Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Flaxman.
Hi Sara, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Champagne Dreams + Co. was founded by Carly Dahan, and myself, Sara Flaxman, as co-owners. It all started when Carly and I met in an extended learning course at the University of La Verne that focused on wedding planning and design. At the time, Carly was just leaving thirteen years in the banking industry in search of a more creative and fulfilling career. I had just recently gotten married (where I fell in love with design and planning!) and came into the wedding industry with thirteen years of experience in the hospitality and service industry. From our first meeting, it was apparent that we had a very copesetic relationship especially when it came to weddings.
Carly went on to work with our then instructor who has a prominent company in the So-Cal area while also continuing her education from some of the most talented, skilled wedding planners in our industry. My path led me to take advantage of a couple of internships which led to an internship I landed with the one and only Kevin Lee, “celebrity planner to the stars”. Kevin Lee eventually went on to offer me a position in his company (fun fact: he offered me a job in the middle of Quentin Tarantino’s wedding!). This was the ultimate game changer for me as I was exposed to extreme luxury, high-profiled weddings. Working with Kevin cemented the fact that this is what I want to do—design and plan luxury weddings!
After some time, I wanted to broaden my experience and eventually decided to join Carly at the company she was working with and that’s where we really established our working relationship outside of the friendship. We developed that rapport with each other and worked weddings together quite often and discovered that we make a really great team. We tend to balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses when it comes to wedding planning. It was evident that we were definitely a strong force together and we were greeted with such enthusiasm from other wedding professionals as a duo. That’s how the idea of starting a business together became the goal.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’d say the biggest challenge was starting an event and wedding planning company in the middle of a global shutdown that focused on NOT having any large gatherings! At the beginning of 2020, we were on cloud nine—we had just won a design competition, we were set to take on clients and really be those “official wedding planners” we so dreamed of when we first started this journey. Then Covid-19 came knocking and shut down those plans..or so we thought!
In retrospect, the pandemic was a blessing in disguise career-wise for us. With all the cancellations and shutdowns, all we had was time on our hands. Literally. After a few months of nothing to do, Carly and I started discussing plans to start our own company. Since we had an open calendar, we poured time and energy into this idea. With the whole world on pause, we had time to focus on the foundation of our company: who we are, where we want to market, what our branding looks like, who our ideal clients are, what our “why?” is and so on.
We really hit the ground running, bouncing ideas back and forth. Since venues had postponed all events we decided to start doing venue walkthroughs which allowed us to introduce ourselves and get to know the staff at desirable venues. The pandemic provided a commonality between all industry professionals which gave way to more sincere, impactful conversations without distractions to take place. This gave us the opportunity to really build those relationships with venues and other wedding professionals which eventually led to us being placed on a few “preferred vendor” lists which is always a great thing. This naturally led us into setting up and planning styled shoots. We collaborated with other talented vendors who had nothing but time and resources. We then started submitting our work to be featured on popular wedding websites and blogs (which got picked up a few times!) to help create and direct traffic to our work. We really took advantage of the obstacles the pandemic created in this industry and made it work in our favor. All of these things really lead to the birth and beginning of Champagne Dreams + Co.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Champagne Dreams + Company is a boutique wedding planning and design company that blends our attention to detail with our passion for elevated design. We cater to the busy professionals who appreciate attention to detail and crave a stand-out, luxurious design with an emphasis on the guest experience. We realize there are many wedding planners and designers out there especially in California, but what really distinguishes us from the rest is our personalities; our desire to genuinely connect with our clients and truly become their wedding-confidant during the planning process. Furthermore, we approach our Full-Service clients in a different way. Most planners take on the role of designer even if they do not have the right skill set for it for a variety of reasons. With us, you get a two-prong approach where a client will work with both of us directly: Carly taking the lead in the logistical part of planning and with me as I take control of the design aspects of planning. Essentially, our clients receive two principal planners, one proficient in each of their strong suits while working cohesively together to create the perfect wedding. We love what we do and cannot wait to share our talents to those couples seeking their dream wedding!
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Well, if there is one thing for certain, weddings are not going anywhere anytime soon! I think 2020 was the perfect example of this. There’s something to be said about putting together a celebration in honor of life’s milestones. People want to party! They want to look forward to a joyous occasion that allows them to live in the moment and forget about everything else even if it’s just for a day. It’s good for the soul.
Now, how that wedding or celebration may look is a different story. During Covid, we had to reapproach how we produce and host weddings. There were restrictions, rules and limitations which led to the “micro wedding” trend, but couples still wanted that wedding! We’re currently seeing a bounce back from all those postponed weddings and the bounce back is bigger than ever—bigger guest counts, bigger budgets, bigger productions. However, as we are living in such uncertain times politically and economically I foresee couples pulling back on budget and guest counts going into 2023-2024 wedding seasons IF things get worse. The inflation and heated worldly affairs are no joke and will ultimately affect this industry and the couples who are getting married and how they get married. But as I stated, the actual celebration isn’t going anywhere. As Ross Geller once said, “Pivot!”.
Contact Info:
- Website: champagnedreams.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/champagnedreams.co/
- Other: https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/champagne-dreams-and-co-southern-california-ca-2049893
Image Credits
Heather Smith Photography Maya Myers Photography Fitz Carlile photography White Oak Studios Kari Martinez Photography BYC Photography
