2019-06-01+Woman+and+Home

brand new directions

Businessinfigures

start-upcosts:£1,950

Comprising...

Website:£600

stationery:£250

Publicliabilityinsurance: £400

Travel:£700

Turnover:£250,000

Website:addoevents.com

Katieoffers

a bespoke

service

Top Tip

Whenyou’ve

hadtimeoutfrom

work,youmightfeel

likeyounolongerhave

a businessheadbutit

does come back.

andthegrooma musician,andit’sstill

themostfunweddingwe’veeverdone.

Wewereincrediblyluckytogetthatjob

througha supplierthatGeorgiehad

previouslyworkedwith.In theearly

days,about90%ofourclientscame

throughwordofmouthandthat’sstill

thecasetoday.Wedidn’tdoanypaid-

foradvertisingbutpromotedourselves

throughsocialmedia– Instagramis

fantastic– alongwithourwebsite.

That’s where we get a lot of enquiries.

Breakthroughmoment

Anytimewegetanenquiryfrom

a prospectiveclientfeelslikea

breakthrough.Andonthewedding

dayitself,wheneverythingis going

wellandyouseethebrideand

groomlookingsohappy– nothing

beatsit. Allthecoupleswe’veworked

withhavebecomefriends,andthey

referustofamilyandfriendswho

aregettingmarried.In fact,we’ve

workedwithtwosisterswhogot

married three years apart!

SteepeStlearningcurve

Theabilitytowingit is important.When

thingsgowrongrememberthatnoone

willknowaboutit becauseguestsnever

knowwhat’scomingnextata wedding.

I wishI’dknownthatwhenwewere

starting out as I used to get quite stressed.

WhereWearenoW

We’reworkingonfiveweddingsthisyear,

a mixtureoflavishspendstoa wedding

witha £40kbudgetwhereit’ssecond

timearoundforthebride.Weoffera

verybespokeservice.We’retherefrom

thebeginning,helpingcoupleschoose

save-the-datecards,throughtosourcing

everysupplierincludingflorists,venues,

photographersandmusicians,and

attendingdressfittingsif that’swhat

thebridewants.Onthedayitself,wedo

everythingfromtoppingupflowersto

changingtealightswhentheygoout,

tocleaningloos.I’veevenhadtohide

anentiregospelchoirin a tinycountry

churchasthegroomhadarranged it as

a surprise for the bride! w&h

KatieTottenham,55,livesin

Hampshirewithherhusbandand

theyhavethreegrown-upchildren.

KatierunsADDOeventswithher

business partner, georgie fowle, 30.

theidea

I’vehadvariouscareersrangingfroma

CordonBleucooktoworkingin client

servicesforanadvertisingcompany.

Fromthere,I wentintoevents

managementandGeorgieandI met

whenweworkedtogetherona large

outdoorshootingshow.Aftera year

wethought,whynotgointobusiness

together?Georgiealreadyhada few

clientsofherownbutit tookmea while

tobuilduptheconfidencetogoforit.

I was 25 yearsolderthanherandI’dnever

runa businessbefore.I thought,“Can

I dothis?”ShepersuadedmethatI could

and in 2010, we set up ADDO Events.

makingithappen

Ourfirsteventwasa five-daycelebrity

wedding – the bride was a young model

“We do everything from topping

up flowers to cleaning loos”

PHOTOgrAPHs

kAp

kAT

AnTOS-lEWIS,

SuzI

OvEnS

(SuzIOvEnS.COm),

SArAh lOuISE jOhnSOn (SArAhlOuISEjOhnSOn.COm)

woman&home IT’S All ABOuT yOu! 153