Today we’d like to introduce you to Tina Dannel.
Tina, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Long before I started my business, I enjoyed planning events. Friends and family have always asked me to plan parties, showers, weddings, reunions, and any other kind of event you can think of. I didn’t decide to be a wedding planner right away, I spent 14 years in direct sales where I was very successful and had worked my way far up in the company. Direct sales was not where my heart was, but it did make it so I could stay home with my children, and as a single mother that was super important to me. When my son was getting ready to graduate high school, I decided I should go to college to be a good example to him and my daughter. I started taking classes online and in 3 years I graduated with my BA in Business Management.
While I was finishing up my courses, I had to do a business plan and that got me really thinking about what I wanted to do after college. Due to the recession, direct sales was no longer lucrative to my lifestyle. It seemed at that time everything was pointing me to becoming a wedding planner. I had some friends ask me to plan their wedding, my brother who is an awesome wedding DJ in Florida mentioned how I should do it, and then my boyfriend proposed to me! After I made it through my own wedding and finished my degree, I took a Wedding Planner Certification course and started Serendipity Events by Tina. I was in the Orlando,Florida area when I started the business. About three years later we relocated to DFW and I had to start all over. The industry professionals here have been so welcoming and awesome, I am thrilled to be working here with them. Since I moved here, I have hired two additional certified planners and five assistants, plus we still have a great team in the Central Florida market as well.
Has it been a smooth road?
I would love to say everything in my business has been easy, but there are always challenges in building a business. My biggest struggle was keeping my business going in Florida when my husband moved here. Due to his job, he moved to DFW two years before I did; I stayed in Florida until my daughter graduatedfrom high school. We commuted between Florida and Texas for those two years. It was difficult keeping a business going that’s predominantly built on busy weekends, when we were doing our commutes on the weekends. I did use my opportunities when I was in DFW to visit venues, meet vendors, attend networking events and even do bridal shows and meet with potential clients. I guess my other biggest struggle is building a lucrative business while staying affordable for couples getting married. I think it is so important for couples to have a planner for their wedding day so we try to be affordable, but we spend hours upon hours behind the scenes working for our clients and those hours factor into our prices.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Serendipity Events by Tina – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Serendipity Events by Tina specializes in wedding planning. We offer everything from day-of coordination to full wedding planning. Our most popular package is our partial planning package. In this package, we plan everything alongside the couple. We often hear that we are the most down to earth and real planners, and we love to hear that. Your wedding should be a reflection of you as a couple, so we love to have fun, different, outside the box type of weddings.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
What I like the least is easy, I am not a fan of the traffic here in DFW. When I used to come to visit my husband here, I told him I would need a driver because I would never drive here! I got over that pretty quickly and now I drive all over the place. Although after a serious car accident in October, on my way home from a wedding, I’m rethinking the idea of getting a driver, haha!
What I love the most is that the DFW area is so much fun for this industry! I love the diverse venues and all of the different areas we have here. If couples want to get married in a barn, the city, a ballroom, a vineyard, a mansion, an aquarium, or even a castle, DFW has them all! I have had the pleasure of planning a Beauty and the Beast wedding in a real castle, a Dr. Who wedding in a beautiful garden, a vintage travel wedding in a flight museum, and a fun, upscale wedding in a beautiful boutique hotel. I love that we have all these places available and can help turn a couple’s vision for their wedding into a real and amazing day they’ll never forget!
Contact Info:
- Address: 22 Mary Lou Ct
- Website: SerendipityEventsbyTina.com
- Phone: 8175923325
- Email: tina.dannel@serendipityeventsbytina.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serendipity_events_by_tina/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SerendipityEventsByTina/
Image Credit:
Kent Evans Photography, Wild Rose Events and Floral (florist), Serendipity Events by Tina (wedding Planner), Ashley Rhian Photography, Epic Photos, Adria Lea Photography, Wild Rose Events and Floral (florist), Serendipity Events by Tina (wedding Planner), Lashes & Lace Makeup & Hair, Westin Downtown Dallas (Venue). Adria Lea Photography, Wild Rose Events and Floral (florist), Serendipity Events by Tina (wedding Planner), Lashes & Lace Makeup & Hair, Westin Downtown Dallas (Venue), Steve O’Donnell Photography, Michelle Smith Photos, Lora Rodgers Photography
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