Today we’d like to introduce you to Shaun Gray.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My background is in non-profit and political management. When I moved to Houston to be closer to my parents, I realized that those fields weren’t easily transferable to different communities, so I sat back and thought what parts of those careers I enjoyed the most, and it turned out to be event planning. So, I decided to start my own event planning firm out of the spare bedroom in my apartment. 6 months later I landed a retainer deal with a hotel that also had office space in the hotel as part of the agreement. 6 months after that, we opened our own independent office in the Energy Corridor, at the time, The Energy Corridor District was our biggest client after successfully producing 3 annual community festivals for the management district. During those years, I started noticing that we were working a lot inside the loop, but that our clients were complaining about traveling outside the loop to find us. I did some research and found that barely any other planners had legitimate offices, and the ones that did, weren’t downtown. So for me, it made the most sense to move our office to the center of the city. Boy, has that been the right decision! We’ve grown to become the most decorated wedding and event planning firm in the city receiving awards from a wide array of local and national organizations including; the Houston Chapter of the International Live Events Association, Outsmart Magazine, WeddingWire, WeddingWireEDU, The Knot, Great Day Houston, and more!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been anything but a smooth road! Any entrepreneur or business owner that says it’s easy is lying. Between office expenses, marketing expenses, staffing expenses, etc, running the ship by yourself can be daunting. Aside from the business owner struggles, it was also difficult to brand us different from our competitors. All of the wedding and event planners in this city are immensely talented, we all know how to do pretty, but aside from that what separates us? For Gray & Associates Events, it’s the commitment that we are going to bring our client’s vision full circle by producing an event that their family will cherish, their guests will love, and the client will actually get to enjoy the event, it’s a term we like to call, the ability to make sure our clients can ‘Celebrate Well’, and once I figured that out, everyone started coming to us when they wanted a professionally executed event that they could enjoy–and not have to work!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Gray & Associates Events – what should we know?
Gray & Associates Events produces high quality events in both the physical and digital spaces. The physical is everything you might already think of; weddings, festivals, holiday parties, birthday parties, fundraisers, etc. Digital spaces is how we define the social media and online reputation management that we do for a few of our corporate clients. We are most proud of being the most decorated award-winning event planning firm in Houston. We are Houston’s Best Wedding Planner, but we didn’t say that, Great Day Houston and Outsmart Magazine have. I believe what sets us apart is our unapologetic professionalism. As I mentioned before, all of our competitors, like us, are insanely talented in producing gorgeous celebrations, we just do it quicker, more efficiently and with less in-person meetings, which translates to a cost savings for our client, without discounting or sacrificing the time and talent of the Gray & Associates Events team.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I think the characteristic that can be most attributed to my success, above the hustle, has got to be my unwavering dedication to leave the events industry better than I found it. What I mean by that is, I wanted to make sure I gave back to the industry that given me the success, the relationships, and the safety net to get out there and do big things. I give back by serving on boards of local event industry associations, but also through the Gray & Associates Events intern program. I make all of our interns the same promise, if I am unable to place you in a position at Gray & Associates Events, then I will work tirelessly to make sure you find a rewarding career somewhere in this industry. I am proud to say that any of our interns that put in the work, and showed the same level of dedication to our craft that I do, have since gone on to amazing careers at venues, decorators, and hotels throughout our great city.
Pricing:
- Full Corporate Event Planning Starts at $2000
- Full Wedding Planning Starts at $4500 (this is because there is more time invested in such a special celebration)
- “Day-of” Wedding Coordination Starts at $2400
- Preferred Venue “Day-of” Wedding Coordination Starts at $950 (We have agreements with select venues throughout the city, call for details)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.number1eventplanner.com
- Phone: 7139319168
- Email: shaun@number1eventplanner.com
- Instagram: @grayeventshou
- Facebook: /grayeventshou
- Twitter: @grayeventshou
Image Credits:
Tara Flannery Photography, More Than An Image Photography, Morgan Lynn Photography, Carey Anne Photography, Kari Marie Photography, Daniel Colvin Photography, DC Stanley Photography
