Getting to know PlannerMix.com member Brandi Hamerstone:

Q: Who are you, and what do you do?
A: My name is Brandi Hamerstone. I own All Events Planned, a full-service wedding and event planning company in Cleveland, OH. I plan full-service weddings, day-of coordination, consultations for event planning, and mentor students entering the event planning industry, and I’m also an award-winning blog writer.

Q: How long have you been involved with meetings and events?
A: Event planning experience started out in college, where I obtained a degree in Hotel/Restaurant Management. I then worked for private business clubs, hotels, off-site catering companies, banquet facilities, as well as for myself. My entire career has been solely dedicated to event planning.

Q: How did you get into the industry?
A: My initial desire was to become a chef, which is how I ended up at Pennsylvania Culinary Institute. Through that process, I entered into their Hotel/Restaurant Management program when I realized how much I enjoyed the event planning process. I worked at the Rivers Club in downtown Pittsburgh, PA while I was going to school and was able to immediately become immersed in the world of wedding planning and high-end, exclusive events.

Q: What is your favorite part about your job?
A: The thing about my job, which I absolutely love, is that every single event is different. Every client has a different vision for their event, different expectations and different styles of planning. I never have the chance to get bored or to even feel as though I’ve “finally got it all figured out” because no event, even if it is with the same person, is ever the same. I could do event planning forever, thanks to the newness that comes with each client, event, planning process, etc.

Q: What has been your #1 professional all-star moment?
A: To have come into another event, planned by another planner, at the very last minute and turn it into a huge success. I was called to coordinate a wedding only a few weeks before the actual wedding day, because someone had hired an unreliable wedding planner. There were bad vendor referrals, some of them had never responded, some weren’t providing any type of quality that the bride was satisfied with, and some were just downright awful to the client.

Since she went with them based on the advice of her previous planner, she was now stuck in a situation that she had absolutely no clue how to fix. Her site actually cancelled her reception only three months prior to her wedding day. I was able to come in, within that three-month period, and find her everything from a new (and more beautiful) site, to photographer, baker, catering, linens, décor and even a wonderful wedding dress. Even I wasn’t 100 percent certain I was going to be able to pull everything off. Everything was a success, and I was able to give someone the wonderful day they deserved with little to no stress during a highly stressful time.

Q: Describe the best event you ever attended:
A: I had the honor of working at a historical mansion as their Public Programs Director. Each year, they held a Father’s Day Car Show on the property and had cars from all over the world in, from all types of different eras and even different celebrity owners.

I was working for the anniversary Car Show, and they wanted to go all out for the event. They had catering, hundreds of pricelessly restored vehicles and over 5,000 people. The event took over a year to plan, between security, food, passes, guest of honor, car transportation, car shipment, layout, design, rentals and staff. After a long year of hard work, the day turned out to be sunny and beautiful, and the event was a huge success.

Having everything work out, at event that large, with so many amazing details to handle and so many different aspects involved, was the best event I’ve ever been to. I can still look back and be so grateful for that process because I learned so much. Once you know you can handle something like that, you can almost handle anything.

Q: What professional words of advice have you heard and passed on?
A: “Any work worth doing is worth giving your best.” This advice was given to me while I was in college, in reference to putting linens on tables and checking to make sure they weren’t upside down. Of course, having it referred to the linens on tables at high-end events made it seem simple, but I’ve applied it to my entire life. If I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it as best as I can.

On those days when I’ve gotten hundreds of emails, calls and appointments scheduled, and I’m exhausted and ready to give only 50 percent, I think to that statement and realize, if it is worth doing, it is worth doing right. Therefore, I always strive for being the best—never just good enough, never just a little better, but “the best.” If you apply it to every application in life, it makes a seamless flow of always doing everything the best you can.

Q: What is the strangest question you've ever been asked onsite?
A: I’ve been onsite and been asked to replace a bridesmaid who ended up becoming ill and not being able to attend. Her dress was onsite, and the bride asked me if I could just step into the dress and stand in her place. The wedding had a wedding party of 12 people on each side, so I’m not sure if anyone would have noticed, but I did step in. It was the first time I’ve had to direct a ceremony and a bride down the aisle while also walking down the aisle myself. Thankfully, I have quite a few amazing assistants and happened to have one of my best on staff with me that day, so it all worked out. I quickly changed out of the gown after the ceremony and stepped right back into my “planner uniform” to get back to work!

Q: What is the most unusual item you carry with you on your travels?
A: In the past few years, I’ve been carrying dog treats. I’ve had several brides have their dog onsite at their event. Nothing where the dog is involved in the wedding, but, if they were staying at a property, they would always bring their dogs. I’ve even had family members carry along their “purse dogs” and to ensure quiet time during the ceremony I’ve “dog sat” for them, and having treats on hand makes it very easy to keep any dog quiet.

Q: It’s 3:00 a.m., and your hotel room phone is ringing. Who is it, and what do they want?
A: It is my bride and groom, heading out from the reception. They are calling to tell me that they had an amazing time and that it was all thanks to me. The two of them are on the phone at the same time, telling me that they could never have had this day without me, and they hope I know how much I will always mean to them.

I can be specific with that question because a couple this year did actually call me at 2:30 a.m. to tell me how happy they were. Fortunately, I was still up, but I think the call could have waited ‘til morning. However, I’ll never turn down the opportunity to hear about how happy my bride and groom are at the end of the night!

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Serenity J. Knutson is the Editor in Chief of PlannerWire.com, the News, Information and Community website for meeting and event planners. Contact her at Serenity@PlannerWire.com.

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