We were lucky to catch up with Alana Godoy recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alana , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
Starting my event and wedding planning business, Godoy Events, wasn’t an idea that suddenly came to me. It felt like a seed that was planted many years ago and was cultivated by chance encounters over a span of 6 years until it grew into a feasible concept.
I went to college at SDSU and double majored in Anthropology and Sociology thinking I’d stay in the academic field. Paying my own way through college, I worked a lot of random jobs – one of them, being an Event Coordinator for a non-profit organization. In this job, I was able to travel the world and host events upwards of 3,000 attendees, and I was hooked ever since. From there, I was introduced to a wedding planning company, fell in love with the industry, and by the end of 2022, decided that it was time to start my own business. I knew I had what it took to plan and coordinate a successful wedding – (at the time I decided to make the jump, I already had a little over 100 weddings under my belt). Fear started to kick in when it came to figuring out the steps to legally create a business, setting up systems to attract leads, and having to tap into the sales aspect of business, but all of those steps came fairly quickly thanks to the variety of jobs I had over the years. I was able to launch my business in less than 2 months.
The hardest part in moving beyond the idea phase and actually launching the business, came in the form of setting personal boundaries and blocking out the noise. I started my business at an extremely transformational time in my life – leaving jobs that I worked at for a long time, graduating college, leaving a long term relationship, and then being newly engaged within 2 months of meeting my now husband. I realized there were a lot of relationships holding me back and when I tried to set new boundaries, most of those people couldn’t respect them and showed that they never had my best interest in mind to begin with. It was one of the hardest things I had to go through. In the moment, I thought everything going on couldn’t have happened at a worst time, but ultimately it was the best timing. It led to a new confidence in myself and realizing that I had all the skills, talent, and support I needed within me. It showed me the people that I could rely on and trust very quickly, and when I was able to let go of the negative, everything fell into place practically overnight. Within a month of starting the business, we booked 7 weddings which surpassed my goal of Godoy Events simply being a side business.
Alana , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
At Godoy Events, our approach transcends traditional wedding planning packages. A huge reason why our company is so unique, is thanks to my Native Hawaiian heritage and deep ties to the Pacific Islander community where we prioritize personal connections. From the moment we meet – even if only over a consultation call – you’re like family to us. We come into every meeting genuinely wanting to understand your vision and the process you hope to experience. When clients make the decision to book with us, we go above and beyond the planning logistics by sharing ways to support your well-being throughout the entire journey.
Being a Polynesian dancer and growing up performing for a variety of events, we understand firsthand how important your other vendors are in making your day special. While no one wants to see the blood, sweat, and tears that go on behind the scenes, we know the effort that it takes and work closely with our vendors to ensure they receive the care they deserve. Although our extra attention to vendors might not seem to directly impact our clients, our approach makes a huge difference for their team and cultivates an environment where they can perform at their best.
Another way my background has impacted our client’s experience – there’s very few things we’ll say “no” to. Anything you want, we can make happen. This has looked like a lot of DIY projects to make otherwise expensive props affordable, helping our brides use the restroom throughout the night, and even putting down our coordinator hat to put on a Polynesian show for their event or wedding. As your wedding planner, we are your biggest advocates, cheerleaders, and the ones to almost always say “yes.”
With all that being said, our packages look a little different from your standard day of coordination, month of coordination, and partial or full planning packages. For our couples that want to plan their own wedding and are looking for someone to make sure their day runs smoothly, we offer our Bliss Coordination Package. This includes 2 months of pre-planning (giving us ample time to truly understand your vision and build a relationship with your vendors), vendor recommendations and advice at time of booking, 2 venue walkthroughs, timeline creation, diagram creation, vendor contact sheet, 1 hour rehearsal practice, day of coordination with both a lead and assistant coordinator, access to our emergency kit, and decor setup and breakdown. Also included is a copy of the 12-Month Ultimate Wedding Planning Guide that I created for couples to integrate their everyday schedule with their wedding to-do’s, and our Late Night Snack Pack which is our gift to couples on their wedding night, filled with their favorite snacks in case they’re still a little hungry after all the excitement.
Our Premiere Planning Package is our version of partial planning, which ideally starts about 6-7 months before the wedding, includes everything in Bliss Coordination, and other extras including scheduled tastings, vision boards, a keepsake planning binder, and more. Our Luxury Planning Package is our full planning option where we take care of everything from venue and vendor selections, to designing your invitations and seating chart. Everything in all the previous packages are included plus a TON of extras like an engagement shoot with one of our preferred vendors, a custom album, virtual event space renderings, and more.
To make things sweeter, we’re able to completely customize any package to best meet our client’s financial preferences – whether that means adding a la carte items, offering a flexible deposit amount, or working out payment plan options – our goal is to make your dreams come true. Another way we’re ensuring our client’s stress-free planning experience – we’ve partnered with local beauty and spa businesses, like Rind Head Spa and Bliss Beauty Bar, to offer our clients exclusive discounts. We’ll be rolling out this offer by the end of February for all of our clients, regardless of what package they book.
We’re extremely proud of the care and attention to detail we provide to our couples, vendors, and team. Reading the reviews from our customers and vendors puts the biggest smile on our faces and reassures us that this is exactly what sets us apart from the rest. Months, and now a year, after completing their wedding, we’re invited to our couple’s personal family events, birthdays, baby showers, and double dates. Our relationship doesn’t end when the wedding is over, it lasts for a lifetime because we’ve truly become part of the family.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
My best two sources of new clients have been personal referrals and vendor referrals. Personal referrals – leads coming in from friends, family, and acquaintances – have helped a lot when it comes to our volume of new clients. Vendor referrals have been helpful when it comes to booking our ideal clientele. While we love all of our clients and want to work with as many people as possible to bring their dream day to life, we still have our financial goals to hit in order to remain in business.
More than half the time we get a personal referral, they hope to receive some type of discount or will change their package to better fit within their budget. Again, nothing wrong with that and we love our personal clients, but it’s not sustainable in the long term. With our vendor referred clients, they come in more than ready to pay full price for our services.
I believe the big difference comes from how we’re presented to the client and credibility. For personal referrals, I think it’s pretty common for people to say something along the lines of, “I have this friend that does weddings and she can totally hook you up!” Meanwhile, vendors might say something like, “I’ve been in the industry for 10 years and Godoy Events is the best wedding planner I’ve ever worked with. They’re so professional, caring, and I love working with them.” That’s a huge difference.
For small business owners – take the time to nurture your vendor relationships and grow your professional community.
For friends and supporters of small businesses – when referring their business to others, try to build up as much credibility as possible. List their awards, titles, and especially talk about how you’ve benefited from their products or services. It goes a long way!
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
While I don’t technically have a cofounder, my husband has become my unofficial business partner and has played a significant role in the creation of Godoy Events. As I mentioned before, the concept of Godoy Events started at a really pivotal time in my life. I was walking away from a relationship that took a turn for the worst and closing lots of chapters that took up years of my life. At the time, I was also starting some new adventures which included dancing and emceeing with Pride of Polynesia for The Catamaran’s Summer Luaus. The first show of the season, I see an unfamiliar face backstage (which was odd because I knew everyone else on the team despite being new). By the end of the first week, the whole team went out to celebrate at a bar and I walked over to figure out who this stranger was. Two weeks later we were officially dating, within a month he moved in with me, and a month after that he proposed to me in Marseille, France. There are times when our story still sounds crazy – even to me – but looking back it’s crystal clear everything happened exactly the way it was supposed to.
My husband, Antonio, is also a business owner and just hit 3 years with his company, Lifestyle Movement. One of the reasons we hit it off so quickly was that our goals in life and our mindsets were so perfectly aligned. We could talk for hours on end about short-term. long-term. business. and personal goals, and we even had the same scarily specific dream of opening a cultural center/ coffee shop/ coworking space. When I was thinking of starting Godoy Events, he encouraged me to jump in and offered his support even though he knew nothing about wedding planning. But he knew things about starting a business that I didn’t know, and as I started learning more about his business, I had suggestions that he hadn’t thought of before.
The year following the proposal – I started Godoy Events, we revamped his uncle’s family business, we bought a new car, and we had a huge wedding. As fun and amazing as it might sound to some people, others read it and know that it has been a stressful year filled with some questionable financial decisions. It was the ultimate test of our relationship and we both buckled down and supported each other through moments of literal chaos.
All this to say, I believe that the qualities of a good life partner are also the qualities of any good business partner or co-founder. If you’re looking for or reevaluating your relationship with you business partner, ask yourself: Do your goals align? Do you have a similar mindset and work ethic? Do you both contribute something unique to the partnership? Do you teach each other as you go and are you open to learning along the way? Are you willing to support each other through obstacles and challenging times? Do you trust one another and are you loyal to your goals?
While I don’t technically have a cofounder, my husband has become my unofficial business partner and has played a significant role in the creation of Godoy Events. As I mentioned before, the concept of Godoy Events started at a really pivotal time in my life. I was walking away from a relationship that took a turn for the worst and closing lots of chapters that took up years of my life. At the time, I was also starting some new adventures which included dancing and emceeing with Pride of Polynesia for The Catamaran’s Summer Luaus. The first show of the season, I see an unfamiliar face backstage. By the end of the first week, the whole team went out to celebrate at a bar and I walked over to figure out who this stranger was. Two weeks later we were officially dating, within a month he moved in with me, and a month after that he proposed to me in France. There are times when our story still sounds crazy – even to me – but looking back it’s crystal clear everything happened exactly the way it was supposed to.
My husband, Antonio, is also a business owner and just hit 3 years with his company, Lifestyle Movement. One of the reasons we hit it off so quickly was that our goals in life and our mindsets were so perfectly aligned. We could talk for hours on end about short-term, long-term, business, and personal goals, and we even had the same scarily specific dream of opening a cultural center/ coffee shop/ coworking space. When I was thinking of starting Godoy Events, he encouraged me to jump in and offered his support even though he knew nothing about wedding planning. But he knew things about starting a business that I didn’t know, and as I started learning more about his business, I had suggestions that he hadn’t thought of before.
Within the year following the proposal – I started Godoy Events, we partnered with his uncle’s family business, bought a new car, and had a huge wedding. As fun and amazing as it might sound to some people, others read it and know that it has been a stressful year filled with some questionable financial decisions. It was the ultimate test of our relationship and we both buckled down and supported each other through moments of literal chaos.
All this to say, I believe that the qualities of a good life partner are also the qualities of any good business partner or co-founder. If you’re looking for or reevaluating your relationship with you business partner, ask yourself: Do your goals align? Do you have a similar mindset and work ethic? Do you both contribute something unique to the partnership? Do you teach each other as you go and are you open to learning along the way? Are you willing to support each other through obstacles and challenging times? Do you trust one another and are you loyal to your goals?
Contact Info:
- Website: https://godoyevents.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/godoyevents/
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/alana-godoy-33b365162
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/godoy-events-san-diego-2
- Other: The Knot – https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/godoy-events-san-diego-ca-2066707 Wedding Wire – https://www.weddingwire.com/biz/godoy-events/082f3875e0d530dc.html
Image Credits
Personal Photo and team photo – Kristina Millican Photography Photo holding the cutout of the couple – Emily Kuhar Photography Photo pinning the groom’s boutonniere – Taylor Dapice Photo Photo in costume next to bride and groom – Michael Calvary Photography