Celebrating 25 Years in Business! Where We are Now, and What We’ve Learned
Throughout the year 2021, we’ve been celebrating our 25th year in business as a party planning company. Last month, we published a blog post summarizing our journey from a collaboration in our basement to what eventually became Innovative Party Planners! Now that December is here, we’ve officially begun our 26th year in operation! We’ve come a long way, and we’re ready to take on the next 25 years with the same level of creativity and dedication that we’ve embodied from day one. After taking you through our journey in our previous post, we’d like to share a little more about where we’ve ended up and what we learned along the way as we gear up for another great year.
Innovative Party Planners, Year 26
The industry has changed a lot since 1996, and we’ve readily adapted to continue delivering. Back then, we wouldn’t consider what we were doing ‘producing’ events. We were very focused on creating quality, handmade centerpieces and event décor.
Fast forward 25 years, and our primary focus has shifted to producing one of a kind event experiences with the goal of the event in the forefront and vendor relationships as the backbone. We have expanded to offer full-service planning, beginning with the selection of vendors, creating the floor plan and room layout, designing all the event elements including entertainment, lighting, A/V, linens, furniture, and special effects.
Of course, we still handcraft centerpieces, as well!
The start of this decade hasn’t quite unfolded as we expected, but we have been lucky to be situated to rely on 25 years of experience in the field to navigate through the pandemic and keep the party going through it all. Since the start of 2020, we’ve upped our focus on delivering one of a kind event experiences using the hybrid/ virtual medium. What started as a necessity has added a new spark to the industry, and we expect such events to remain part of our story even as the dust from the pandemic settles.
Lessons Learned
We’ve learned many lessons along our journey, but these are a few that stood out as messages we’d like to share. Regardless of your field, we hope these lessons can benefit you as much as they have benefited us!
· Do not start a business to do the work you love every day. Start a business to build an infrastructure and create a process.
· Teach others your process so they can do the work you love, and learn to love it themselves.
· Ask for help when you don't know the answers. Surrounding yourself with a team of knowledgeable professionals and mentors is the key to success.
· Learn to let go. Hire an amazing team to support your goals and give you the ability to grow.
· Be a teacher to your clients, your staff and mentor the next generation of your profession.
· Invest in your community. Donate time, materials, and when there's a little extra, donate money.
· Become a leader in your industry and when you have, pay it forward.
· Don't be afraid of the unknown. Learn to take risks and meet challenges, it’s the only way you’ll grow.
· Surround yourself with people you trust, and listen to them!
Needless to say, we are extremely grateful for these past 25 years. We have some exciting plans for 2022 (including new custom inventory) and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for Innovative Party Planners!
We’d like to give a big shout out to Mad River Bakes for the amazing cookies and to Perfectly Wrapped for the beautiful Balloon Sculpture!
Plan Your In-Person or Virtual Event with Innovative Party Planners
Innovative Party Planners is your resource for event design and planning in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania and Virginia. To learn more about our event planning services and how we can help make your event one of a kind, contact us by clicking here or call (410) 998-9999.