sanchez.
Lettie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
It all started in 2001 when I got married and I plan my own wedding. I always wanted to be an Interior Designer but life had something else for me after I got marry. We got married on our twenties. It was between my husband or me to go back to school and finish our careers. Since my husband had done more school than me, he when back to finish his bachelor in Accounting. In 2003, I realized that I wanted to spend more time with my kids and working for a full time company as the HR/Payroll manager was not going to be possible. In 2003, I started my own research for decor or designer and found the wedding industry. Since I had done my own wedding and decorations was my strong field I started connecting with relatives and helping them with their weddings and other social events. In 2004, with the support of my husband I started my own company Linens n’ Decor for weddings as a part time job on the weekends. In 2007, my oldest daughter was 5 years old and my new baby girl was born. At that time, I knew it was time to let go my HR/Payroll position that I had for 9 years and start my linen company as a full-time job. When I decided to make it, a full time job our business phone was ringing left and right giving us more exposure for our company to grow in the wedding industry here in Houston. Linens n’ Decor is a linen and decorator company that helps venues and brides when they need this kind of services.
Long story short in the fall of 2013 we start it the construction to open our own wedding venue. In 2011, I had my own vision of having my own wedding venue and my Linen company all at one location. It took us two years to found the location and in 2014 we had our grand opening for our wedding venue located in La Porte. Our wedding venue “The Gates on Main St.” and “Linens n’ Decor” they both operate from the same location.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
No, not at all… Timing is our clock. In our case with the Linen Company we always travel and we have to make sure we make it on time to set-up the events and re-route the orders for our staff to pick up after the event is over. If we are on a busy season for weddings the stress is double. If you are short on staff we need to hire more people. Our challenges have been always to keep up with the new trends in the wedding industry.
For the venue; make sure all the vendors are coming and have all their stuff set-up on time before the reception starts. All the obstacles and challenges when you have a venue are from the beginning stages of planning all the way to the day of the weddings.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Our Linens n’ Decor company specialize in table linens, chair covers, overlays, runners etc. we are a decorator company for all type of social events. We are known more for decorating weddings, we have won Weddingwire Couples choice award for 2013, 2014, 2015. I am proud of my company because when we started our garage was our storage and office, now Linens n’ Decor owns The Gates. What sets us apart from others is that we are still a small business, we own two companies and my priority is my family.
The venue: We are a wedding venue and we specialize in Receptions. We opened the doors in July 2014, we won “The best of weddings 2016” from the Knot and “couples choice award 2016” from wedding wire, “Best of Southeast wedding venue 2016” from Bridal Extravaganza Show.
What were you like growing up?
I was quiet, smiling, jumping everywhere, like to be outdoors pretty much all the times, always re-arranging my room, I was a good student “A” average and “A+” for math. I always liked numbers. I grow up with just my mom she was a single mom. Always wanted to be a model or a singer.
Contact Info:
- Address: 912 W. Main St.
- Website: www.gatesonmain.com / www.linensndecor.com
- Phone: 281 402 5429
- Email: info@gatesonmain.com / info@linensndecor.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/gatesonmain
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/gatesonmain
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/gatesonmain
- Other: The Gates on Main St.
Image Credit:
Stacey Anderson Photography
His and Hers Photography
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