A few months ago, we posted about the award we received from The International School of Hospitality and wrote about how the three Scheme owners met.  This summer marks our 5 year Anniversary and we are looking back on how we got started, on the milestones that changed our business and on the events that brought us to this point.
As much as I’d like to say that we have it all figured out, we know what we are doing 100% of the time and we have a clear vision for the future…that would be a lie.  One of my favorite stories of the ‘early days’ of the Scheme girls was before our business officially started.  We had toyed with the idea of opening a business and there were emails back and forth something along the lines of, “Hey Tara, we’re thinking of starting our own wedding planning business.  You want in?”  Tara’s response makes me laugh every time I think about it.  She replied with just, “Sure, that sounds fun!”   4 words?!  4 words is all it took to get in on this gig?  You would send the same reply to a girlfriend asking about going out for lunch or inviting you to a pool party!  Starting a business and changing the course of your career and life?  No biggie.  That sounds fun!  Clearly, we knew exactly what we were doing.  Not true.  Truthfully, we had a ton to learn.  But we aren’t afraid of a challenge, so we dove in head first and starting attending classes on being a small business owner, meeting with professionals and doing the research necessary to launch a legitimate business.  Tara and I leaned on our backgrounds as graduates of UNLV’s Hospitality Program and Traci used her Journalism degree to start designing materials and a logo for our big launch.  We combined all of that with a few lessons from the school of hard knocks and common sense to bring to you, Scheme, LLC.  5 summers ago, Scheme made it’s mark and launched with this website.  Drumroll please…

Scheme circa 2010.  Ha!  Look at how young we were!!  And skinny!  Dang.  Needless to say, things have come quite a ways since then.  When we launched our business, we had a fourth business partner.  In 2012 she opted to stay home full time with kids, but you’ll spot her in our pictures from the early years.  Our launch was successful and we were soon working with brides from all over the world, collaborating with Las Vegas wedding vendors and balancing family, other jobs, entrepreneurship and life in general.  A highlight of that first year was attending The Most Ridiculous Wedding Event Ever and connecting with Mindy Weiss, Randy Fenoli, Elizabeth Messina and other BIG name wedding pros.

In 2011 we celebrated our first year in business with a blow out birthday party in our new office.  I’m very proud to say those guests at our party are still some of our closest friends.  They are more then vendors–they are the people we trust to turn YOUR wedding day into something spectacular.  As a wedding planner, we can plan and organize and design all day, but if we don’t have a phenomenal photographer to capture the day and a brilliant florist creating a gorgeous bouquet and a talented pastry chef baking a delicious cake…well, your wedding wouldn’t come to life in the same way.  These vendors work with us week after week and have our back if a problem arises.  It’s a partnership and a bond working as a team for a wedding day.  And they’ve turned into the friends we hang out with for dinner, for drinks, for a gym class, for a shoulder to cry on and for a hug to celebrate.

As 2012 progressed we adjusted to being an ownership team of 3.  We worked like crazy to keep up with demand and keep ourselves sane.  Our old website was no longer the right fit for us or a reflection of who we were, so we started with new head shots by Chelsea Nicole.  We showed a fun, colorful, playful side of each of us and livened up our presence.

When 2013 began, we had all made the leap of leaving big-wig companies and come to the Scheme office full time to make it on our own.  Let’s just shout out to our husbands who supported each of us in this decision.  Scheme would not be where we are today without Jared, Gabriel and Case!  In March of 2013 we travelled to Beverly Hills {with that group of friendors (friends+vendors) mentioned above} to coordinate Liz & Jean’s wedding at Greystone Mansion.  As we drove to and from Beverly Hills we had hours in the car to evaluate the status of our business and see what changes need to be made.  That was a major turning point for us.  We adjusted our services and amp’ed up our client experience.  Francesca joined our team, first as a part time employee, then moved to a full time position and now acts as our Wedding Day Coordinator handling all our Day of Coordination couples.  With the change, it allowed the three Scheme owners to work solely on Full Coordination & Design projects.  There aren’t enough words to express how grateful we are to have Francesca as part of the Scheme Family.  She worked with us as we launched our sister company, Welcome Bag Shoppe and has held the reigns on its continued success.
As Francesca gradually took on more responsibility, we were ready for the business to reflect how we had grown and matured. Our wedding designs had evolved and our brand had become more focused.  In 2014, we prepared for another website overhaul.  This time was for reals.  We knew some of the mistakes we made on our first 2 sites and wanted to showcase fresh designs and beautiful weddings.  I know, I know.  It’s looks like we have a case of A.D.D. with the amount of changes, edits, updates and refreshes we are constantly doing.  But that’s the reality of owning a business and growing a business.  We are proud of who we were on Day 1, but on Day 1,825 we are new and improved and just as proud of that.  We are comfortable in our skin.  We’ve won awards.  We’ve worked with rock stars.  We’ve worked with professional athletes.  We’ve settled into who we are (let’s be honest, that includes a few more pounds and few gray hairs).  We’ve established ourselves firmly in the industry and we’re ready for the next steps.  Our first five years flew by faster than we could have imagined and we are looking forward to our next 5!