the owner // Kenneth H.
Kenneth comes from a family who all have individual event businesses. Kenneth's brother is the owner of the industry leading Miho Catering Co. and his parents own BLVD Hall (Boulevard Hall), a large San Diego venue. For years Kenneth has served as the director of BLVD and continues to hold that role today. As a venue director, Kenneth intimately understands how an event space is run and brings that extremely rare knowledge to the planning and service world. Because BLVD offers packages, Kenneth is connected to a large network of vendors and has managed event services for years.
Possessing a degree in English with an emphasis on creative writing, Kenneth is a storyteller at heart. He spent a number of years working in the film industry and as a freelance writer. Most of his imagination is built around themes and the narratives behind each project. This mode of creative thinking gives Lively the unique ability to tie everything together, make sense of all big and small parts, and find meaning and beauty in every project or event.
His ultimate personal goal is to inspire others in pursuing different industries to adopt Lively's secret Good For All model.
The Lively Way
Prepare to read. Like everything else in our work, we are thorough and very up front about ourselves.
Lively is about reality. Facing it is how you get stuff done. We are a team of experts with unique knowledge and resources. But we are like everyone else. We don't have all the answers. (Don't ever believe anyone who tells you otherwise) We pride ourselves in finding solutions. This is essentially what planning is: putting together one big puzzle of questions. That's the reality.
Arranging an event is like a marathon -- a grueling 26 miles that require countless hours of your attention and energy. A day-of coordinator is like the coach at the finish line. You see him at the last mile mark and he helps you hit the finish line. But for twenty-five miles you are alone. If you are DIY-ing your wedding, you are preparing alone and running alone. If you have an average planner, you get a coach who helps prepares you and gives you instruction along the way.
If you hire a consultant and planner worth their salt, it would be like getting a racing bike at the start of the foot race. That's where Lively really earns our keep. We make the process much, much easier. You'll save stress, time, and money.
We are a team of relaxed spirits -- it's a natural attitude that we have found works miracles in keeping an event smooth. Lively is a chameleon. We can fit in many places. We cover many bases. We work smart and we work hard. Likewise in the planning world, we can provide different packages to serve different needs.
But really, Why Lively? The answer is in how we differ than nearly every other planner. Most planners are basically glorified assistants. Some are great, others less experienced. Many planners migrated from other places in the event industry, like rental companies or hotel banquet management. Plenty are former brides who loved the planning aspect of their wedding and decided to give it a try professionally. Others are men and women who grew up loving design and decoration and try to find a way to that through coordination and planning. (These people make great stylists)
But Lively comes from a very different place. We help manage a large event facility which has two studio venues that are part of our portfolio and offerings. These experiences have made us uniquely aware of what makes venues do what they do. This really helps us in executing setup and take-down plans, contracting, navigating legal issues, etc. We also sell and rent event supplies, as well as other vendor services, so we also understand how other vendors think.
We believe that a planner should be more than just a yes-person. They are more than an assistant who executes orders. We are like lawyers and try to protect you whenever we can. We act as your CPA and keep you on budget and save you money if you wish it. We are your advisors and tell you the things you need to hear.
We are the ones who say, "Relax, we got this."
studio coordinator // Julia P.
Julia P. hails from Moscow, Russia. She has always been interested in pushing herself and discovery. With a background in social media and public relations, Julia is excellent with people and has a very tasteful eye.