Interview with Simona Garleanu, founder and Wedding Planner and Do Weddings

What has been the greatest achievement in all these years?

The greatest achievement would be this company, this team of people that I feel can do anything. And a second would be a month and a half holiday, now in October, in which they didn’t ask me anything, they all did extraordinarily well.

What are the funniest questions you have received during meetings with brides?

A few years ago a father asked me how fast the wind gets. 🙂

How did you feel about your first marriage and what do you know about these people?

What I felt…I think my heart had something extra and salt in my chest. I even cried at my first wedding. It’s a whole story with the first marriage. Voichita and Mihai were the first people to lay the foundation in us. In fact, we didn’t have the land yet and Voichita said June 7th. After I got the land, the problem was solved when I cut the hill and made the tent platform, I can’t tell you how much mud there was. And Voichi said super, June 7th! Only then did I dare to sign the contract. That’s about 3 and a half months before the wedding. It was a fight against the meter, now we asked for it to stop raining so we could pour the concrete, then we wanted it to rain so the lawn could grow. The emotions were enormous both on the organizational and logistical side. In addition to the actual tent to be set up, I also had the first religious wedding on the pier and a party with a Swedish buffet, things not from many years ago. I remember when I saw Voichita walk down the dock, on her father’s arm, tears came to my eyes and I thought, yes, it’s worth all the stress, all the excitement, everything.

Voichi and Mihai have remained in our hearts, so this year, when we made 10 anisors both us and them, they celebrated with us. 🙂

What was the theme of the most nastrusnic/complicated/fun wedding of these 10 years? How do you choose the theme?

I have a little problem with the term theme, it seems like a generic term. I prefer to say that it is their story, the story of the marriage. Sometimes it is not the theme known to everyone, for example Harry Potter, sometimes there are simply things that represent them, they get on the engine and go on holiday, so Ride Together, with engines, meadow and nature, or sing, one on the bass and the other on the violin, it is clear that you will link the music, because it represents them, or all, Combinations, it only matters to have a personal note in the event.

The funniest was an Alice in Wonderland that begins with a great love for the rabbit. I made a deal for rabbits at the wedding and a few days before I left, nothing else but the invitation had a key in it and everyone asked me what it opens, so I made a gate to Wonderland. 🙂

Do you have a favorite wedding?

There were so many beautiful events, with such beautiful people, that it’s hard for me to choose one. Emotionally, clearly our first marriage, Vochi and Mihai.

How many weddings have you had in 10 years?

I honestly don’t know exactly, we have to do the math now. I think about 280 weddings.

What actions have you taken to increase business year after year?

I would say that from year to year there is also progress on the organizational side, starting with Wedding Planning, which we do for free. Everything we learn from the events is transposed into a document which we then integrate with the brides, in principle it is better to ask yourself a lot of questions rather than wake up two weeks before the wedding having forgotten something. And every year we add something to this document, we elaborate it, we modify it, because we learn new things.

On the creative side, I think we have seen that we have grown a lot, that we approach events with a different courage, both us and the brides. Our marriages now were difficult to conceive of 10 years ago, but people like Voichita gave us the courage that it could be different.

Internally we have made many improvements, we have simplified our work. This was necessary considering that weddings have become more and more complex year after year. Furthermore, for 1 and a half years we have increased the team, new people, new ideas.

Since 2019 we have new menus, things happen, we grow. 🙂

How many brides do you have so far?

About 560.

What plans do you have for the future, how do you see this business in another 10 years?

We didn’t have plans that far ahead. This is how I see myself, I organize weddings with my soul, and also with these people. We also still have some projects, but we haven’t finalized anything yet, let’s see.

How many employees did you start and how many are there now?

Initially I was a handful of people, 3 at Planning and one person at logistics, I held events and went on site, lucky that my in-laws and my mother helped me enormously. In those days there were very few of us and I did everything, and I glued the carpet or painted the fence, or watered the lawn, or the chairs, I did it too. Now there are more of us, and in the clear season and more.

Here is a brief presentation of the team:

Liana It has been with me since the beginning, when we were both little and I didn’t know much, we knew how to organize some people and actions. Together we learned everything, grew and built what we see today. I consult with her on anything.

Cu Grotto We took a step forward, she came with the courage and enthusiasm to do more and somehow made us gain more advantage and become more creative. Ana is always learning and she is from this point of view.

Anuscaso we do, he has only been with us for 1 year, although the feeling is that he has been with the team for a long time. This year he already has side events with us, and it’s amazing how much a new perspective can help us.

Robertowhich helps us enormously in all internal procedures, from the financial and contractual side. It’s good to balance things, to get some order (especially since I lost Dani to catering, even if we work somehow). From time to time we also build a door or a decorative element that we need for a wedding. 🙂

Nea Marinas we say, he is the youth of the young team, without him I don’t know how we will solve any technical problems we would have had, any rabbits and many other ideas we have.

Nicu He is the right hand of Nea Marin, because it is difficult to implement the Nastrusnic ideas of 4 planners. 🙂 Plus, maintaining a tent isn’t easy. In the season we have 4 other basic people, Maruscawho prepares us and helps us with all the logistics, and it’s a lot, believe me, Angelawho has infinite patience and could create anything with his hands, Georgian AND Johnwhich helps us all to be in our places during the event.