Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jacob Thater. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Jacob thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?

As the co-owner of Thater Made, an event planning and design company, I can’t emphasize enough how grateful I am for the incredible support I have received from my family and friends over the years. Their encouragement was crucial in the early stages of my business, and their help continues to play a vital role in the success of our most memorable events.

Initially, I never expected to lean on my loved ones for help with the business. I thought I could handle everything on my own. However, as Thater Made gained momentum faster than I had expected and unique opportunities flourished, I quickly realized I couldn’t do it alone. I needed immediate help, so I turned to those I could trust most – my talented family and friends, who had offered their support from the beginning. Their creativity and dedication helped get Thater Made through its busiest period. Working together strengthened our relationships and even uncovered some of their hidden talents and passions. It’s also why my life partner of 10 years, Alex Madarang, eventually became my business partner at Thater Made.

We’ve hired more help since the early stages, but the projects when we can include our loved ones are often the most rewarding and enjoyable. However, we’re always mindful of not overburdening our loved ones with requests for help and only ask for their assistance when we know they will enjoy being a part of it. We also recognize the importance of setting boundaries and that our personal relationships with friends and family always outweigh the business side of things.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Jacob Thater, and I am the Creative Director at Thater Made, a California-based wedding and event production company. We specialize in full-service planning and design for social events custom-tailored to our client’s unique needs. In addition to handling all aspects of the planning and design process for our clients, we regularly source and fabricate bespoke pieces for our events to ensure a cohesive look and one-of-a-kind experience (i.e. backdrops, seating charts, bar fronts, props, etc.) We are known for our attention to detail, personalized touches, and eye-catching installations. We pride ourselves in our imaginative concepts — we believe that no idea is too big and no detail is too small.

I co-own Thater Made with my business partner, Alex Madarang (who has also been my life partner for 10 years). In 2019, I was planning and designing events while working under other companies and officially launched Thater Made to help a close friend plan her wedding abroad. Initially, I intended to run the business on my own and focus mainly on weddings. However, as unique job opportunities arose, I discovered my passion for designing themed social events beyond weddings and that Alex and I make a fantastic team.

Alex has a graphic design and accounting background, which was a perfect fit for Thater Made. Today, we collaborate on all projects together. This gives us the unique ability to have a second set of eyes on all the details and design ideas for our events and allows us to provide more individualized attention and timely communication to each of our clients. Many people are nervous about working with loved ones or close friends, but owning and running the business together has further strengthened our relationship and allowed Thater Made to grow in ways I hadn’t previously imagined.

I’m most proud of the meaningful relationships we’ve built with our clients and knowing we’ve played a part in creating unforgettable memories for them and their guests. We’ve been fortunate to plan additional milestone events for several of our clients year after year. One of our favorite things is watching families grow and seeing clients achieve the dreams they spoke of when we initially met.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Minor pivots are often necessary in the event world, and as planners, it’s our job to develop solutions for our clients that don’t affect the overall experience. Occasionally, though, there are times when significant pivots are necessary for the success of the event.

A couple of years ago, we were contacted to plan a 250-person themed Halloween party for a private client scheduled for 3-weeks out. If you’re unfamiliar with events, that’s a very tight timeline for a party of any size, and it would typically take six to ten months to plan and design an event as grand as this particular party. Initially, we were hesitant to take on the project but decided to move forward, knowing we’d have a blast with the Alice in Wonderland theme we had pitched.

In one venue area, we planned to build a large lounge area for guests, the “Cheshire Lounge,” that called for floor-to-ceiling long-pile purple shag carpet. After searching near and far, we found a single vendor to source the perfect material, which was scheduled to be delivered two weeks before the party. We received a partial shipment of the material earlier than expected (woohoo!). However, we were informed that the remainder of the order was delayed and would not arrive until after the event. We decided the space wouldn’t be the same without the shag and needed to pivot.

We knew we were limited by what we could source locally in a matter of days and came up with the idea of turning the area into a “down the rabbit hole” themed 360-degree photo opportunity. We covered the floor and ceiling in a black and white checkerboard pattern, draped the walls in black and white stripes, and sourced hundreds of small objects which we suspended around the perimeter of the room to create the illusion that they were floating (i.e. books, roses, teacups, mirrors). The 360-degree camera would go in the center of the space on event day, and guests would appear as if they were falling down the rabbit hole as Alice had in the movie.

Because our decor load-in and installation was a week before the event when the camera would be there, we didn’t want the room to sit empty and unused. We decided to work with a vendor to create something the client could enjoy that week and designed an immersive audio/visual experience unlike anything we’ve seen before. Complete with a club-worthy light show timed to a custom-created soundtrack with audio from the movie, the room took you on a journey down the rabbit hole and transported you into a fantasy world.

That week, the client ended up inviting several guests to the immersive space before the actual event. After pivoting at the last minute, what could have been a catastrophe became one of our most unique and popular experiences.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Alex and I never expected to be business partners. We had been life partners for nearly 7 years when I launched Thater Made and were doing completely different things from one another at the time. I had been planning and designing events for other companies for several years by then, and Alex was the controller for a large hospitality group while simultaneously studying for and completing his CPA exams. We had worked together on a few creative projects throughout our relationship, and I always felt he would eventually break free from the corporate world to do something more imaginative.

Naturally, after being together for so long, Alex was my emotional support through the challenges of starting a business. Although he had more than a full-time job then, he was always there when I needed an ear for my challenges and a sounding board for my ideas. In 2021, there was an opportunity for Alex to assist me at a wedding I was producing in Hawaii, and that ended up being the first time we officially worked together at an event. After that, he continued to assist at events and learned more about the planning and design process, and a few months later, he quit his accounting job and started working with me at Thater Made full-time.

Since then, we’ve planned and designed several memorable events together and have built a fantastic team. We’ve been able to take on creative projects I wouldn’t have been able to do on my own and have elevated the overall brand and client experience. I never planned to have a business partner, but I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.

Contact Info:

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

Image Credits
Dennis Kwan Photography Jana Dillon Photography Mirelle Carmichael Photography Justice Photography Matoli Keely Photography