Meet Tracy Monterroso and Jose Mejia | Wedding coordinators & Event Planning

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tracy Monterroso and Jose Mejia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tracy and Jose, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
At first we were very scared the thought of doing something on your own and not having that net of protection is really hard. We didn’t know if we would succeed or if we were going to fail. But We wanted to be independent free to make our own decisions, but most importantly we wanted to do something that brought joy and this was it to become a wedding planner, and wedding coordinator, and bring people ideas to life.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I started Working at banquet hall as a chef I work 6 days a week trying to get the restaurant up it was not doing so well and then I notice that clients were coming in to try to rent the space for events but the problem was that the menu was basic nothing different from the other venues so I decided to use my skills that I had of cooking.I started custom making menus for all events from Mexican to Italian to cuban and Thai food. word got out of the custom menu next thing you know we were booking. After a couple of months I became the general manager in charge of bar, kitchen and coordinating, hiring and payroll I learn the business of a banquet hall. In 2019 covid struck and the restaurant lost clients the hall was then sold and made into a Mexican bar. My wife had the bride idea to try to do the weddings at people houses since the country was on lockdown we didn’t gave up and slowly we started building a reputation for our lovely decor and friendly attitude. We finally found a venue that made us exclusive in Lake Hughes and that’s were our brand was created I created the logo and decided that because of the type of weddings we were specializing we would call it “The Ranch Weddings”. We Had our ups and we had our downs we came across people that felt our presence and felt intimidated and at some point would try to ruin us but we never gave up and now we are exclusive to several more venues and have 5 star reviews. We are truly bless and we are so glad we didn’t give up on our dream to be independent.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well my biggest problem is I love tacos and if I had to go anywhere with my friends it would be down to Whittier for some street tacos. The al pastor is my weakness. Can’t forget San Pedro The Fish Market marinated shrimp and a margarita. I would then go on a boat to the Catalina island only about 40 mins away and enjoy a beach day and snorkeling and then finish of the week with some more tacos.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
To be honest everything I have accomplish is thanks to my wife Tracy Monterroso . I could never had done any of this with out her she has push me to not to be scare she has been there for all my ups and downs in this journey. my wife has made me invest everything in to our company and I’m glad because at the end the outcome has been great.

Also, my two great boys Athens Mejia and Achilles Mejia because they have motivated us to be better Parents. Our kids understand that both there parents work always the weekends and that some plans don’t always go as plan but they always understand.

Website: MyRanchWeddings.com

Instagram: The Ranch Weddings

Facebook: The Ranch Weddings

Image Credits
Tracy Monterroso and Daniel Rivas