We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gabrielle Garcia a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Gabrielle , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.

I think family businesses can be a wonderful and very successful thing. I founded Love, Gigi but I thank my parents every single day for believing in me and supporting LGED. I grew up in an entrepreneurial home and my parents still own their own company to this day so I have always had a great example of what it looks like to own a business. I believe it takes open communication from everyone and playing into each others strengths. For example, my mom is the Director Of Operations & Co-Owner for LGED, my dad is our props builder and helps set up, and I am the Founder, Creative Director, & Co-Owner. My mom is an incredibly organized person who has always been in some administrative role for work so she thrives in that role for the business. My dad renovates homes for a living so he can build anything we dream of, and I’m a creative at heart and love to push boundaries. We all have a business mindset as our foundation but know where we thrive best. That in my opinion is key to being successful. A pitfall would be what anyone expects, disagreements. But we are very close as a family and respect each other so it never gets too far.

Gabrielle , 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?

I have grown up in an entrepreneurial home & have always wanted to own a business I just didn’t know what that would look like until I started planning my own wedding in 2019. I had the best time planning my own wedding and during our reception I felt like I found myself as corny as that may sound. I was watching all of our friends and family dance the night away having the best time and I remember thinking to myself “I could do this forever” & in January of 2021 we launched LGED! We first started out as an event design company who did not do planning but quickly learned we were missing out on the most precious moments with our couples. I then attended the New York Institute of Art & Design and received my Wedding Planning Certification in 2023! Our business strives to create unique and special experiences for our clients. We never want to repeat and reuse concepts from other people, weddings, or events. We are always looking to personalize and create new concepts. We treat every client as if they are our one & only. It is such a special time for a couple as they are preparing to start a new life together and we want them to know we cherish that too! We put 100% of ourselves into every client we have. We believe in a relational experiences, not transactional. Along with planning, I’ve always had a huge passion for the fashion industry & have worked at local boutiques throughout my high school & college years. We saw a large gap in the wedding industry for vendors to promote them selves and also wanted to really show people what we as a business are capable of. With that being said, we launched the first ever, Jacksonville Bridal Fashion Show in 2023! The events structure is like no other in the industry. We are so excited to be able to show people what we can do for them along with giving vendors a space to truly show what they can do for clients. Our team comes up with a theme and then we source the best vendors in the community and build the event. The event starts with a cocktail hour, bridal fashion shows, and an after party. It’s an experience. We felt the expos and conventions don’t do people justice. Potential clients want to experience it not just look through a portfolio and listen to an elevator pitch. We are so excited to expand the show and bring new concepts to the wedding industry!

Any advice for managing a team?

I think it’s very important to be open, kind, honest, & transparent with your team. Communication is so important. There is always a kind way to say things. We are all equals and I never want someone to think I am better than them. I believe it’s important to show your team the same amount of respect you want them to show you. I would never tell my team to do a task I haven’t already done or do currently. My team does their work well because they respect me and vice versa. Not because they are “scared” of me or what I’ll say. It’s also important to bring like minded people onto your team. Making sure the interviewing process is extensive enough that you get a good idea of who you are bringing on and if they will mesh well with the team you’ve already established.

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

I was building my reputation in the wedding industry before I even knew it. When I was in college I did a lot of modeling for local photographers with my boyfriend at the time (now husband). We did tons of couples photography for local creatives and I had met so many industry professionals like photographers, florist, hair & makeup artist, etc. even before I knew I was going to soon be in the industry myself. When my mom and I decided this was going to be my career path, we started connecting with industry professionals who we trusted and asked them tons of questions. We also reached out to the Small Business Development Center at a local college, University of North Florida. Knowing people in the industry before we even started, put us on people’s radar. We also did a lot of content work before booking clients so we had some sort of portfolio to show them and work out any day of set up links to get in a flow with each other.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lovegigievents.com & www.jacksonvillebridalfashionshow.com
• Instagram: lovegigievents
• Facebook: Love, Gigi Event Design

Image Credits

1 &2 photographed by Kelly Martucci, image 3 by Amy Knight Photography, 5 by Nicolette Media, 6 by Natalie Broach Photography, 7 by Halle Morgan Wed, 8 by Yazi Davis