Allow me to introduce myself…

Hi there! I’m diving a little deeper here to introduce myself (and this awesome business) to those of you I may not already know.

Who am I?

My husband Scott and I have been together for 17 years (married 11), and we live in the Orlando, Florida area. He is my right-hand party-thrower. In our family, I do most of the planning and figuring out what ideas I want to do, and he is the day-of and day-before planner and co-executor. He has also helped me learn to “reel in” some of my big ideas so that we don’t get overwhelmed with having too much to do to make them happen – and I SO appreciate that!

I was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, so I still consider myself a midwestern gal at heart. I love the seasons in the northern US, but I do love wearing sandals and flip flops nearly year-round here in FL, and I LOVE that Disney World is basically in my backyard. My two favorite holidays are Halloween and Christmas, followed closely by my birthday {I know, that’s not technically a holiday, but everyone’s birthday is super special in our family}. 🙂

I love tacos, dark chocolate, crafting, running, & pilates, and I cherish quality time with my close friends and my family. I’m passionate about protecting the planet, and I’m also on a health journey–it’s been a long one–so I’m sure you’ll see both of those aspects seep into some of what I share here and on social media as it relates to party planning.

Why did I create Dreaming Up Parties? 

I’ve always loved a good party, and themed parties are absolutely my “happy place.” I marvel at the creativity and how all the little details add up to make such a truly special, memorable experience for the guests.

The first themed party I co-hosted was with Scott and a few dear friends of ours. It was a celebration of multiple holidays, all rolled into one amazing party, and we called it “Holidaze.” We had everything from a Christmas tree, to Jack-o-lanterns, to Valentine’s conversation hearts (RIP Necco), a New Year’s Eve champagne toast at midnight, and many more holiday-themed food, drinks, and decorations. It was beyond fabulous, and we kept the tradition going for several years. I’m pretty sure THAT was when I truly fell in love with planning and hosting themed parties.

Fast-forward a few years, and we started hosting fun, DIY themed parties for our kiddos. From Rapunzel, Princess & the Frog, and Anne Wheeler from “The Greatest Showman,” to cars, jungle, dragon, and superhero themes, we’ve had a great time creating memories for our kids (and ourselves). I also love hosting baby showers for friends, and I’ve planned or co-planned some great celebrations at my office as well. I’m pretty much excited to help with anything related to a good themed party!

After my daughter’s 6th birthday party last year, a very good friend of mine told me I should really consider starting a party planning business. I kind of laughed off the idea, but the seed she planted grew and grew, and the more I thought about it, the more I thought, “This could be super fun!” So after thinking about it and working on it for over a year, this new dream of mine is becoming a reality – and it is super exciting!

What about the name? Oh, deciding on a name for a business is almost as challenging as deciding on a name for a baby! (To give you a little insight into my mind, my husband and I didn’t actually come to a final decision on our daughter’s name until she was about 36 hours old, haha!!) I named it “Dreaming Up Parties” because it works in a couple different ways: My clients may have a party they’ve envisioned or dreamed of, and I do help them make it happen by dreaming up ideas for the party! The two parts of my work that really light my heart on fire are 1) getting to dream up, explore, and discover fabulous ideas for a party, AND 2) helping others achieve something they didn’t even know or believe they could do – surpassing their dreams for themselves!

Why DIY Party Planning Support?

The more I talked with my friend about this idea, the more I realized that my greatest strengths in party planning are really finding and coming up with fun ideas, and planning what needs to be done. I also LOVE the “execution” part – the “making” of things, and bringing the ideas to life – but that takes more time than I could feasibly give to clients and would pull too much free time away from my kids and my husband.

So… in talking with people to see where their biggest pain points were, I learned that a lot of people (especially working mamas) either a) don’t feel like they have the time to come up with ideas for a party, or b) don’t think they are creative enough or capable of carrying out the ideas.

If you’re part of group “a” above, I hope you can pull ideas from what we share here, on social, and in our weekly emails to save you some time. And if you’d love to have someone else pull together a bunch of great, achievable ideas, we’re here to help! Check out our one-on-one personalized services.

If you’re part of group “b” above, my hope is that you will ultimately go outside your comfort zone to try to carry out your party ideas that seem out of reach. I PROMISE you, if I can make a cute banner, or a tutu, or fun-themed-food, so can you. We’ll be sharing ideas, tips, and inspiration for how to “do it yourself,” so stick with us. You just may end up surprising yourself!

Lastly, if you’re not part of either of those groups, we’d still love to have you hang around and be a part of our online community. Maybe an idea or experience you share will spark someone’s creativity or give them that little nudge they need to try it out for themselves!