Meet Lilian Hsyu of Just Merried Events in San Gabriel Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lilian Hsyu.

Lilian, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I really had no idea that my career would be headed in this direction – I am UCLA alum with a major in Sociology, and I thought I was going to be an academic counselor!

It all started when my sister-in-law needed help planning her wedding almost 6 years ago. She and her fiancé were both medical students at the time, working on their rotations in a different city every few weeks – there was no way they could plan a wedding on their own (and they were working with a tight budget, having already taken out a bunch of student loans). I had no idea what I was doing, but she did the research and sent me to visit venues, talk with caterers and vendors, etc. on her behalf. I was her impromptu day-of coordinator as well.

The whole process was surprisingly enjoyable for me, despite being stressful at times. I was in between jobs at that time, so it was the perfect opportunity for me to explore a new career. I completed a certificate program in event & meeting planning after that, and I started helping friends with their wedding planning as a hobby while I still worked full time. Eventually, I was getting referrals from friends and their wedding guests and my part time hobby became my full-time job. Everything happened very organically, and I feel like is what I’m meant to do. I love helping couples plan the happiest day of their lives. It’s been over 3 years since I started Just Merried Events by myself, and now I have a great team that enjoys doing what we do as much as I do – it’s amazing!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I think most small business owners would say that it was a long and hard journey getting to where they are today, and it still isn’t easy! The Los Angeles area is full of accomplished, awesome event & wedding planners that have been in the industry far longer – it was difficult to get my foot in the door and find a place for myself in the industry. I had to do a lot of networking, which took me outside of my comfort zone (I am more of an introvert), but I learned a lot and met a lot of great people in the process that I still work with all the time.

Being a small business owner also means having to do everything and wear many hats – in addition to the wedding planning, I had to become an expert in social media, marketing, book keeping, networking – every aspect of the business. It is a constant challenge juggling all these roles, and I’ve definitely had to Google and YouTube plenty of tutorials, but I also feel more accomplished having had so many self-taught experiences that got me to where I am (I’m proud to have built my own website)!

Please tell us about Just Merried Events.
Just Merried Events is all about giving our couples an individualized, custom experience during their wedding planning process. We never want to make anyone feel like they’re just an invoice number, so we never use email templates (I hate it when I reach out to someone and I get a copy & paste response) and we try to avoid anything formulaic in the interaction we have with our couples. They are clients first and foremost, but by the time their wedding date comes around, we have become very familiar with one another (I’ll know random things, like what gym they go to) and they are able to completely trust me and my team. I think that’s what our couples really appreciate about us – we take the time to get to know them, and we make sure that the happiest day of their lives is stress-free for them.

We also specialize in working with couples who are wedding planning from afar – it just happened that a lot of our couples are living out-of-state (for work or school) and are planning to have their weddings in Los Angeles because that’s where they are originally from or where they met. We’ve even worked with couples living out-of-state and planning destination weddings (one couple lived in Houston and we planned their wedding in Italy).

I know it sounds kind of crazy to be in so many different locations, but it actually made a lot of sense because we also specialize in Asian American weddings. I’m based in the San Gabriel Valley, an area that has a large Asian American population. Because of that and my own background, I’m very familiar with integrating Chinese and other Asian traditions into Western weddings. So, we oftentimes work with couples trying to bring elements from their family’s culture into their wedding – that couple living in Houston are very proud of their Chinese heritage, so we brought their traditions all the way to Italy!

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have started Just Merried Events earlier! I love doing what I do and I wish I would have realized it sooner.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.justmerriedevents.com
• Phone: 626.658.8383
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @justmerriedevents
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justmerriedevents/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/just-merried-events-san-gabriel-2

Image Credit:
Brian Saculles Photography
Paper Ban Photography
Laura Goldenberger Photography

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