We recently connected with Kavita Garikapaty and have shared our conversation below.

Kavita, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Folks often look at a successful business and imagine it was an overnight success, but from what we’ve seen this is often far from the truth. We’d love to hear your scaling up story – walk us through how you grew over time – what were some of the big things you had to do to grow and what was that scaling up journey like?

Well, first of all Thanks to the Almighty, my family and all my well wishers for making me the person what I am today! I have grown my business from 1 wedding a year to 20 weddings a year as a single woman Show! With a full time job with an IT company (till last week), mom of two teenage boys, taking care of two elderly people at home, a dedicated wife to a husband and doing 20 weddings a year is definitely not an easy show but am very happy and contended with what I have been doing!

My journey as a Wedding Planner began in 2017 when a friend of mine approached me to coordinate his son’s wedding. Looking at my party planning skills as an organizer and entertainer he felt that I had the capabilities to handle a 150k multi day, multi events wedding! I was very skeptical to take it forward as I never ever have attended a wedding in US till that point and was clueless how things work in a foreign land as I was born and raised in India. He said he had complete confidence in me and would guide me through the process. With my husband’s push, I said Yes! Selective Perception, a management principle that I learnt in my M.B.A, I found information about a South Asian Bridal Show that was happening in town that week. I decided to attend that show but felt that I need to have a company, a name and a business card. With a friend’s help, decided my company’s name- Subham (means Auspicious), got my business cards printed within a day and went to the show. It was a crash course where I learnt about the wedding business to a decent extent. I learnt the business really quick and my first wedding surprised and surpassed my client’s expectations! It was executed flawless (although I had many sleepless nights). My boys were 8 and 9 years old at that time and had to take them as there wasn’t anyone to babysit them at home. I did realize that taking my kids to events will not only put me at peace but will also help train them. So that’s how Subham events became a FAMILY business!

My first wedding led to the next, to the next…..through word of mouth I got my first 5 to 6 weddings…Ofcourse every wedding was a challenge initially….sometimes I used to talk to clients for about 200 to 300 hrs …..clients would take the liberty of calling me at 10 pm…there were no limits on when I would start my work and when I would end. With no formal training under anyone, I learnt my lessons and strategies- sometimes the very hard way! Thank God, never was a moment where I felt I should stop doing this…. every wedding would motivate me to work not only harder but Smarter in a more efficient manner. Of the 85 weddings I have done so far, I can proudly and confidently say that at least 99% clients were very happy and satisfied with me. One constant feedback I received from almost all of my clients is my Unique Selling Point of making personal connection with the wedding party and their families. Always believing that Quality is more important than Quantity, I have been careful in limiting the number of events I take up in a year. Idea is to continue this as a Family business and aiming for 100% customer Satisfaction! I feel my strength is my background in my culture, my ability to envision establishing a Niche market and cater to clients who look for Quality! Everyday is a learning day, every experience is a learning one, as long one understands and enjoys the process, Sky is the limit!

Kavita, 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?

Subham Events specializes in Indian and Indo Fusion weddings. We are end to end event planners and coordinators. We sometimes do smaller events like Birthday parties, Anniversaries, Arangetrams, Milestone events etc., Our planning includes getting the venue and all vendors. We would commit to complete execution starting from the set-up till the final clean up

We are the only South Indian wedding planners in the So cal area but specialize in all Indian culture weddings. We are proud to say that ours is a Family owned business and we do not take commissions from other vendors . Sincerity and Honesty have been our mission! We limit the number of events we take up in an year and will never sub contract our events to an other company! We aim at 100% customer satisfaction and are happy to refer you to our previous clients for a testimonial!

Website: www.subhameventsus.com
IG: subhameventsbykavita

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Wedding planning process is very stressful. Many times clients get overwhelmed, sometimes even lose their control and temper. There was a situation where the client lost his temper and yelled at me. I was calm and told him I will do whatever is needed to make things work his way! End of the event, he thanked me and when he was giving me my check, he told me that he was paying that for being patient and coping with his anger issues! Many times I play the role of a Psychiatrist…LOL!!!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Planners life revolves around planning……ha ha! whose life doesn’t need planning! one just has to realize it that they are planning…conscious/unconscious!

There was a time when my life was on a roller coaster! I had to do back to back 6 weddings in 6 weeks! I realized that putting everything on schedule- even the details like what to cook, when to cook (by the way I am addicted to cooking 2 meals a day at least..that’s my priority! cannot compromise!). I was able to pull off all the 6 weddings smooth without getting stressed and stressing my family out! Attaining balance is the key! Belief in God, Destiny, Control, Yoga are my contributors! Life is to enjoy and as long you love what you do…nothing but Joy and Enjoyment!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.subhameventsus.com
• Instagram: subhameventsbykavita
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kavitagarikapaty5846
• Yelp: Subham Events