A love of styling and events inspired Jessica Alderton to create a business that specialises in event styling and floral design for couples looking to host thriving and memorable events.
Jessica Alderton Events is now entering their fifth year and for Jess she’s “loving every moment of it.”
With a natural love of planning and designing celebratory events, Jess gets up every day excited for her next project. “After working with a florist and wishing I could have control in ensuring all items at the wedding were cohesive, I decided to start my own styling company that not only offered styling but also floral design to ensure all elements complemented each other.”
Jessica Alderton Events provides services for weddings such as full wedding design and planning, full event design, and ‘day-of’ coordination. Each plan involves Jess working closely with each couple to create custom design proposals that reflect their true personal style.
“I will always remember when I booked my first wedding with someone completely unknown, it was so emotional, and I burst into tears on the phone to my husband when I told him. That emotion I felt just cemented that this is my passion and what I love to do, and to be totally honest I still feel that raw emotion with every wedding I book.”
Working beside loved-up couples and taking the pressure off the planning for their ‘big-day’ Jess has gained many memories over the past five years. “I have so many to choose from! My favourite of each wedding would be the first look, we encourage each couple to view the room before their guests enter. It is a moment that is so special for me as I get to see the reaction on their faces as they see the concept we have created together come to life.” No day is a bad day for Jess as she has gained trust in the Geelong community. “The happy tears, “oh my god” and “wows” make it all worth it and are the moments I will cherish forever.
An avid creative who loves using colour, clashing it with texture and breaking the rules, Jess believes that the more out-there the styling, the better.
“The most important thing about any wedding is that it needs to represent the couple. We don’t get hung up on a picture on Pinterest, and when given the freedom to create something unique, we produce our best work.”
Jess has found that the amount of work that goes into event design is underestimated. “I think one of the biggest challenges is floristry and styling being an undervalued profession. Couples wanting the Pinterest wedding on a budget underestimate how much work goes into each and every wedding. It is the 2am flower market runs, up to ten hours of flower prep the day before and then anywhere from twelve to eighteen hours on the day, plus the countless meetings, emails and phone calls to clients and suppliers.”
Jess makes every effort the ensure her clients get the best wedding they could ask for. The feedback she has received has reinforced the magic she weaves into her couples special day. “At my last wedding, the bride came over to me at the end of the night and after giving me the biggest teary cuddle asked me when she gets to see me again, these are the friendships that are formed after being a part of one of the biggest days of their lives.”
For those that want to follow in her footsteps, Jessica Alderton Events offer two lucky candidates internships to learn the ins and outs of the event planning industry “to pay forward the kindness and mentoring I was shown when I first started out and to impart as much knowledge as I can.”
While Jess invites the opportunity to collaborate with fellow Geelong businesses, she would love the opportunity to work alongside her American mentor Jessica Zimmerman, “she offers retreats for stylists to learn and work with her each year and I would love to have the opportunity to partake and to thank her in person for all her wisdom and support.’’
Continuing to learn and develop her skills in what she loves is an important value that Jess holds. Looking to the future, it looks rosy. She hopes to continue designing beautiful and memorable weddings as well as branching out to corporate events, “having been given the opportunity to design something avant garde for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers concert dinner, it is my first step of hopefully many into the corporate sector.”