Today we’d like to introduce you to Talia Gonzalez.
Hi Talia, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve always had a passion for event planning and design. In high school, I was heavily involved in student government and planned and designed as many dances and events that I could. I went to UNLV and earned my Bachelors in Hospitality Management with a concentration in Meetings in Events. In college, I worked for two different floral and décor companies which allowed me to design and set up over 100 weddings. From drive-by’s to the desert to country club weddings, they were all so different and I absolutely loved it.
After I graduated, I went to go work in Hoi An, Vietnam at Hoi An Events, a destination wedding company. I helped to coordinate about ten designation weddings during my time there. Many were three to four day events, all had guests coming in from multiple countries, and they were an absolute blast! My day to day would range from designing wedding signage, to updating timelines and coordinating with vendors, and even waiting on the side of the road for the elder gentleman to bring in the ox for a wedding ritual.
After my wedding season was complete, I continued to travel for a total of seven months. Making sure to enjoy the site/activities, but also do research on wedding venues, vendors, and excursions. I have also planned on adding a full travel agency into my wedding business. I moved back to Sacramento, where I was born and raised in August of 2019, and started working for a large event decor and design company in town. I enjoyed working on the large scale corporate events, but my heart kept going back to weddings.
In January 2020, I launched Talia Eliana Events. By march, I was ready to go full time, but luckily did not make the leap, as we all know that is when covid hit. I dug deep and built my business over the summer so that I was able to go full time in September of 2020. We executed a few backyard weddings in fall of 2020, while booking up 2021 rapidly. In November, I moved to Normal Heights to expand the business down to Southern California. I had always loved San Diego and would visit all the time. I knew it was where I wanted to live and grow my business. We now have a team of ten ladies who coordinate and assist throughout the planning process and on day-of. We are still booking in Northern California as well as San Diego.
We are constantly doing styled shoots to meet and interact with vendors as well as show off our design talent! This month I have also launched a sister company, names Pacific Dream Events which features picnic set ups, an assortment of rental items, and styled shootouts. I currently travel back and forth to Northern California quite often to handle weddings and events, but our team is taking on more and more events so that I can focus down here in San Diego.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Dealing with all the covid postponements and the inability to add a travel agency in right away have been unexpected challenges, but we are looking towards the future! These challenges gave us the opportunity to expand to a new city as well as launch a sister company.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Talia Eliana Events is a destination wedding planning company specializing in bespoke designs for adventurous couples in rad locations. We LOVE to travel and incorporate as many personal elements as possible into your wedding design. We offer everything from wedding and event consulting all the way up to full planning. We know how to work a budget to get the most bangs for your buck, while working with a fantastic vendor team and executing a beautiful day. Our brand pillars: travel, diversity, women’s empowerment, design+ customer service.
Our diverse all women team plays a crucial role in our success. Travel is incorporated into all aspects of business. From event locations, to branding, and travel coordination services, we just absolutely love the adventure of it all. I have been to 32 countries and plan on seeing them all! I am the founder/CEO of both Talia Eliana Events and Pacific Dream Events. We are proud to not be a “cookie cutter” company and strive to be different. We will not recreate a wedding you see on Pinterest. But we will help you determine which aspects of inspiration you truly like and morph it into your dream wedding that caters to all your desires and your budget.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
No dream is too big.
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@taliaelianaevents.com pacificdreamevents@gmail.com
- Website: taliaelianaevents.com pacificdreamevents.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/taliaelianaevents instagram.com/pacificdreamevents
- Facebook: facebook.com/taliaelianaevents facebook.com/pacificdreamevents
Image Credits
Miranda Rose Photography Kinship Photography Vanessa Lynne Photography Jessika Christine Photography Brklynev Photos
