Victoria Enwereji, CEO of Toria’s events, a professional events planning company, ready for business and as well positioned for individuals service delivery. The Economics graduate of the University of Ilorin also revealed how her business has been coping in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic. Excerpts:

Why the choice of event planning business?

Throughout my years in the university and afterwards, I found myself always helping friends and family members plan their parties and occasions. I enjoyed accompanying them to shop for outfits as they loved my fashion sense. I’m very stylish, and most a times you can’t go wrong with whatever I recommend for you to wear. I also have a flair for cooking, organizing, serving and hosting guests for small house parties. I just loved taking the stress of organising a party off people while making sure their guests are comfortable and the event is a success. I derive joy from seeing people smile after a successful event.

In 2016, I decided to officially become an event planner. A friend who knew I have passion for weddings and organising events, asked me to plan her wedding introduction and select their outfits for the introduction ceremony. I did it easily and with so much joy irrespective of the fact that we were not even friends at the time.  After the introduction, she reached out again to inform me that the wedding date had been fixed and they needed my help again. It was at that point I said to myself, “Victoria it is time to professionally plan events and get paid since you have the flair and passion for it!”

So, I agreed to plan her wedding at a fee. At first, she hesitated but later agreed and that was how  Toria’s Events  started!

What inspired the name of your event company, Toria’s events?

Toria is from my name Victoria, which still has the same meaning as conqueror and victory or victorious which is part of what I wanted my brand to stand for.

How have you been able to cope with the effects of COVID-19 on the events planning industry?

Initially, events had to be put on hold due to the pandemic which had a huge negative impact on the event industry and the economy as a whole. Nevertheless, with the relatively low number of cases in the continent, there have been some good news and a bit of flexibility concerning events. Social and corporate events have started to pick up, I ensure all my events are Covid19 compliant in order to keep my clients and their guests safe.

First, I obtain an event clearance certificate from Lagos state before the date of the event if the location is in Lagos.

During the set-up, I ensure the tables and chairs are spaced out adequately to observe social distancing within the venue. On the day of the event, we screen the guests/attendees with a thermometer to detect elevated body temperature, we enforce the use of nose masks for both guests and vendors and also the use of sanitizers/sanitizing booths. All these are put in place to ensure safety at our events.

What traits make you stand out from every other event planner?

I will say, I am a creative problem solver who is always willing to go the extra miles in order to proffer solutions to any circumstance.  This is an inborn trait as I’m very passionate about event planning and I consider it rare. Also, I am always over-prepared because one can never know what unexpected circumstances can spring up to disrupt the success of an event. I get to the venue few days before the event and stay till late to monitor and supervise the set-up. I have had a situation where a rental vendor supplied me bad chairs and I didn’t notice until about 7:45pm when the hall put on their lights for the decorator to start working. I was so furious that I called them for a replacement but they were unable to deliver as they were out for other deliveries. I knew I had to quickly look for a solution that night because my venue was supposed to be ready at 10am the next morning. I called all the rental companies I know until one came to my rescue and on the condition that I pick the chairs myself. I commenced my journey to get the chairs from this new vendor at about 12am and this dragged through until about 2am.  I left the venue for my hotel room at about 2:55am and I barely had enough sleep before the event at dawn.

With Toria’s Events, what other services does your company render? 

Toria’s Events is an event management and wedding planning company. We plan corporate events, destination weddings, social events and weddings. We offer services like event consultation, event design, destination and venue selection, branding, budget management, vendors selection and management, events Itinerary, health and safety quality assurance, theme and floor mapping, transit and lodging logistics, pre-wedding events coordination, online guest management & tracking system, event coordination and add-on services.

What advice would you give companies planning end of the year events this year?

  I will advise you to hire a professional event planner that will collaborate with the company, tailor solutions to suit their needs and come up with a suitable theme for their event. It is important for the planner to carry the client along throughout the process from planning to completion of the event and also help the company obtain event clearance for Lagos state events. The importance of contracting a professional planner cannot be overemphasized as they need to adhere strictly to the rules of the state and be Covid19 compliant in order to ensure the safety of the company’s staff and their guests.