By By Jeanie Brown Princeton Times
Princeton Times, W.Va.
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) Meet the two mompreneurs who want to turn your next party into a unique occasion that you and your family will cherish for a lifetime.
PRINCETON
Are you a tired mom trying to make your child’s birthday party memorable, but missing the entire event because you’re stressed out and rushing around tending to all the details?
Are you preparing for your daughter’s wedding, but don’t know how you’ll find the time–or money–to tie up all the loose ends? Is your student graduating and you’d like to make the after-party special, but can’t do it while you’re sitting at the ceremony or making arrangements for out-of-town visitors?
As You Wish Events by Design is ready to rescue you. The new business in Princeton specializes in making special occasions memorable, festive, and stress-free.
Their mission is to create your vision, whether you’re planning a birthday party, baby shower, graduation celebration, corporate holiday party, reunion, or wedding.
“We want to take your dreams and turn them into reality,” said co-owner Lauren Dishner, who launched the company in April along with her long-time best friend, Kagne Ball.
The two entrepreneurs, 2010 graduates of Princeton Senior High School, have been friends for a decade and have long talked of putting their talents to work and starting an events planning business.
Dishner said it was Steve Harvey’s book, Jump, that convinced the two to take the leap of faith and start the business. Harvey’s book encourages readers to step out of their safe zone, take a chance, and achieve life’s blessings in abundance.
“You don’t know until you try,” said Ball. “And now, I’m happy to wake up and go to work every day and do what I love. If I fail, at least I know I tried.”
The businesswomen said they each bring different assets to the company, and the mixture seems to be the perfect combination.
“Kagney’s creative eye for design and her innovation, her attention to detail, are an asset,” said Dishner. “She’s always had it, but she finally needs to be professionally recognized for it.”
Ball said of her co-worker and friend, “Lauren is structured; she keeps us focused and on track. She’s the accountant. Her title is Marketing and Client Services Manager. She handles most of the face-to-face meetings. And we help each other out by watching each other’s kids,” Ball said.
Ball has two sons, Drake, 6, and Izak, 2, and Dishner has a 2-year-old daughter, Payton. Their children have only added to their flair with parties, giving them experience with kid-pleasing events, as well as helping them to see what a mom really needs to help out with a party.
“We’re really empathetic to young moms like ourselves,” said Dishner, “and we want to reach out to that market. Of course, we want to design weddings and big events as well, but we have a real understanding with moms our age.”
Some of the themed parties the two have designed include dinosaurs, Little Monsters, super heroes, Five Nights at Freddie’s, Pokemon, camo hunting, Mickey Mouse, and a mermaid baby shower.
The ladies not only plan every detail of the event, from the cake and food, to the decorations and photography, but they also plan and lead games and activities if needed.
“I’ve done custom photo booths, found games to play, and made Ply-Doh mermaids,” said Ball.
No request is too unusual for the business to handle.
“We have a request for a party with Paw Patrol–just the girl dogs–and Scooby-Doo–a girly version–combined for a party,” said Ball. “It may be odd, but it’s fun.”
Ball and Dishner carefully screen their list of vendors to ensure a perfect fit and working relationship. Their vendor list includes several event venues, both indoor and outdoor, that they have personally visited and evaluated, a variety of caterers (such as Mangino’s Italiano in Bluefield), a DJ, a photographer, and a cake decorator (Sweet Dreams with Tammy Bailey).
They have a collection of resources prepared for their clients’ events.
“We make sure to have vendors who are punctual, dependable, and loyal,” Dishner said. “Personally visiting the vendors and venues keeps us involved. It takes time, but it gives us an edge, and it will pay off.”
As You Wish provides corporate discounts and is flexible in working with clients’ budgets. They offer free consultations to assess a client’s preferences so that each package can be customized to suit the desires, needs, and finances of the client.
“We want to help as much as we can. We know what it’s like to be a mom with several kids or parents trying to afford a wedding. We want to be affordable, approachable by anyone, any income, any status. We don’t want anyone to be intimidated, and we don’t want to turn anyone down,” said Dishner. “We brought life to our dream by officially opening As You Wish, and now we want to do the same for the community, to make their dreams come true.”
Wedding packages are available at four different levels, including partial and all-inclusive. All-inclusive includes planning, locating vendors, event set-up and take-down, rentals, venue location, hotel bookings and guest transportation, budgeting, decorating, and attending every meeting in the planning process.
Ball and Dishner said they feel now is the perfect time and Princeton is the perfect place for a start-up business.
“I live in Greensboro, and I come back on weekends, and now I’m staying for the summer, but I notice each time I come back that new businesses are opening, there’s development and growth. The town looks more cleaned up and polished than it used to. We hope to contribute to that growth,” Dishner said.
The women are building their skills to enhance their business. Dishner has a degree in accounting and is beginning work on her master’s in accounting this fall. Ball is enrolled in an event planning course. Both said their long-term goals for the business include a brick-and-mortar location for the business, an office where they can meet with clients and display samples of their work, possible with a space for holding events.
In the meantime, they will be displaying their talents at local venues, including the Celebrate Princeton Street Fair coming up on Saturday, June 10. The business will have several tables to display their creativity and will be raffling off a free party planning package.
For the upcoming graduation and reunion season, As You Wish is featuring several specials.
“We are currently offering a 10 percent discount on graduation parties and reunions. We have some really fun ideas that we would love to bring to life for your event. Included in this package are vendor referrals for catering and cakes, decoration planning and setup, photo booths and/or collages, games, and DJ will be included. We will also have add-ons such as personalized t shirts and party favors,” said Ball.
Ball recommends contacting the business at least a month in advance for smaller parties and at least three months in advance for larger events to ensure booking of the best venues, which often fill up months in advance.
Ball and Dishner said they took the leap into their new business both because they want to follow their dreams, but also because they want to use their talents to give back to the community they love.
“We love small businesses, and we want to contribute to our small town as a business,” said Dishner. “We want to give back and to make people’s dreams a reality.”
Visit the As You Wish Events By Design Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/AsYouWishEventsWV or their Pinterest page, asyouwisheventswv.
