Meet Amy Abernathy of Flourish Event Co.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Abernathy.

Amy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’ve always been a party planner… The first “real” event I ever coordinated was for my parent’s 20th Anniversary. They were scheduled to celebrate in Hawaii when we found out that my Mom had a tumor. I remember vividly sitting in the back of my Mom’s Jeep Cherokee as she broke the news to my brother and I. We rejoiced. Can you believe it? After years of doctors visits and inconclusive tests, they’d found the thing causing her pain. That winter, my parent’s plans to travel were quickly canceled and 10-year-old me devised a plan to bring Hawaii to Oregon in the middle of February. I’ll never forget my parent’s faces when they walked in the front door and were handed outrageous (and probably unnecessary) Hawaiian shirts to sport during their party. My parents still smile when they talk about the party – the borrowed posters from a travel agency, the coconuts and tropical fruit on the counter and Elvis singing in the background…

Since that time, I’ve been a coordinator in every sense of the word and for a variety of organizations. In my college years, I started helping friends get married, then it quickly became friends of friends until finally, I was assisting couples I had no connection to. I decided to take a chance and open up Flourish Event Co. officially in 2018.

With nothing but passion and joy, I began booking clients, coordinating dozens of weddings, parties and events and loving every minute of it, all while working other full-time jobs.

In 2018 (just as I launched Flourish) my husband, Caleb and I quickly learned through a series of difficult symptoms and pain that I have Endometriosis, as well as some chronic issues that will make it very difficult to have children of our own. While we struggled with my diagnosis, we felt that it was confirmation to adopt (something we’d talked about from the very beginning of our relationship.)

Almost immediately, we decided that all the funds we raise while coordinating events will go towards our future adoptions.

We were eager to start 2020 and felt certain that it would be a year of flourishing- little did we know that Covid-19 would impact events in almost every capacity. Thankfully for us, couples eager to get married and ready to do whatever it took to make their day (small or large) come together found us… and in doing so, we found our niche.

I’ve always believed there is reason to celebrate – even during life’s difficult seasons. Whether the diagnosis of a tumor, the inability to have children or a global pandemic, there is always cause to celebrate – and that’s what we do.

We continue to raise funds for our adoptions with the hopes that in the next few years, we will be able to adopt siblings. Each international adoption is roughly $40,000. We hope to earn half of this before we begin the paperwork process.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road to open this business hasn’t been difficult – if anything, we feel extremely blessed to work with the awesome couples and clients that we’ve had so far. The right people always seem to find us.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Flourish Event Co. is an event and wedding coordination company. We provide customized coordination for our clients – sometimes that looks like meeting once to help a bride find clarity on her vision for her wedding. Other times, we walk through months of consultations, vision boards all the way up to 12 hours of assistance on the day of a couple’s wedding.

I’m most proud of the friendships I’ve made with the couples I’ve worked with. It’s one thing to have a business relationship with someone – it’s completely different to leave a wedding feeling like a member of the family.

I like to tell my clients that at Flourish “we count on sunshine.” It doesn’t mean we don’t have a back-up plan in case it rains – but we believe the best in people and that the sun will shine on their day.

What were you like growing up?
I grew up in a small town in Eastern Oregon – I wanted desperately to move and see the world. As soon as I was able to, I did just that. Colorado caught my attention during a four days Greyhound Bus ride from New York to Oregon. Once I saw Pikes Peak covered in snow, I couldn’t imagine not living here. That was seven years ago!

As a child, I loved dancing, theatre and anything on-stage. I’ve also always been a crazy cat lady. I persuaded my parents to get me a cat in 6th grade (even though my brother was deathly allergic.)

Pricing:

• 1x Consultation to assist with any part of the planning process: $50 1-2 hr meeting
• Month-to-Month Consultations: $100 per month 2 Consultations and additional planning assistance and availability
• Day of Coordination: $650+

Contact Info:

• Website: www.flourisheventco.com
• Phone: 719.217.0992
• Email: flourisheventco@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flourisheventcompany/

Image Credit:
Ashlee Weaver, Mary Bowman, Meegan Dobson

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