How one event planning firm has navigated their business during a pandemic

Elegant Creations owners, weddings and event planners Joyce Brandon and Loyce Shelley. Photo and Logo Courtesy of Loyce Shelley.

By Janay Jeans

Nov. 1, 2020

With stay-at-home orders and mandatory quarantines causing months of isolation, it has been an unprecedented year full of uncertainty.

Events such as weddings, showers and parties have been cancelled, delayed or put on indefinite hold.

Yet while the event industry has taken a hit, one event firm continues to thrive while navigating its business during a pandemic.

“I love doing weddings, I will do them in my sleep,” said Loyce Shelley, owner of Elegant Creations Weddings & Events of Memphis, TN. “I feel like I get paid for doing nothing because that’s how much I love it.”

Elegant Creations Weddings & Events was created in 1992 as an event planning firm owned and operated by Shelley and Joyce Brandon, two sisters specializing in bridal events, baby showers and birthday parties.

With their motto “a premiere Mid-South event planning firm where stress-free, flawless elegance is at the heart of every client experience,” they have devoted their lives to transforming dreams into a reality.

Elegant Creations has done about 10 weddings during the pandemic and has experienced several changes to the structure of its business and wedding ceremonies.

The planners ensure that every event is COVID-19 conscious. When discussing their recent wedding, Shelley discussed the changes to the ceremony’s structure and said that every seat in the room was exactly six feet apart.

Other changes included requiring everybody to enter an event with masks or masks will be provided to them, otherwise they would be turned away. The planners also get permission from the bridal party to have their masks off during picture-taking, and while walking down the aisle they have their masks on until they reach the ceremonial space.

Their firm makes sure they’re following the guidelines of the venue and of the local government for which part of Memphis the venue is in.

“It honestly has increased our business,” Shelley said when discussing whether the pandemic has positively or negatively impacted their firm. “Because people now understand the importance of time.”

Shelley said as a result of the way they structured their business, the pandemic did not impact them as much, compared to others in the industry.

“The way we structured our business allowed us to be pandemic and epidemic proof,” Shelley said.

While some entrepreneurs may experience burnout or lose their drive, these prominent business owners are very passionate about their work and have completed many weddings of various sizes and locations with much detail and excellence.

Shelley said she thanks God she has never experienced burnout, and she still gets butterflies before every event.

“I don’t eat from the day of the reception until after the wedding is over because I have a nervous stomach before every event,” Shelley said. “If I ever lose that then that’s when I need to stop working because that’s when the passion is gone.”

Shelley provided advice for upcoming entrepreneurs and said that the pandemic has shown that it is essential to own something, and that people will always search for jobs but will never be satisfied with it until finding a job with one’s passion.

“The biggest thing I tell people is follow your passion,” Shelley said.

When discussing her perspective on working with Elegant Creations, Alexsis Brandon, daughter of Joyce Brandon, said she has always read about what it is like working with family, and she knew she would play a role within their business.

“I’ve learned so many things about my mom and aunt,” Brandon said.

Brandon said she has seen her mother and aunt overcome many obstacles being African American business women.

“I love how their business has grown and I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for the future,” Brandon said.