Event Companies During Pandemic: Erica Trombetti of Infinite Events
As we continue to reopen and look ahead together as an event community, we recently spoke with Erica Trombetti of Infinite Events to see how her business has been since she was a panelist during the Allseated Connecting Our Community webinar in the spring.
Erica co-founded Infinite Events in 2010 after working in corporate events and as a set designer for Designing Spaces on TLC & Lifetime. With a fantastic eye for design and her calming persona, Erica is one of the most sought-after wedding planners in Newport, Rhode Island. She was named “Top 25 Planners To Watch” by Loverly and has built a solid foundation at Infinite Events and an exceptional team of planners. By doing this, it has earned Infinite Events national recognition in well-respected industry publications, photoshoots, and speaking engagements.
How has your business been since we last spoke during our Connecting Our Community Webinar?
Since we last spoke, we’ve rescheduled all but one of our weddings to 2021. It was a hard choice, but the right one for all of our clients. We are now focusing on 2021 & 2022 weddings and bookings are as usual which is fabulous!
Is there anything popular right now that wasn’t popular for you before the pandemic?
Smaller, more intimate weddings! While they were here before the pandemic, we are excited to see them take over. You can really get creative here with your guest experience and being able to enjoy each and every one of your guests.
What does the fall/winter look like for events in your area?
In the Northeast, we normally have a wonderful fall full of weddings and then hibernate in the winter. During the winter is when all the planning for the following year is done, then we start back up in May. Since the pandemic, we did move all of our summer and fall weddings early on to be safe so right now we are focusing on getting everything in order for next year and planning for our new clients.
Safety measures: have you implemented anything specific safety-wise for your staff and/or clients?
When we are in attendance at a wedding, our staff members wear masks, have hand sanitizer, and try to stay the distance. During our clients’ meetings we try not to hug (it hurts as we are huggers!!!) wear our masks, try not to touch the product, and limit how many guests can be at planning meetings.
Have you had any events in the last little while and if so, can you share anything in terms of floorplans and details that are different from pre-pandemic?
We did, we had one wedding that we executed this year. Since restrictions are ever-changing, we had them change the week of the wedding. Our restrictions were as follows:
- All guests were to be tested prior to the wedding
- No cake cutting
- No dancing
- Seated cocktail hour
- Tables had to be 6 feet apart, and only 8 guests to a table.
We made this all work and after all, was said and done, the guests, the bride, and the groom still had a wonderful time! The only decor piece we couldn’t use was the escort cards as we had to change the seating chart and floor plan the week-of and they were already printed. But other than that, it went off without a hitch!
Has there been anything positive to come out of this extremely challenging time period for you and your business that you want to share with us?
Oh yes, quality time with family, friends, and myself! I think as a wedding planner, at least for us, we are always on and helping others that we forget about us. It was a nice break as I think I was still burnt out from the craziness of 2018! Once we did do our one wedding, after it was done, I decided to not take on any more weddings for 2020 and focus on our 2021 clients and new bookings. It was a great decision for my business and myself personally. By doing that, we were able to refresh our planning skills, check off our never-ending back of house checklist, learn our limits and recoup. It’s been a blessing in disguise!
