Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Powell.
Ashley, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My husband and I have been married now for 18 years. We were the first in our groups of friends to get engaged and plan a wedding. Therefore, we were kind of the “guinea-pigs” for these friends. After our wedding, I helped several girlfriends with their weddings on the side of what I was doing already. I realized I was more passionate about these weddings and special events than I was at my current career choice. Eventually, my husband encouraged me to take the leap and start this small event and wedding planning business. It was just a one-woman show for many years, and I remember one specific year about five years in, I did over 48 weddings, personally. Including one August where I personally did nine weddings. It was insane! Looking back I wouldn’t have traded that experience for the world, but am so grateful I now have a team to coordinate weddings so that I can focus on our clients that want more planning and design.
Great, 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?
Mostly has been a smooth road, with a few bumps along the way. The hardest struggle I had to get through was letting go of being a control-freak. In order to grow my business, I needed to train up a team for support. I was fearful of feeling like I would be training my competition, and along with that when my team failed and struggled, that it would be hard to deal with customer dissatisfaction because I am a perfectionist. But the reality was the only way for me to grow my company was to take on a team and to realize that it would be better with a team, despite the fears I had.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Agape Planning – what should we know?
Agape Planning & Design is the luxury wedding planning studio in Orange County and Los Angeles. Our passion is to create beautiful, unique wedding and event designs for our clients with classic elements suited just for them, including custom wedding invitations and wedding day stationery. As a result, we are the recommended Orange County Wedding Planner by several of the lovely luxurious venues in Southern California. We pride ourselves in providing quality, thoughtful, and experienced wedding planning and event design expertise to our clients. And yes, we also love to travel and create unique destination weddings!
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Traveling. My parents always made it a priority for my sister and I to experience life outside our usual routine. In fact, my dad always said that travel was big part of our education, and therefore took us to see great things across the U.S. when we were young, even taking us out of school to do so. After college, my parents gifted me with a trip to Europe for 35 days. That was an amazing experience!
Contact Info:
- Address: BY APPOINTMENT ONLY — Our wedding studio is located in the Wood & Delgado Building:
26020 Acero, Suite 100, Mission Viejo, CA 92691 - Website: agapeplanning.com
- Phone: (949) 457-0412
- Email: [email protected]
Image Credit:
Jim Kennedy Photographers; Lin & Jirsa; Mood Photo & Video
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
