Simply Bowie January 2022

Latonia Caldwell puts together events from corporate, to weddings to intimate gatherings for those who want to celebrate in luxury.

Article By Alyson Turner Photography by Ro Moreno

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Latonia Caldwell has the talent and the drive to bring luxury to life. She is kind and full of creativity with a passion for bringing a smile to people’s faces when they see their event space transformed before their eyes. “I was always interested in doing interior design. I would always remodel my own room, whether it was changing out the chairs to adding pictures or creating my own art to go on the walls. When it came time for my own wedding, I knew that no one would be able to create the wedding that I wanted. I worked with my friend Tasheda, and we sat down to create the centerpieces, the wedding invitations, the design, and the color palette to bring my vision to life. Then afterwards, everyone would ask me to help with their weddings, their events and designing their homes. I would always help free of charge because I love to do to this, but it was my dream to have my own company,” Latonia says, “It came from being very creative in my own way. First doing hair–I went to cosmetology school for hair, and I would change my hairstyle every other day when I was in school as well. That is what attracted

me into doing different events. I just like to be artsy and creative. That was the way that I expressed myself. I had my own space and it made me happy. It was always a bonus because it made me happy to see everyone else happy.”

Everyone around her was impressed with Latonia’s style of decorating, and event planning and designs. “Before the business even became legal so many people were asking me to handle their weddings or their anniversary parties or baby showers. When my daughter got married five years ago, I threw her wedding and there were 250 people there. It was a big empty warehouse that I took from nothing and made it very extravagant. It just blew up from there. Even the venues asked me to do contracts with them, but I wasn’t licensed to do that yet. After helping with several events and being asked to contract with venues, I knew I needed to be licensed. I had a mentor at work that was encouraging me to make my business legal and directed me down the right path to get started. I would

love to be able to leave my full-time job and work my business full time one day. I have worked for the federal government for 22 years. It is hard to let go of stable money and a job that I have been doing for so long. But, in 2019, Lovely T Events, Inc became incorporated. My business was legalized. I took training classes to get certified and made sure all the documentation was in place,” Latonia said, “I had a storage room in my mom’s basement, but I had so much inventory that I ended up getting a larger storage unit and still needed a second storage unit. My next goal is to get a venue spot, which I am currently looking for, and a place to hold all my inventory. My girlfriend Tasheda, who came on with me in the beginning works as my creative design assistant and helps me execute each event. My son Kenneth helps with the marketing and designing. Lovely T is my dream job. I love what I do. It is a lot of work, but once everything is executed you sit back and say, ‘I did that.’”

When Latonia started there were only a few companies doing these types of

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events. “I have been married for 12 years and my style comes with the experience. You must have a creative mind. For me it started with my hair styling, fashion and decorating. You are bringing all these things together. If a client calls me, I want them to rest assured if they give me a small inkling of what they want then my mind is ready to come up with all these creative ideas. Not one of my events have ever been the same. Many companies will use a template and do the same type of events repeatedly. I do one-of-a- kind, unique events. I love nice things. I love beautiful things. I work within your budget, but I want it to be luxurious. If you are booking with me, you expect a certain standard. Even if you have a small budget, we can still turn it into a masterpiece. I see things that I can do with an unlimited budget, but for our clients that have smaller budgets, I can still give them a celebrity look without the celebrity prices. Even if I have to go above and beyond to bring that vision to life–I will do that. It is for your client; they have trusted the process and have allowed me to be creative,” Latonia says, “One of the events that I do is Drive By Parties – where people drive by and say hello. The last drive by event I created

was for a retirement party. I made it look like she was relaxing and retired in Arizona [where the client is moving too]. I made it look like she was in a resort in her new state enjoying retirement. People were shocked by it as they came by to congratulate her on retirement and drop off gifts. [With Lovely T Events] you get celebrity events without breaking the bank. You can still stay in your car, get a favor and drop a gift off to the guest of honor without the concerns of getting too close because of COVID.”

Anyone can create an event, but to stand out you must be creative. Latonia tells us, “My assistant will come in and we will put our heads together to create something one-of-kind. That is why we have so much inventory as well. I am also considering renting out my inventory in the future. I had a bride whose theme was fairytale land. I had a swing built for her and it was a drive by event. We have people who wanted to do Moroccan parties and dance lessons with private massages in house. We staged the whole hotel room, and we had a dance instructor come to teach dance lessons. Each event is totally different. Weddings are the number one event. It is a long process

with a wedding so in between getting prepared for weddings, we do other small events. We have a luxurious picnic event where clients will all be sitting at a nice picnic table with their pillow seats, we can even stage inside your home that way. I set up for photoshoots, anniversary parties, receptions, private dinner parties where one of the spouses surprised the other. I stage the table and the background with the balloons and provide the catering. We have the baby showers, and graduations. There have been some birthday parties, but with birthdays we do the table settings that are similar to receptions. We do corporate events; we have been booked for award ceremonies and upscale formals with servers doing plated food, bartenders, and photographers and DJs or a band.”

We are full-service event company. We have the florist, we have the balloon arches, caterers and rental items and whatever I do not do or have, we have special relationships with vendors. I have contacts with specific photographers and videographers. We do have a photobooth that a lot of people will book for. We can do any type of event, truly

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anything you can think of. Someone had booked us for a holiday corporate party, and they wanted table scapes and the lounge area set up VIP style. I staged the area with sectionals, and luxury chairs and tables. I have done a set up in Ocean City for someone’s anniversary; a private picnic on the beach. It was so nice. The whole thing was videoed, and dinner was served to them. It doesn’t matter where; we have a destination wedding coming up in Jamaica. We also

have massage therapists that come with the hotel room staging which can also be done in your home. Most people book that for the hotel room staging with the private chef and the massage therapist in one package. Even before I started out with the other events, I would stage hotel rooms, bring in a private chef and provide couples massage. We handle everything. When extra help is needed, I have a team of people I can call in to handle the extra work.

In 2022, we are looking for more business with corporate, government contracts especially when companies do monthly team buildings, along with weddings, ceremonies, receptions, and proposals. I love larger scale events, and I am hoping to get more connections with venue owners and restaurant owners. Even one day when I have my venue space, other event planners will be able to come in and rent the venue or my team can handle the event instead.”

To schedule your next luxury event or gathering, call Lovely T Events at 202-350-0575 or visit LovelyTEvents.com for more information.

(301) 857-2YUM

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