We met with Shade Fatusin, the owner of Houston-based wedding planning company A Conceal Affair, to learn about her business, and get advice for couples and up-and-coming vendors. Here’s what we learned from the fun, energetic and charismatic owner:
Please tell us about yourself and your business?
My name is Shade Fatusin and I am the creative director for A Conceal Affair. I have been in business for 8+ years. I started off as an usher in church and then I got called to help with a wedding, and then it just took off from there. I went into full planning, that is, I quit my corporate America job to focus solely on planning, in 2015. So now I solely plan and also run a restaurant, Secret Recipe, where we cater for events.
How did you start A Conceal Affair? What inspired you to get into the wedding industry?
I wasn’t really trying to get into wedding planning. I was just trying to get into the entertainment industry. I was doing makeup funny enough. While I was an usher in church, I used to help out ladies particularly brides, bridesmaids and aunties attending weddings, with their makeup. It started from my ushering days in church.. lol, I was asked to help coordinate a wedding one particular day and was told by one of my sisters in church to pursue planning. I helped with other weddings soon after that, and my goal of wanting to help make people’s day special, helped begin my love for wedding planning.
Would you start A Conceal Affair if you were to do it over again? What would you do differently?
I’m not sure. I don’t think there’s anything that I will change. I think I’ll go into it more focused due to the fact I started off with it as a hobby. I’ll say getting more knowledge about the business, educating myself about several aspects of the business, and also knowing how to add more aspects of the wedding planning process.
What has been your greatest motivation?
My greatest motivation I’ll have to say are my couples. I love the look on their faces after the planning process, actually seeing everything come to life on their special day. It’s definitely the joy of watching two people come together as one uniting both families. That is, watching God work in their lives as they enter the sacred union called marriage.
What do you think of the Nigerian/Ghanaian wedding industry? Has it changed over the years and how?
Most definitely! People are up on the newest trends and want to start the newest trend. I see a lot of people these days wanting destination weddings. People are now gearing towards having private and intimate affair rather than just big weddings. That is what I have noticed with Nigerian/Ghanaian weddings.
Have you planned a Ghanaian wedding?
Yes, I have planned Ghanaian weddings.
Photo: IMG Artistry
What do you like about A Conceal Affair and working in the wedding industry?
I like meeting people – all sorts of people, communicating with them, and helping them. I like running an event. I am a people’s person to a fault. You have to be a people’s person as a planner. You have to know people’s needs, how to meet people’s needs, and how to help them with budgeting and bringing out their vision. That’s kind of like my favourite aspect of planning, that is, being able to do all of that – getting a vision from my couple, getting to hear them talk about their wedding and be able to produce their vision.
What differentiates A Conceal Affair from others in your line of business and location? What are your greatest strengths?
I’ll say my passion for my business and to help my brides / couples. Also my vendor relationships – knowing the best vendors in town and working with the best of the best to produce an event. So definitely, it would be my passion and commitment to my couples.
What do you expect from your clients (brides and grooms)? What don’t you expect?
I’ve learned in this business not to expect too much. Everything is always changing. The only thing I expect from my couples is to have fun. It’s a wedding. A lot of people focus on that day that they lose focus on the entire process. I talk to my couples into understanding that yes it is their wedding and it is one day, but it is a life-long process. It is a marriage.
Photo: IMG Artistry
What is (are) the most rewarding aspect(s) of providing your service? What are the most frustrating aspect(s)?
Rewarding aspect is seeing two families come together with friends flying in from all over to celebrate with the couple. The bride and groom finding their one true love despite all odds. Trust me a lot comes up during wedding planning. Despite all odds, the couple still walking the aisle very happy and very enthusiastic about their future. That’s definitely one of the rewarding aspects of my business.
Every planner has a frustrating moment. For me, it is usually when people don’t know what they want but they don’t know how to communicate that they don’t know. So It’s a bit frustrating but once you develop a relationship with them and show them the different parts of wedding planning, it pretty much just eases off.
What advice do you have for future brides and grooms regarding planners?
Definitely hire a planner that has your best interest at heart. Hire a planner that is very knowledgeable about the industry, has vendor relationships and is able to produce your vision. At the end of the day, you need someone to be your eyes. That’s what you need your planner for. You need your planner to be able to navigate through the process for you without you saying too much. Definitely look for a planner that knows what they are doing, is able to communicate your needs to vendors, and is able to produce your vision. That’s very crucial at the end of the day.
Photo: Daniel T. Davis Photography
What advice do you have for up-and-coming planners?
It is tough! Nowadays you have brides turned planners, aunties turned planners and best friends turned planners. One advice is to educate yourself. That’s very crucial in this business. Build relationships because you will need it in the event industry. You have to have relationships with your vendors, the bride/couple, and the parents. Funny enough, I have had situations where the mother and bride didn’t see eye-to-eye and I was their mediator. So you have to have relationships with everyone. Build lasting relationships and not just be in it for the money. If you do it for the money, you are going to get burnt out. You have to have passion behind everything you do. You have to have a motive. You have to have a caring aspect to work with a bride who wants heaven and earth. You have to have that vision to know that you can’t give her heaven and earth, but can give her close to heaven and earth. That’s something an upcoming planner needs to have or at least work on having.
What award(s), if any, have you received?
I have received awards from The Knot and WeddingWire for our reviews. My work has been published in Grace Ormond, Weddings in Houston and Munaluchi Bridal. Also I have been featured several times on Bella Naija and a few other blogs.
What else would you like to share with our readers?
Just enjoy the day. If you are a bride / couple looking to get married, remember if you spend all that money, you need to enjoy your day. It goes by so fast. Make sure when looking for vendors to find vendors that align with your vision and are willing to go above and beyond for you.
