We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Angelica McDonnell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Angelica below.

Angelica, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us a bit about who your hero is and the influence they’ve had on you?

My hero is my younger brother, Vincent! Growing up with a brother with Down Syndrome who has had health complications his whole life, you really learn what is important in life. He has shown me what patience and perseverance look like. Anytime I have had a bad day or felt like giving up, I think of him. He never gave up and always told our family, “I am being strong for you”.
Vincent has influenced my journey thanks to his bright outlook on life. Even on his way to being wheeled into another surgery, he has had our family laughing and smiling. For that one minute, he made it feel like everything was right in the world, nothing else mattered.
That is one of the many reasons why I chose to become a wedding and event planner. For one day, I get to make that room of guests and our clients feel that the weight of everyday concerns has faded and that everything is exactly as it should be. The noise of the outside world dissolves for one magical night.

Angelica, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am the owner of a Las Vegas-based wedding planning company, Angelica Rose Events, which is built on heart, intention, and a deep love for celebrating life’s most meaningful moments! While Las Vegas is home, we will always travel wherever our clients are willing to take us!
Our focus is on weddings, but we love and get to produce about three to four social events a year. These range from birthday parties to baby showers, etc.

Living in the largest city for hospitality, I learned that you could get certified in wedding and event planning.
While at the International School of Hospitality, I made some great connections, including Juliet Douglas. An incredible woman who took a huge leap of faith with me. She was just starting her wedding planning company, and I was just starting my journey into the industry. She brought me on as her assistant, and then I grew to take weddings on my own under her company. We became a well-oiled machine and grew a name for ourselves in the industry under Juliet’s leadership. At the time (early 200o’s) there were only a handful of wedding planning companies in town. It is so cool to see how that has easily quadrupled now!
Over time, Juliet’s heart led her in a different direction, while I still wholeheartedly loved weddings. I will never forget crying in a restaurant when she told me she was ready to sell the company. I didn’t know what this meant for my future. My daughter was 1 years old at the time, and I just remember thinking, “I do not want to have to ask someone for permission to take her to her first day of Kindergarten”.
I bought the company.
I never dreamed of being a business owner, but I know it would allow me the life I wanted and the flexibility to still be a mom.
I have now owned the company for 11 years, and I am most proud of the consistency of my team; it has been the same team of ladies since the beginning. I could not do this life without them. You are guaranteed wedding day assistants that are well-trained and come from incredible backgrounds in the industry, including large hotels, production companies, and one of the most sought-after wedding salons in Las Vegas. It is important for clients to know, as I think it is significant for you to be familiar with the team that will be showing up at your event. You are allowing us into your world of friends and family, along with being present during intimate moments, and we take that seriously!
I am also very proud of the reputation and relationships we have built over time. There is no greater compliment than having a future client of ours be a guest at one of our current events. They saw firsthand how the event was executed, how we worked onsite, and they then contact us to plan their upcoming event.
We have fun! We do not take ourselves too seriously, and we are our clients’ biggest advocates! What makes our event days successful is that we are proactive and reactive. We assess what could happen and are prepared for what will happen, we go way beyond just the pretty of an event day!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I never stop showing up. I have been in the industry for 17 years now (Yikes, that makes me feel old!), and I still find it very important to have a presence in our industry. I network when I can and get involved in organizations within my field. I also love going on coffee, lunch, or dinner dates with a current or potential event professional. This is a great chance to bond with a colleague and for them to know who you are outside of the industry. Our biggest champions can be your fellow colleagues, so building and sustaining relationships with them is key! During the busy season, we often see our fellow professionals more than we do our families. We become close, and it becomes more than just a working relationship. It is these experiences that will keep them wanting to refer our business to their clients. My goal is to make their life as easy as possible; we are calm under pressure and emotionally intuitive. I believe they remember that.
We also do right by our clients and really give them our all. While Las Vegas may seem big, it is tiny! People share their experiences. If it is a great one, people will know. If it is a bad one, even more people will know. Keeping things professional and real (including owning when you make a mistake) with our clients is what has gotten us into many more doors and has them referring us to their friends and family.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Social media!
How lucky are we to have so many free platforms at our fingertips to showcase our work on?!
Being present and consistent on social media and showcasing who we are and what our brand looks and feels like draws in our ideal client. We are often getting contacted through DMs on Instagram rather than through our website.
I have even been referred to new clients by people I do not even know personally, just because they have seen our work online and resonated with it. Social media is absolutely the way people are shopping. I even find myself referring to TikTok often to find restaurants and hotels when traveling.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.angelicaroseevents.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelicaroseevents