We recently connected with Tonette Shafer and have shared our conversation below.

Tonette, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.

Starting a business is hard work! It’s definitely NOT something that fruitions overnight.
Areli has come a long way since we first started in 2017. The first 3 years of our business were dedicated to party planning and design not weddings. It was in 2020 that we decided to make a break for the wedding industry. We changed our focus to florals & event design. In order to help this transition, we did a complete rebranding – logo, website, and graphics. Making such a big change was scary but we slowly got our foot in the door one client after another. We joined several Facebook groups to be in contact with those looking for services. Styled shoots became one of our go to’s for advertisement. We got the creative freedom and some great photos out of it. A lot of the shoots got published on wedding platforms therefore got us some more exposure.
Once we got a roll on booking clients it was all about word of mouth and referrals.
Don’t let social media fool you. Things can look glamorous and successful. I can tell you that several years later we still have our ups and downs. You just take them as they go and learn from it all.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Areli Event Design was founded in 2017 with my business partner Laurie – also known as my mom.
When I got married in 2014 my mom and I did everything for it – from DIY decor, design, & planning. We both fell in love with all the aspects of planning and decor. It took several years and me having my 1st child to realize that I wanted to do something I love and be able to be home and present with my child.
Then came along of the idea of Areli Event Design and the start of an event design and planning business. We were originally doing kids parties and baby showers. There were a handful of weddings here and there. We were wanting to make all your Pinterest dreams come to life on a budget.
We all know the dreaded 2020 that came along. It changed everything. It was then that we had a crazy idea to completely pivot and do solely weddings. We completely rebranded and were offering floral services, design, and planning for weddings. We didn’t know what to expect but we took a chance and jumped right in. It all worked out for the best. Our calendar was quickly filling up. We had the opportunity for our work to be featured and published on some amazing platforms. Everything was falling into place.

It’s definitely not the end of our story. Owning a business is a constant rollercoaster of ups and downs.
I’m relentlessly looking for ways to improve or better the business. I think what has worked for us all these years is our mission… “OUR INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY SET US APART FROM OTHERS. WE ARE KNOWN FOR OUR CUSTOM DESIGNS, PROFESSIONALISM, AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL. WE STRIVE TO TAKE YOUR VISION, PASSION AND OBSESSION AND CREATE THE ULTIMATE WOW FACTOR WHEN YOU WALK INTO THE ROOM.”
When clients come to us with their vision and Pinterest boards we take them to heart. We live to make them to come to life – but with our own twists. We can never copy one’s work. We want it to be unique and our own. We want it to be Areli. Most of all we want the WOW factor. If it doesn’t wow – we’re remaking that piece until we feel it has our touch.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Building a reputation is something that is never-ending in a sense. Once you feel you’ve built a good one you must maintain it. I can say that it all relays back to consistency and quality for us.
We have always strived to provide unique products and the best quality. The key is staying consistent on delivering those unique products and quality. When something doesn’t work honesty and integrity with the client goes a long way.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Obtaining new clientele is always a hustle. Prior to covid we obtained a lot of our clientele through various Facebook groups and Instagram. Recently we’ve been working a lot through Zola. The platform allows couples to reach out to you or you can reach out to potential clients. It’s been a great experience and allowed us to stay more organized and on top of inquiries. We do pay a yearly fee but it’s worth it! It’s just something that has worked smoothly for us. It was getting hard getting inquiries through Instagram. Messages getting lost or unable to find the chat thread. And to be honest it’s so hard keeping up with Instagram these days and the algorithms constantly changing. Don’t get me wrong we still rely on Instagram as an advertising source. We’ve just recently had high presence on Zola.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.arelieventdesign.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arelieventdesign
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arelieventdesign

Image Credits

Personal Photo: Shot by Katie Gunz
#1 J.Emmanuel Photography
#2 Janelle Louise Photography
#3 J.Emmanuel Photography
#4 Alyssa Lizarraga Photo
#5 Arlyne Renee Photography
#6 Personal photo
#7 J.Emmanuel Photography
#8 Analise Mae Photography
#9 J.Emmanuel Photography