We were lucky to catch up with Patricia Zutman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Patricia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I’ve really been drawn to event planning since college; although, it was a hidden dream. My studies revolved around Business Administration and Human Resource (HR) Management. Following graduation, I worked for a few years in the HR field, but found myself unmotivated  and unappreciated as I was drastically underpaid by market average. In an effort to supplement my income, I decided to attend classes at the local bartending academy to become a Certified Mixologist. My thought was I could work my corporate job Monday through Friday and then bartend on Friday and Saturday nights.

I moved to Arizona shortly after graduating from the bartending academy to help care for my grandmother. Due to our location in Arizona, it was much easier to find a bartending job than one within the Human Resources field. I loved bartending and was extremely good at it. I had a knack for speed and for remembering “regular’s” (guests) and their drink / menu preferences. I quickly worked my way up the ladder bartending becoming a heavy volume bartender, then a shift-lead, a bar manager, and bar trainer. I worked in the bar industry for 18 years and moved from Arizona, to California, Washington, and finally home to Colorado, but realized that at some point I would want a family and working late nights wouldn’t be helpful while also being a wife and mom. I began thinking about what I would want to do after setting down the mixing tin (bar reference) for the last time. Ironically, while organizing my office closet in 2015, I came across a box filled with papers and books from college and began sorting what I would keep or toss. Mixed in amongst the term papers I found a hand-drawn wedding client intake form that I had composed in pencil on college-ruled paper; it brought a smile to my face and warmed my heart. I knew then and there that I wanted to become a wedding planner. I wanted to be a part of the happiest day of many people’s lives. I decided to obtain my certification as a Special Event and Wedding Planner to put credit and merit to my name and the services I would offer.

I wanted to get experience as a special event and wedding planner so I began applying for positions with local planning companies, but I was often overlooked since I only had my certification. Their oversight spurred me on to start my own company – All Four Seasons Events (AFSE), inspired by the 4 seasons that Colorado is blessed with – spring, summer, fall, and winter. During the first 2 years of my company, I also worked as the Sales and Event Coordinator for a local catering company. This position allowed me to understand the front and back-ends to catering an event. I designed catering for various events, put together layouts for food stations and buffets, and helped execute the catering at the event.

I booked the first client for AFSE in 2017; they hired me as their Day-of Coordinator. Being new to the industry, I figured the growth process would be slow, but I was determined to provide clients with the best service possible and have my reputation speak for itself to attract future clients. Much to my surprise, in late summer 2018, my company was contracted as the sole Event Planner for a new event center opening in Golden, CO. All Four Seasons Events would help define how events were conducted at the venue and provide guidance as to the level of service we would provide clients. Business at the venue has grown exponentially over the years. I coordinated 99 events in the first year of the venue opening and now 5 years later, the special events department generates more than $2.6 million in revenue.

I still smile to think that this dream of being a wedding / event planner actually began years ago on that hand-drawn client intake form in college. Even though the path to this dream had many detours, it helped prepare me for the very demanding role I now have as an experienced Special Event and Wedding Planner.

Patricia, 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?

All Four Seasons Events (AFSE) is a Colorado based special event and wedding planning company that opened in 2015. I have a passion for planning, especially for weddings, and am incredibly detail oriented. I find calm in chaos and have an innate ability to organize and provide structure while also having fun with clients and forming bonds that last long after the event has ended. Clients praise me for my responsiveness, guidance, organization, dedication, and attention to detail. I am also fluent in Spanish, se habla Español.

AFSE offers full and partial wedding planning as well as day-of coordination. We also love to help plan and coordinate corporate gatherings, non-profit events and galas, and more intimate affairs such as birthday and anniversary parties, rehearsal dinners, post-wedding brunches, and celebrations of life. We know from experience that extraordinary events don’t just happen, they’re planned. In addition to putting together an event timeline, we can also assist with creating a floor plan, providing planning checklists and guidance, suggestions to help with your budget, assistance with rental reservations, research for hotel room blocks, and vendor recommendations. Regardless of the service that you choose, we will strive to couple your dreams with our talents in an effort to remove the stress so that you can enjoy every moment of your special day or event.

All Four Seasons Events’ goal is simple – to assist YOU in creating a successful event that is a true reflection of your vision.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

My family places high value on professional success and reared me to have a strong work ethic. This means that I want to be viewed as being reliable, dedicated, productive, disciplined, responsible, professional, and cooperative. These qualities work well in my job as a Special Event and Wedding Planner. I am very much a team player and recognize that truly successful events are the result of a team of professionals who share the same goal of providing the client with exceptional service throughout the planning process and deliver a quality product / service during and after the event.

As a Special Event and Wedding Planner, I get the opportunity to work with new clients and vendors all the time. Many of these new acquaintances comment on how organized, professional, and thorough I am during the planning process. This sentiment is echoed during the event; many expressing how easy the day went under my coordination, how well I communicated, and many of the vendors express a desire to work with me again and to be listed as one of my preferred vendors. The more opportunities I get to work with these vendors, the more they’re able to see how consistent and meticulous I am when planning events. These vendors then naturally recommend my services when they meet with new clients as they know that I will work diligently to help execute a flawless and memorable event.

Additionally, many clients opt to graciously leave glowing feedback for the entire world to see by leaving detailed reviews on various websites. These treasured online wedding reviews are a loving legacy (that make us feel like a million bucks) plus they are a go-to resource for future couples which will also help us achieve recognition as one of Colorado’s best wedding planning companies.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

As the Event Planner / Coordinator for an event, ultimately, it’s our responsibility (as the manager) to provide guidance to the professional vendors and staff (the team) to ensure a successful event. We believe in leading by example, providing open and responsive communication, encouraging out-of-the-box thinking, we welcome suggestions to streamline processes and improve performance, and are committed to being fully transparent to include sharing of challenges we’ve faced and how we solved them. When issues arise (because they always will), we remain calm and do our best to work efficiently and effectively until we’ve provided a solution. Should something happen that is our fault, we take ownership of it and work hard to fix the problem and follow-up to ensure that the situation has been resolved.

To help promote high morale amongst the team, we believe in providing structure and clearly defining expectations from each team member’s role. We also want to ensure that team members feel heard, that they feel valued and know they are an important member of the team, and they are confident that their contribution to event success is crucial.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://allfourseasonsevents.com/
• Instagram: all_four_seasons_events
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AllFourSeasonsEvents/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/33458807
• Twitter: @All4SeasonsEvnt
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/all-four-seasons-events-arvada-2

Image Credits
Photo 1: Allison Dobbs Photography Photo 2: Sun Prairie Films Photo 3: Warwick Adventures Photo 4: Sarah Goff Photography Photo 5: Sun Prairie Films Photo 6: Meigan Canfield Photography Photo 7: Megan Simpson Photography Photo 8: Jennifer Morgan Photography