ABOUT EVENT SOCIETY

The friendly voice on the other end of the phone asked what I did.“I’ll do anything! I can do anything you need me to do”

“Ok” – the voice said, “so are you an acrobat?”

“no – I’m not an acrobat”

“Stiltwalker?”

“no – I can’t do that”

“Ok darling, what can you do?”

“I’m a dancer” I said shakily.

The friendly voice was pleased, and asked me to send in my CV and a head shot for consideration.

I didn’t realise that this phone call would shape my life in a way that I never could have imagined. The company was Aerial Angels, and I was speaking to Sue Porrett.

I sent my CV and my head shot. I auditioned, and was offered a contract job to dance in a magic show for a month at Christmas. I quit my job at the Casino, because I would not let this opportunity go…even if it was only for 1 month!

The show was in Surfers Paradise, and I learnt how to do the sub-trunk illusion, assist acrobats with the amazing chair stack act, and how to dance professionally (ps – I wasn’t great…but I was available…so I got the gig).

After the show, I had to find another job, and after that tiny dose of theatre, I wanted more! I applied at Dracula’s Cabaret Restaurant and got a job as a waitress. But I wasn’t just any waitress, I was FREAK. A lycra wearing ghoul who was irreverent and funny and I LOVED performing as I worked.

I met lots of other wonderful weirdos like me while I was there, and one of them owned a company called Clown Capers, that provided entertainers for shopping centres, parties and events. They needed some more clowns, so again, I made a call that shaped my life.

“Hi there – I’m Decinda. I hear your looking for clowns, and I’m a little bit silly so I think I would be the right fit!”

My clown boss told me later that she was inundated with calls, but as soon as she heard my message she knew I was the right one.

I became a clown and LOVED IT. I basically got paid to be stupid and have fun with kids. Good gig! I learnt to face paint, and balloon twist, which by the way is a very handy skill to have with my now 4 year old

By chance, I ran into Sue from Aerial Angels one day and told her that I had started working as a clown. Sue was thrilled, as she needed more character performers, and I started doing work with her again.

There is a legend at Aerial Angels of how I showed up to my first clown gig with a car full of heart shaped balloons, I couldn’t even see out (don’t do this) because I was so excited to be getting paid to do this kind of work. I spent every cent I was being paid on the balloons, but I didn’t care…it’s always been about the fun for me.

I became a part of a troupe called The Jolly Jams and we were awesome. I worked with a team of acrobats, and we went everywhere! We performed as roving acts for shopping centres and events around the country.

The more work we did, the more Sue got to know me and how I worked. She came to understand that I was loyal, trust worthy and hard working. And when her business started to grow, and she needed help, I was in the right place at the right time.

I started working as Sue’s assistant a couple of days a week and doing anything she needed me to do. I kept up with character performing and dancing, all the while learning the ropes of this budding business.

Years passed. It was a dream! My job was to book acts, write shows and produce entertainment for large-scale corporate events and venues. Our artists travelled all over the world, and I managed their every move. It was the perfect blend of my creativity and detail skills.

We got better and better, I got better and better, and the events we were a part of got bigger and bigger. So often I would walk into a ballroom and my jaw would DROP at the world that had been created.

After 9 years of working with Aerial Angels, I wanted more. I didn’t want to just create the entertainment, I wanted to create the entire event. I approached Sue to go into event production, but it wasn’t the direction to take as her focus was on large show production and the amazing Circus Arts school (now Cirque Central). But I couldn’t shake the feeling, and I just HAD to start my own event production company.

The problem was, we had no money and I only had my dream of what it could be. I also didn’t want to start something in direct competition to the other event companies I had been working so closely with over the years.

I thought that wedding planning would be a great transition. I could plan the event, make it look amazing and not tread on anyone’s toes.

So, in 2010, I registered Sugar & Spice Events, and my obsession was born.

We sold our house to fund my start-up, and with unwavering passion and determination, I built the business from nothing. We grew really quickly, and did some amazing work. I loved seeing the faces of our couples when they entered the spaces I had created for them, it was such a rush. We won heaps of awards, and were named one of the best 25 wedding stylists in the country for 4 years in a row. I travelled to New York and did a course with world-renown event designer, Preston Bailey. I lived my dream.

After many years of planning and styling weddings, I wanted more again. They were beautiful, but not theatrical, and I missed that part of my life. I decided to focus more on corporate events and began to push into the market. We got a few small gigs, but I couldn’t quite crack it. We had such a strong wedding brand, and people knew us as the company that did beautiful weddings, not sophisticated corporate events.

I attended one particular meeting, and the client said to me “So – tell me all about your little company”. What a shot to the ego that was! We actually weren’t little, and had worked for some really big brands, but she thought we were little. I immediately understood that I needed to change the brand, and the name Event Society came to me in the car on the way home from that meeting. I called my web designer, asked him to register the domain, and now, here we are.

Event Society is everything to me. So is my family, but this work….my work…it just lights me up. We are more than an event planning company. We craft experiences, that will stick with a person forever. We make people FEEL something, that they will never forget. We create beauty in the world and heightened sensory experiences to pull people into the present moment and connect with themselves and each other.

And, through our charitable partners, we change the world for the better, every time we do it.

I’m so grateful, and I cherish every one of our clients who allows me to do what I love, for them.

Thanks for reading…

Decinda xx