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Marjorie Lashmet of 329Events is not only here to help you plan your wedding but was right there with you in 2020 planning her own. After meeting her now husband 7 years ago on Tinder (woot woot Tinder Marriages) the expertise of planning became a personal one. With two postponements and a mini mony in between, Marjorie is now set for their wedding day this year! We sat down with Marjorie to hear more about her love life, work life, and bring you some advice when it comes to wedding planning.
Q: How did your spouse/or you propose?
A: My husband has a hard time surprising me, as either he gets too excited and tells me, or I somehow find out. For my birthday in September, he booked us a trip to Thailand for New Years in December. I’ve always wanted to go, and he actually booked the Hello Kitty branded Eva Air airplane. Never have I ever been so excited for a 14 hour flight. We had priority boarding because I wanted to take photos of all of the cute things before everyone got on. As I finally got settled in and asked him to take a photo of me, he got down and asked me to marry him. I would compare it to the scene in Crazy Rich Asians when she’s on a plane and gets proposed to while everyone’s trying to board. LOL. I was definitely shocked and thinking back, I actually blacked out when he did it.
Q: When did you get married?
A: We had plans to get married in March 2020, but the world had other plans. We were 2 weeks out from our wedding that we’d been planning for over a year (and fully paid for). Being in the event industry for so long and being used to pivoting at the drop of a hat, we understood the circumstances and postponed (twice now). My vendors were understanding and awesome to work with. We ended up getting married on our original wedding date, March 29 (329), which was the same date we became boyfriend/girlfriend back in 2014. Our venue let us come do a safe and socially distant elopement style ceremony with just us and our parents which was incredibly beautiful. Once we postponed, within a matter of DAYS I: bought a $20 wedding dress on Amazon, made a bouquet from flowers at Ralphs, asked my amazing photographer / friend Savannah Rae if she would be open to shooting it, booked our videographer the DAY OF, did my own hair and make up, and got married! We got drive through In-N-Out after to celebrate! My husband has always wanted a small wedding and I’ve wanted a big one, so we get both!
Q: What made you decide to get into the wedding industry? Where were you in the industry prior to your wedding?
A: I’ve been planning events for almost a decade! Prior to the wedding industry I was producing all sorts of events for some of the largest brands and celebrities at iHeartRadio. Concerts, podcasts, VIP parties, influencer content campaigns, weddings, brand marketing activations, etc. I thrived in environments and had a genuine passion for producing events that made my clients happy. I had some experience with weddings through assisting other vendors and helping friends and family bring their details to life. I reached a point in my life where I knew I wanted to launch something of my own, so after evaluating the different avenues, I decided I wanted to launch my own company helping others plan and coordinate their big days! Separate of wedding planning, I also help friends, family, and my couples find their homes as a real estate agent in Southern California!
Q: What's one thing you wish you had known planning your wedding that you know now?
A: Wow - so many things! Wedding planning is an incredibly emotional experience. From the differing opinions, the finances, the endless design options, and the list goes on. Every couple is going through a different planning experience culturally, financially, etc. Weddings require collaboration from many
different people with differing opinions, approaches and styles. As a wedding planner and coordinator, my advice to myself would be to remember that when it gets tough - take a breath, take a break, and approach each punch with a calm and level headed mind. Also, do research on what things cost before trying to allocate your budget to help you stay in it!
Q: We always see brides regretting not hiring your service. Do couples ever reach back out after the initial pass? What would you say to those on the fence when booking with you?
A: I’ve had couples who have said they don’t think they need more than just coordination until they realize they need more help. I start each of my consultations asking couples to share more about them, learn their personality, and understand their style. From there I’ll recommend what type of planning services I think that would best fit. For those who are on the fence, I really ask them to think about how they foresee the next few months leading up to their wedding day and fill in the value I can bring throughout the process. I ask them to be truly honest with themselves to see if we’d be a good fit! I really try to understand where couples are when we first connect and share how I can provide as much value based on their needs, as I do far more than show up on the day of your wedding to coordinate vendors and timelines.
Q: If you could do anything else in the industry what would it be?
A: I have so much respect for florists and the beautiful work they do! I feel like the amount of work put into bringing wedding flowers to life is so undervalued. If I could clone myself I would take up floral for sure! Long term wise, my dream would be to own a wedding venue! Still figuring out where and what kind, but that’s the dream.
Q: What is your ideal wedding to work?
A: I love super romantic weddings with tons of flowers! Who wouldn’t want to work in an atmosphere with a ton of floral art being created?! This one is a little hard to answer because every wedding and couple are unique in their own way. When booking weddings, I look less at the wedding and place more importance on the couple I’m working with. It really has to be a good fit both ways. As I’m doing a consultation I think to myself “Do we connect well? Do I enjoy being on calls with them and working with them? Could we work well together on their wedding day?” It’s more of ideal clients vs ideal weddings.
Q: Do you have clients that have turned into friends?
A: Totally! As I previously mentioned, I do this work because I love connecting and helping people. I love bringing value to their wedding day, but also getting to know them along the way. Since I end up spending time with their closest friends and family, it’s hard not to become friends when you’re facilitating such an important event in their life. We stay connected on social media too!
Q: What questions do you wish brides would ask you?
A: Haha, this one’s also tough because once they book I get flurries of questions (all good ones!) that helps us get to the “finish line.” I guess one would be “What can I do to ensure you have all you need to do your job?” Transparently, even though they don’t ask - I usually tell them. haha
Q: What's a tip you can give for brides when planning/booking?
A: Definitely to consult a planner or coordinator about budgeting before booking vendors. Since we are always looking at contracts and have such a large group of vendor networks - we would rather help set you up for success and find vendors you love AND fit your budget, than have to settle for a vendor you wouldn’t be happy with because you couldn’t fit your ideal one into your budget.
Money and budgets are scary and can be uncomfortable to talk about, but we really are here to help guide you through this process! Many times we meet brides who would rather plan a wedding fully on their own and most times they do an AMAZING job, but keep in mind that as a planner, I really have your best interest in mind because it’ll help set expectations across the board and make the entire planning process a lot less stressful for everyone!
A brief background on Marjorie: Marjorie Lashmet, owner and lead planner of 329events, was born and raised in Carson, California. A UCLA alumna and COVID bride who began her career producing events in the media and entertainment industry prior to entering the wedding industry. In addition to wedding planning, Marjorie and her husband are REALTORs who help friends, family and first time home buyers navigate the homebuying process. In their free time they enjoy traveling the world, going to concerts, watching stand up comedy, and spending time with their dog Chip. Favorite joke would be from Mitch Hedburg, “An escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You should never see an Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order sign, just Escalator Temporarily Stairs.”
Photo Credit: Business Headshot and Holiday Photo | Flash Point Graphix
Wedding and Hangar Engagement Photo | Savannah Rae Photo
Reception Photo | Jorge Macias Photo