Today we’d like to introduce you to Allison Wildes Liset.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I began my career coordinating promotional events, national franchise owner conventions and trade shows throughout the US and Caribbean. While the travel was rewarding, the work was often impersonal. I wanted more of a connection to people and place. I planted roots where my heart belonged, back on the beaches of Cape Cod where I spent every summer of my childhood.
In 1998, I established Elegant Engagements – the first full-service event planning agency on Cape Cod. Bringing a new level of client care, compassion and style to the Cape, my design, and coordination concept was immediately embraced by the area’s wedding professionals and most sought-after venues. Cultivating personal relationships – with vendors and clients – brings intrinsic value to every day’s efforts.
My wedding planning process is one of honest advice and appropriate design direction that evolves over months of entertaining conversations and design appointments. There are literally hundreds of details to tend to when planning a wedding weekend. My strategy is to seamlessly bring each and every detail together to create a unique wedding experience that intimately reflects my brides and grooms – and their families!
I have worked diligently to earn my reputation, honor every referral and build an impressive resume of events. It’s been 19 years of design, planning, and coordination at the most exclusive Cape venues and hundreds of private homes. I am so incredibly passionate about what I do for a living and I hope its evident!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
My advice to other young women just starting down the path as owner/operator of their own business is to believe in yourself. I know it sounds simple, but it is literally everything and far from easy. I believed I could make this a full time career and I never wavered. I had prominent business people I sought advice from tell me I was making a huge mistake leaving my “real job”, I had some vendors in the industry tell me that I should be focusing on corporate business, that wedding planning alone would never support a year-round income. I had worked a second, winter job for the first five years while building Elegant Engagements reputation and client roster. In 2001, had several seasonal employees that I trained for months (at significant expense) quit in the middle of June leaving me high and dry. I had a high risk pregnancy in the summer of 2002 that kept me on bed rest for the entire season. I worked through a difficult divorce in 2007. Anyone of these challenges could have derailed my business and my goals, but I kept believing – believing in myself and in Elegant Engagements. This is key. If you believe in yourself and your vision, you WILL find a way to make it happen. I am living proof of this. I now employ 5 women, 2 of us are full time, year round. We turn away more weddings than we could possibly take. We work at some of the most exclusive clubs and gorgeous homes on the cape. My passion for planning is now my “real job”. I spend my days making dreams come true for others. Pinch me.
What should we know about Elegant Engagements of Cape Cod? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We pride ourselves on being the area’s only full-service wedding agency. We will literally do everything to design, plan and coordinate our clients weekend’s worth of events. We start with the initial phone call “We just got engaged!” and off we go – sourcing venues, dates, sending save the dates, securing accommodations, hiring the vendor team, creating the environment for the wedding and perimeter events, basically handling all logistics so our clients can focus on the fun stuff – like selecting their wedding gown and sampling wedding cake flavors! We collaborate with our vendors, creating a customized design aesthetic, that will make the wedding ooze personality – reflecting the vibe and style of our clients. It’s a honed skill to be able to read people, what they like, what they don’t and to translate that into a physical space. We work diligently to earn our clients trust so by the time the wedding weekend arrives, we have become an essential part of the family – and are encouraged to make and execute decisions on their behalf. This enables our clients to truly stay in the moment and not worry about a single logistic on a wedding day. We believe that we have the best job on the planet. There is an intrinsic reward you cannot put a value on when consistently bringing – and witnessing – joy.
Looking back on your childhood, what experiences do you feel played an important role in shaping the person you grew up to be?
I always loved creating environments – whether intimate hidden places, large party places, transforming a utilitarian garage into a roller skating den for the neighborhood – you name it, I changed it! I changed my room layout and design far too often for my parents liking and was always re-purposing, spray painting and DIY crafting to make things “different”. Seeing spaces with new eyes. I adore planning and surprising people with their possibilities. I have always thought “outside the box” and think that had a tremendous influence on choosing a career that would foster that creativity. Every wedding weekend is completely different than the previous… even if it’s in the same venue. It’s always NEW, always a fresh look, with different interpretation… and that fuels my soul!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.EECapeCod.com
- Phone: 508.369.7444
- Email: allison@eecapecod.com
- Instagram: EECapeCod
- Facebook: Elegant Engagements of Cape Cod
Image Credit:
Kate Murphy Lowenstein, Joe Mikos, DMPJ, Ira Lippke Studios, Kristie May
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