Five Grain Events

Well, this is my first official post as a blogger! I am in the process of starting an event planning firm called Five Grain Events, although I’ve been event planning for as long as I can remember. Let’s see if I can catch everyone up as to why I decided to do this…

About Me

Beginning in about jr. high I realized that I was what one would call “organized”. I planned (start to finish–at age 14) a trip for my immediate family and my aunt to St. John in the US Virgin Islands. I think that was about the time that my mom realized I was not following in her slightly scatter-brained footsteps.  The trip went off without a hitch!

During my junior year in college I was recruitment coordinator for my sorority and planned 5 events plus numerous rehearsals in quick succession for the recruitment period, and I was flattered when several people admired the fact that I was able to successfully pull these off without succumbing to major stress like those who had held the position before me.

After college, I took a job at Lyric Opera of Chicago, but knew that I wanted to do more. I sent out my resume to several event coordinators in Chicago in the spring of 2008. I ended up signing on as assistant to Susan Jablonski who runs Pomme Productions and assisted her with several weddings.

During that summer two important things happened: 1) A friend of my boyfriend’s brother was getting married in May of 2009. When she found out I was assisting an event coordinator, she asked if I would be day-of coordinator for her wedding. I gave an enthusiastic yes! 2) My boyfriend became my fiance.  So, I knew the next year would be full of wedding planning and I’d get a chance to see if I really loved it!

Well, they both went FABULOUSLY! I knew it was time to start my own business…just had to come up with a name.

Five Grain Events

This was actually an easy one! The name comes from my married last name which means five grains in Italian. It also has to do with the fact that if you hire me, I can help remove a lot of the stress from the wedding planning process by taking care of some of those pesky details. “We’re good for ya!”.  Ha, ok–that’s not going to be our slogan.

I have 2 weddings scheduled for 2010, one in March and one in October and would love to coordinate a few more. If you or any friends or family are interested in discussing an event further contact me at [joan at fivegrainevents dot com] or [773-359-3106]. I’m looking forward to sharing the process with you as we go!