Meet Shay Watkins | Full Service Wedding and Event Planner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shay Watkins and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shay, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
There were a few thoughts swirling in my head when I decided to open up my business. First, I’d been planning weddings and events for friends and organizations free of charge for years, and I’d really fallen in love with the process of planning. Second, I’d been the host of weddings and parties and could never find someone as good as me to be by my side at my own event! I was growing frustrated with the lack of customizable and bespoke services for people like me and I wanted to fill that void. Last, I was talking to my younger brother who is a skilled photographer and filmmaker, and he gave me a final push. I just remember him saying “if not now, when?” Before I knew it I was at the drawing board putting together brand names and filing to reserved my business name with the Secretary of State’s office!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
By trade, I am a lawyer. So putting together complex cases and ideas is something I’m very skilled at. That, and my experience dealing with different personalities in corporate America trained me well to be a wedding planner.

But the business owner part of the job wasn’t as easy. I ended up taking classes and reading books and surrounding myself by other planners to try to figure out how to best make my business work.

And with that I created something truly special. Peony Effect is one of a kind. We believe in making every contract unique to our client and that we can serve clients with a wide range of involvement in their event planning process. From the handoff bride who is overwhelmed and busy, to the detail oriented host with dreams of a very specific day, we tailor the experience to our clients. Most importantly, for full planning clients we offer our one-bill guarantee which is very unique. Clients can pay their entire wedding budget to us, and we can execute and pay each vendor and contract so they aren’t struggling to remember a million deadlines and deposit requirements. It’s a lifesaver for anyone deep in planning mode!

The biggest lesson I’ve learned on this journey is to give everything a try once. I still don’t think I’ve perfected things and I am always open to learn. But I know one day, something big will happen if I keep it up!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
LA is such a fun and diverse city so there would just be so much to do! My top items for this trip would be:
A night movie at the Rooftop Cinema Club in DTLA
Lunch at the Cara Hotel
Weekend Brunch at Blaqhaus
Shopping at the Westfield Century City
A meal at Laurel Hardware
A Laker Game or Dodger Game depending on the season
A day at the Broad
Beach day in Malibu
Hopefully a good concert at the Forum or at SoFi is on the books
A stroll through Olvera Street
Karaoke in K Town
A float down the Venice Canals

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Peony Effect wouldn’t exist without two of my favorite people on Earth: my husband and my brother. When I first decided to open the business I didn’t have assistants in place and needed to invest a good amount of savings into getting us started. I sat my husband down to talk it through and he immediately offered to be my right hand man. He supported the entire endeavor and often is the person making late night pick ups or loading up my car for events. Even when he doesn’t assist me at events now, he’s always there to give me a big hug and remind me to break a leg right before I leave. My brother Anthony helped me dream up the concept of my business. I ran every logo and piece of media by him in the beginning. He’d already established his own business with his photography and he had a good grasp on the social media generation since he is Gen-Z. Not only was he the person who convinced me I could go out on my own, he also helped me create something that was uniquely mine. I can’t imagine doing this without either of them.

Website: https://www.peonyeffect.com

Instagram: @peonyeffect

Image Credits
Amanda Caitlin Photography
Anthony Iszard