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

Alright, Irene thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us about a time where you or your team really helped a customer get an amazing result?

I think in the event planning industry it should be expected for there to be a hiccup from time to time. It happens, and as a Planner, after THAT first time, that time you will never forget, you learn, big time, and find ways to prevent incidents from reoccurring.- it’s all a part of the role. I had some clients (dream clients) once who were super chill, from day one the couple was so kind and easygoing, I thought, this will be a dream event. Everything flowed just right throughout the planning process and then came the event day. I had been working with a local rental company for the couple’s tables, linen, lights, chairs, basically all of the essentials for the event. Long story short, on the day of the event, the rental company didn’t show. I was panicking. At this point in my career, I had never dealt with a vendor just not showing up to an event. Thank god we got the word around noon when load-in for vendors was around 1 and setup needed to be wrapped by 3 pm. It left me with a few hours to go into full operation “don’t F this up”. I called every vendor in the area and even those hours away. I had vendors calling vendors, to help find me someone. I had my assistant on a candle run, since we had zero lighting at this point. I gave her my credit card and she went on dollar-store run for candles so we could dress and light the space. I somehow managed to find someone who was 3 hours away but able to bring almost everything I needed and set everything up with literally 20 mins to spare. It was a vendor I had never worked with before which was risky.. but at this point, could it get any worse? probably not I thought. They showed up, it was the owner, his wife, and kids ( poor things probably dragged from their weekend fun)! This was a mom-and-pop vendor who didn’t have anything in the books for the day so they stopped what they were doing on their Saturday to drive 3 hours to save me from big trouble. I am forever grateful for that and for them. They immediately got to work, setting tables, tables cloths, unfolding chairs, they went as far as to whipe the chairs down and make sure the ceremony lawn was perfectly even, WHAT. Thats un heard of form typical rentle companies. They usually just drop things off and pick them up. So we made it work. Even though I was internally dying, I kept calm and collected, which helped. The guests had no idea anything had gone wrong, the bride wasn’t even aware until after the ceremony. I kept communication with the groom and we got everything set up as expected just in the nick of time. My lesson learned was to one, always have a back up vendor for each of your vendors should things hit the actual fan. Two, stay calm and collected. That was the key to my success, it allowed me to think clearly and keep things at bay. I think my deaminer manifested my good luck with the vendor that came to our rescue. At least that’s the story I tell myself. That event was one I truly will never forget, but im just glad I was able to have a customer success story after 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.

Ohh Darling Events, my event planning company and child is a wedding planning service based in Saint Petersburg, FL. Providing a focused, personalized service, my goal is to help you host a day to remember! From helping you select the best of the best vendors to fixing your boutonniere at the final moment, we are ready to take care of it all!

I have always been a passionate person, and it shows in my customer care and hospitality with my clients. I love helping my couples celebrate their love together. With an adaptable approach, I focuses on presenting a tailored service to each of my clients, catering to their personal needs and requests. From intimate elopements to elegant occasions with all your loved ones, I am there to cater to you.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice

Oddly enough, I know more than I want to know about NFTs because of my Fiances passion for the community. In a way its a weird, intimidating view of what our future could look like. At the same time, Im someone who still on occasion cashes checks at the bank. Change is hard for me, however, I’ve learned changed is a necessary part of life, we must evolve and try new things to grow.. even if that’s selling pictures of monkey jpegs.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I wouldn’t say there was a particular moment where I built my audience on social media. Id say it’s ever-growing and I always have to work on it. That being said, it’s not easy. It’s tough when you have moments where the juices aren’t flowing and it’s hard for you to post something or come up with a good story.. I have periods where im not posting or engaging and of course it affects my social level but I have to remind myself from time to time im only human. I operate in the real world with my clients and they are the reason I even have something to post..and that comes before IG and TikTok. My advice, find a balance that works for you between being present in real-time for your clients and promoting your brand socially.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/ohh-darling-events-saint-petersburg-fl-2043636
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ohhdarlingevents/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OhhDarlingEvents/

Image Credits
Photo of Irene Acosta by Vincent Tejada